The news

No great surprises after the Open in the Ice master Valle di Daone

Valle di Daone, here we go! The second stage of the IWC 2003 gets underway tomorrow with the Open, comprised of 50 male athletes and 21 female athletes.

The Russian Dmitry Bychkov and the German Ines Papert win the first stage of the Ice World Cup 2003 in Pitztal, Austria

Valle di Daone: it's freezing! The intense cold that has gripped Italy has sped up work at the Ice Climbing Stadium in Valle di Daone and the structure is now completely frozen in ice.

Fresh snowfall followed by strong winds and a sudden rise in temperature have led to numerous avalanches discharging throughout the Alps.

The Frenchman Sebastien Foissac and the Italian Attilio Munari have recently qualified to become international Ice World Cup routesetters. Together with the three new judges Irina Ryzhenkova (RUS), Andrej and Jasna Pacjak (SLO) they completed a four-day course in Italy's Valle di Daone.

From 8 — 12 January 2002 the French Parc National des Ecrins will host the Fournel Ice Climbing Event for 800 ice climbers. The nominees for the Piolet D'Or 2002 will be presented, as will the winning films of the Banff Mountain Film Festival.

Italian Mauro Bubu Bole is now online with his personal www.climbubu.com

Over 400 climbers gathered in Bishop, California at the start of December in a highly successful three-day event designed to raise funds for the American Access Fund.

Last week the British climber Neil Gresham made an impressive second ascent of Neil Bentley's gritstone Equilibrium, E10 7a.

Marco Huser and Claudia Haesurmann win Snowboardcross, Barbara Sponsale and Andreas Prommegger win the Giant Slalom of the first stage of the Tour della Gazzetta Snowboard Classic.

The Second Step wins the Banff Mountain Film Festival 2002. The Banff Mountain Book Festival Grand Prize was awarded to The Evidence of Things Not Seen, while the Photography Competition was won by James Delano

The Ice World Cup 2003 will be comprised of only three stages, (Pitztal, Val Daone and Saas Fee) while the Ice World Championship 2003 will take place in Kirov in March

On 9/01/2003 Simone Moro will be awarded the "Pierre de Cubertin International Fair Play Trophy" for his 2001 rescue efforts of the 19 year-old British mountaineer Tom Moores

Finally the news many have been waiting for: it's snowing! And numerous lifts throughout the Alps have already opened, 10 days earlier than usual.

Muriel Sarkany and Ramon Julian Puigblanqué win the final stage of the World Cup Difficulty, held in Kranj (SLO) last weekend.