“Submerge your hands in ice water before you start climbing,” I’m told as frantically plunge my axes into the ice so I can let go of them and shake out, warming my fingers up and allowing the waves of pain to ripple through my hands. Apparently competitors prep their fingers in an ice bath before climbing to prevent the hot aches whilst en route. It gets the blood rushing back in and the pain over with before -rather than during - the climb.
I’m at the fourth stage, and only French round of the Ice Climbing World Cup that took place this weekend in La Plagne. The 24 metre-high ice tower in Champagny-en-Vanoise, designed by Stephane Husson, is an impressive structure with both ice, (hooky at the bottom and flaky near the top which you have to smash through to get to the firmer stuff) and dry tooling sections. There’s a steep overhanging dry tooling bridge for the male competitors to battle with, and for the ladies, an overhanging dry tooling wall at the top of the route. The tower is now open for the general public to climb on and I had a go –albeit on an easier section- after the qualifiers.
Over 100 athletes from 25 countries descended on Champagny-en-Vanoise to take part in either of the sports two disciplines: “difficulty/lead” and “speed.” Competitors taking part in the “lead” event have to wait in isolation, then have a few moments to study the route, then climb as high as they can on the increasingly difficult wall -in a limited time. The ranking is determined by the height they reach. In the “speed” event two competitors race each other and try to climb route in the fastest time, then they swap routes- it really is just a matter of seconds for them to reach the top, with their lightweight boots and axes.
Representing team GB at the event was Steve Johnstone, Matthew Pritchard, Malcolm Kent, Andy Turner and Katy Forrester- who only started competitive ice climbing 6 months ago and was the only GB competitor to get through to the semi-finals. Team coach Andy Turner is next off to Sochi to demonstrate ice climbing as a cultural event in the Olympic Village.
As usual it was the Russians and Koreans who dominated with Maria Tolokonina coming first, Maryam Filippova second and Angelika Rainer from Italy coming third for the ladies lead competition, and Alexey Tomilov from Russia coming first for the men, HeeYong Park from Korea coming second and Evgeniy Novoseltsev from Russia coming third.
There are 6 World Cup events: On the 7-9th February in Rabenstein, Italy, then on the 28 February - 2 March in Ufa, Russia. If you are in La Plagne then there is still time to catch the Youth World Championships on the 8th and 9th February 2014 in Champagny en Vanoise.
Full results can be found here and you can follow the UIAA on facebook here.
