Hohhot, located in the Inner Mongolia region of China, will host the third UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup event of the 2018 season from 2-4 February.
Following a highly successful event in Beijing last year, China continues to become an important presence on the World Tour stage. A new ice climbing structure has been built in Hohhot promising exciting routes in lead and a challenging speed wall. And athletes will need to stay warm between rounds of competition – temperatures are expected to drop well in excess of -10°C.
Over 80 international athletes are expected to participate in Hohhot including the presence of 14 Chinese athletes. Livestreaming will be available from semi-finals and finals of competition on the UIAA Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channels as well as on the Olympic Channel and on livestreaming media partner EXTREME. Furthermore, state broadcaster CCTV will provide live coverage in China.
As the halfway juncture of the season, results in Hohhot will help shape the current 2018 UIAA Ice Climbing World Tour leaderboard. Mohammadreza Korouyeh Safdarian of Iran holds the advantage in the men’s lead competition following a historic gold medal last weekend. Russia’s Tomilov brothers – Alexey and Maxim are his closest challengers. Hannarai Song, the leader of the women’s competition, will not feature in Hohhot so compatriot Woonseon Shin and Russia’s Maria Tolokonina and Ekaterina Vlasova will seek to challenge her advantage ahead of round 4 in Cheongsong, South Korea.
Gold medallist last weekend in Rabenstein, Anton Nemov leads the men’s speed competition holding a 40-point lead over Nikolai Kuzovlev. Ekaterina Feoktistova enjoys a 33-point lead over compatrior Nadezda Gallyamova in the women’s event.
Programme Highlights:
Friday 2 February
14:45 Lead qualification (M&F)
Saturday 3 February
10:00-13:00 Lead semi-finals (M&F) Livestreaming
15:00-16:00 Speed qualification (F)
16:00-17:00 Speed qualification (M)
Sunday 4 February
09:30-11:30 Lead finals (M&F) Livestreaming
12:30-13:15 Speed finals (F) Livestreaming
13:13-13:45 Speed finals (M) Livestreaming
The full programme can be viewed here.
*Time given is local time. GMT+8
Livestreaming countdown already started on the UIAA YouTube Channel. Subscribe here for alerts.
Results, starting lists and rankings are available here.
Pictures from the 2018 UIAA Ice Climbing World Tour are available on the UIAA Flickr channel.
OTHER ICE CLIMBING NEWS
Organisers of the final UIAA Ice Climbing European Cup event of the season in Oulu, Finland have prepared a video showcasing what athletes can expect at the event. More information can be found here.
The Österreichischer Alpenverein (OAV – Austrian Alpine Club) recently held its 18th national Austrian championship on 6 January and this weekend host the 8th open Austrian Alpen Verein championship. Both are longstanding events designed to grow the community of athletes.
Images: Copyright: UIAA/Patrick Schwienbacher
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