Inside Ascent & The TriFactory’s First Bouldering Competition in Sahel

Ascent Climbing Egypt and The TriFactory, the two biggest names in Egypt’s climbing and mass participation sports scenes respectively, are teaming up again—and this time they’re heading to Sahel. On July 3rd at D-Bay by Tatweer Misr, the second edition of their Adventure Festival is expected to attract some 500 participants in Egypt’s biggest-ever climbing event. This edition follows the success of their debut at IL Monte Galala in November 2025 and will feature a bouldering competition main event with three participation categories (advanced/beginner/youth), 18 winners and a total prize pool of EGP 200,000. Besides the main event, the day-long festival will also feature other activities like slacklining, an intro to climbing workshop, and a filmmaking workshop by Sony. “There are two climbing walls with 25 different boulders, and all climbers will have around three hours to compete against each other within their categories,” Sherif Hafez, Co-founder & CEO of Ascent Climbing Egypt, tells SceneSports. “Part of the fun is that everyone gets to climb together on the same wall and choose their own boulders, but they will only be judged based on the five hardest routes they complete.” The top eight male and female climbers from the advanced category will then go on compete head-on, in a Finals round which will follow the International Federation of Sport Climbing’s (IFSC) World Cup format and rules. “One of our main goals together is to grow the number of climbers in Egypt,” says Seifeldin Fawzy, Co-founder & COO of The TriFactory, which has organised some of Egypt’s largest endurance and running events in the past decade. “We want to make climbing a fun and popular hobby, the way a sport like Padel has become accessible to everyone.” Climbing, which globally boomed in popularity in recent years, became an official Olympic sport in 2020. “These types of events will go a long way towards getting Egypt recognised on the global scene when it comes to climbing,” Fawzy says, “and potentially help develop Egypt’s first professional Olympic climber.” Since its founding in 2021 as Egypt’s first dedicated indoor climbing and bouldering facility, Ascent Climbing Egypt have hosted annual climbing competitions at their two branches in Cairo, but Hafez says this Adventure Festival is their biggest event yet. “This edition has by far the biggest number of competitors we’ve ever been able to reach, and the level in Egypt is very strong compared to the region.” Although Hafez and Fawzy agree that Egypt was late to the climbing scene, the country’s climbers still have many reasons to be optimistic. According to Hafez, “It’s a huge accomplishment that we are able to build the climbing walls locally and have local judges and local route setters. This is what enables us to have an event of this size.” In his view, a similar competition elsewhere in the region would have to import climbing walls and climbing holes, as well as the expertise required to set the routes. “The entire setup is 100% custom constructed for the event and managed by Ascent,” The TriFactory’s co-founder tells us. “We want to make the experience as professional as possible for everyone.” And the reason is simple: they’ve got their sights set on the international arena. “The goal is to have international-standard competitions locally organised and, at some point, to be able to hold IFSC competitions in Egypt,” says Hafez. “We want international competitors to come and compete on our stage, and motivate Egyptian climbers to pursue this as a professional sport and a general pastime.”