With the UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup season concluding in Denver, Colorado last week, attention swiftly turns to one of the most northerly cities in the world, Oulu, in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland which will host the annual UIAA Ice Climbing World Youth Championships this weekend 28 February – 2 March.
The stunning night skies and a challenging 22m ice tower await athletes, with around 90 competitors from 11 countries set to compete in the lead and speed events in three age categories – U22, U19 and U16. The event is organised by the Climbing Club of Oulu as FINICE.
Qualification for the lead and speed events will take place on Friday 1 March, with the finals set to be held on the following day, Saturday 2 March. Livestreaming will be available on the regular UIAA channels from all Finals. YouTube embed codes can be found at the foot of this release.
Several athletes who tasted success at last year’s event in Malbun, Liechtenstein return this year. Valeriia Bogdan of Russia, who took gold in the U19 Speed event, aims to replicate that now competing in the U22 event. Switzerland’s Sina Goetz likewise took the title in the U22 lead event in Liechtenstein and returns this year to Finland. Louna Ladevant of France will be looking to build on his victory in the U19 lead event last year. He also competes in the U22 category this time around. Amongst the registered athletes are some stars from this year’s World Cup season – two-time gold medallist Yannick Glatthard from Switzerland and Russia’s Anton Sukharev who podiumed three times in the speed event.
Athlete Profile: Yannick Glatthard
Athlete Profile: Sina Goetz
At the conclusion of the World Youth Championships, the final leg of the four-event European Cup season will take place in Oulu on Sunday 3 March. The European Tour took in events in Switzerland, Slovenia and Slovakia during November and December 2018.
After this weekend’s event in Oulu, the UIAA Ice Climbing World Tour – partnered by Outdoor Research – concludes in Kirov, Russia from 8-10 March with the biennial World Championships.
Livestreaming – see links below – will be available on the UIAA social media channels, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
Key Links
Programme
Registered Athletes
Event website
UIAA event page
UIAA Ice Climbing photos
Livestream Embed Codes
Saturday 2 March
Speed finals:
Embed code – <iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/QQsCMfqbU3o” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen></iframe>
Lead finals (U16s):
Embed code – <iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/YznzrkJJHCU” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen></iframe>
Lead finals (U19s and U22s):
Embed code – <iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/XKYyW-GtCdQ” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen></iframe>
Sunday 3 March
European Cup lead finals:
Main Photo:
Yannick Glatthard climbs to lead gold in Denver
Photo credit Ben Nelson of Huck Adventures
Huckadventures.com
