The season for ice

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The Ice Climbing season begins on January 16. The first event of the UIAA World Cup will take place in Val Daone, Italy.

Fans who cannot make it to any of the four stages of the Cup will be able to follow the competitions online. The results will be posted on the UIAA website, as will videos showing action from the events. The UIAA also has its own Youtube channel, where clips from last year's competitions can be seen.

The second event on this winter's calendar will be the World Championship taking place from January 22-24. This will be organised at the ski resort of Saas Fee, Switzerland. The next Cup competition will be held the following weekend in Mojstrana, Slovenia. "Here in Slovenia we expect to host athletes from all over the world to compete in speed ice climbing and eventually break the World speed record," says Andrej Pecjak on behalf of the organisers. "It will be a good opportunity for the athletes to see Slovenia and to train for the Busteni event as we have many natural ice falls."

The final event will take place in Busteni, a mountain resort in central Romania, from February 5-8. This will be the fourth year that Busteni hosts the World Cup, and the second time that the finals will be held there: "Every year the climbing structures have been modernised to provide athletes with new challenges," says Michael Pupeza, President of the Romanian Alpine Club. The first ice climbing speed world record competition was held in Busteni last winter, and the organisers will repeat the event this season. 

"In line with the tradition of introducing novelties every year, the climbing walls will be reshaped and outfitted for 2009 with a refrigeration unit allowing competitions to take place at temperatures as high as 10 degrees Celsius," says Pupeza. The event is organised by the Romanian Alpine Club in cooperation with the municipality of Busteni, and usually attracts more than 2,500 visitors.
 
Athletes and federations not yet registered should go to the Events page for more details.  

Ice climbing competitions are held on specially built ice-covered structures, enabling spectators to follow the climbs closely.

For more information go to the Ice Climbing section.