Ice World Cup 2001 gets underway in Pitztal

The long awaited Ice World Cup 2001 finally gets underway in Pitztal tomorrow

PlanetMountain.com

January 2001

Traduci in

Various photos taken during the Ice Boulder Cortina 2000
photos PlanetMountain.com

The time has come: on Friday 12 January the IWC 2001 finally gets underway in Pitztal, Austria. Much has been said about the climatic conditions and the ice, which of late has seemed more an illusion than anything else. It may well be that dry tooling becomes name of the game this year.

At present though the organisers are doing their very best, making the most of the coldest temperatures by working late into the night. This is certainly the case in Pitztal, where the first Difficulty event will be held, and the Italian Valle di Daone, scene of the first Boulder event in a week's time.

Pitztal will show who this season's strongest contenders for the Cup. The signs from the recent Austrian Open are that athletes with a strong sports climbing competition background stand a real chance. See Liv Sansoz's victory in her first ever competition, and FranÃ§ois Lombard and Daniel Du Lac's second and third place respectively in last year's IWC 2000.

But last year also showed that when the going gets really tough, those technical ice climbers with years of experience truly excell. Will Gadd's overall victory last year is testament to this, but it is now certain that he will not take part and defend his title.

All that is left to do now is wish the athletes, organisers and 'ice makers' all the best for the upcoming competitions!

Programme Pitztal (1st stage of the IWC 2001)
12 January
10.00	Quarterfinal men and Semifinal women
20.00	Speedclimbing contest
Â Â	Speedparty
13 January
10.00	Semifinal men
20.00	Final women
21.00	Final men
Â Â	Awards ceremony, Ice Adventure Party
Â Â
Info: www.ice-time.com Â Â Austrian Ice Climbing Championships