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On the weekend of 9 February, Val Passiria will once again host the eagerly awaited World Cup event on the ice wall in Corvara. The best specialists of the spectacular discipline will compete in two specialities: lead (difficulty) and speed. At stake, precious points for the World Cup ranking.
.The countdown is officially on. After last year's successful opening, the UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup returns to South Tyrol. From 7 to 9 February, all eyes will be on the ice tower of Corvara in Val Passiria, for the second World Cup adventure. Everything is ready to host the best interpreters of the discipline. A spectacle within a spectacle, then, because from this year, in Corvara, the great novelty will also and above all be represented by the new scenario that will welcome the caravan of athletes. Since the end of December, in fact, the new multi-purpose centre has been ready and operational: a long-awaited structure, which completes the entire area, making it more modern, also and above all in view of the great appointment with the World Championships, scheduled in Val Passiria in 2015.
"The conditions are ideal and everything is ready to start a new important cycle - says the president of the organising committee, Reinhard Graf - there is expectation for these days and above all to enjoy the new logistic base, which will give further lustre to the event as well as represent an important turning point, in view of the 2015 World Championships.
The organisers, who will be able to avail themselves of the valuable cooperation of the South Tyrolean Alpenverein, have prepared a programme full of side events. It officially starts with the opening event, scheduled for Friday 7 February in the beautiful and evocative setting of Piazza delle Terme in Merano. On the same morning, the mobile ice tower will be available for the curious and enthusiasts. A way to discover the fascination of this sport up close and personal, practising it with the help of experts and instructors.
130 CLIMBERS FROM TWENTY NATIONS EXPECTED IN VAL PASSIRIA
The real stars will be them: the athletes. There will be 130 of them, representing 20 nations, who will kick off the two-day World Cup, under the watchful and curious eyes of many spectators, estimated at around two thousand. The start of the competitions is scheduled for Saturday 8 February: in the morning, the qualifying rounds of the difficulty event will begin, and in the evening, at 8 pm, the finals of the speed speciality will close in style. The following day, Sunday 9 February, is the last day of competition, with the semi-finals (8.30 a.m.) and the finals (1 p.m.) in the difficulty event.
HOW IT WAS A YEAR AGO
Last year in Corvara, the ice-covered tower crowned those who were the favourites on the eve of the event. In the test of difficulty, Russian Maxim Tomilov won, ahead of Korean World Cup overall champion Hee Yong Park. Third place for another Russian, Alexey Tomilov, brother of the winner and world champion in this discipline. Among the women, South Tyrolean party, with the success of Angelika Rainer from Merano, fresh on the occasion of another title, the third in her career, of world champion. Rainer got the better of Korea's Woon Seon Shin, followed by what would become the winner of the World Cup, Russia's Maria Tolokonina. As for the sprint race, it was Russia that celebrated a flurry of successes in Corvara: in the men's field, everyone still remembers Pavel Gulyaev's high point, and among the women, victory for Maria Krasavina.
In less than a month there will be new verdicts and one certainty, right from the start: in Corvara it will still be pure spectacle.
For all information on the event in Corvara in Val Passiria: www.eisklettern.it
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