Ice climbing season started

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The first event of the season took place in Valle di Daone in Italy, 18th-20th January. Men and women ice climbers competed in Speed and Difficulty disciplines.

The Swiss team were extremely strong, with Simon Anthamatten and Petra Müller winning the first places in the Difficulty race. In the Speed competitions the clear winners were Maria Tolokonina from Russia and Matevz Vukotic from Slovenia, both putting a four seconds gap between themselves and the closest competitors. Full details of the results are available here
 
The temperature was a comfortable -3˚C when the competition started on Friday morning, and the ice was perfectly frozen. The 26m high structure was much appreciated by the particpating athletes.

The climbers competed on a combination of different surfaces which tested their technical abilities to the extreme: dry-tooling wood panels with an inclination of up to 70˚, frozen columns and mobile stalactites. More details are available on the event website

The next World Cup event will take place in Busteni, Romania from 7th-9th February, followed by the first ever world record competition in Speed Climbing 14th–15th February. Saas Fee, Switzerland will host the final World Cup event 21st-23rd February.  Read more on our Ice climbing pages