The UIAA has confirmed the five stops on the Ice Climbing World Tour next year will be available to watch on the Olympic Channel platform.

It is claimed this will be a boost to the exposure of the sport.

The confirmation comes after this year's UIAA Ice Climbing World Championships in Champagny-en-Vanoise in France were shown on the Olympic Channel.

Semi-finals and finals from the World Championships were broadcast on the Channel as part of an attempt to attract more people to ice climbing.

"Live coverage of the UIAA Ice Climbing World Tour on the Olympic Channel is an exciting and significant development," UIAA President Frits Vrijlandt said.

"Following the success of the 2017 season in terms of viewing figures and quality of live broadcast, our goal is to further amplify the coverage of ice climbing throughout 2018. 

"The Olympic Channel is a prestigious platform, and our presence on the Channel will help introduce ice climbing to sport enthusiasts from across the globe.”

The UIAA Ice Climbing World Tour begins with the opening competition of the campaign in Saas Fee in Switzerland from January 18 to 20.

The circuit then continues in Rabenstein in Italy on January 25 to 27.

Hohhot in China is scheduled to stage the third event from February 2 to 4 and the series is set to continue its Asian leg when Cheongsong in South Korea plays host to the penultimate competition from February 9 to 11.

The World Tour concludes in Kirov in Russia from March 2 to 4.