Build My Own FeedBig season finale at the Ice Climbing Festival Pontresina 2010
Already the 3rd annual Pontresina Ice Climbing Festival took place in Switzerland's Oberengadin. Ice climbers from all over Europe gathered to celebrate the season finale at the iced Corn in the middle of the ski area Diavolezza at 2.800 meters. The program included workshops, slide shows, a party and a very special speed competition.
34 ice climbers participated in the Diavolezza Team Rush on Saturday at the 120 meter Corn. The speed competition in teams of two was a spectacular experience for both participants and spectators alike. It is definitely unique in its kind. The task in the open speed qualifications was to climb a 60 meter route on top rope. The fastest four teams - all well-known faces from the ice climbing world cup scene - qualified for the finals, where they had to tackle two parallel top rope routes as fast as possible.
The locals Romano Salis and Julian Zanker triumphed in the final round against the strong Austrians Markus Bendler and Albert Leichtfried. The 2008 winners Jack Müller and Ron Koller came in 3rd. The only women's team with Ines Papert and Petra Müller reached the 6th rank among the 17 teams.
The young Engadin locals Zanker and Salis took a mere 6:22 minutes to climb the two 100 meter routes. The Ice Climbing World Champion from 2007 and 2009 and the winner of the overall World Cup 2010 Markus Bendler with his partner Albert Leichtfried needed 31 seconds longer than the winners, whereas the 2008 Pontresina winners Müller/Koller finished 1:03 minutes behind the lead.
The participants regained their strength in the evening at the Pasta Party's all you can eat spaghetti dinner at the Sportpavilion Pontresina followed by a dry tooling show with Ron Koller, who defied the icy temperatures topless on the dry tooling wall built for this occasion. The party continued until the early morning hours with the Band Orange at the Sportpavilion.
Sunday's workshops with the world's best ice climbers were well attended. 30 participants took advantage of the opportunity to learn tips and tricks from ice climbing pros Ines Papert, Markus Bendler, Albert Leichtfried, Pietro dal Pra, as well as Jack and Petra Müller.
The Ice Climbing Festival Pontresina is supported by Bergbahnen Diavolezza, GoVertical, Pontresina Tourism, Arc'teryx, Black Diamond, La Sportiva and Nokia.
Please go to www.Ready2Climb.com for more information and pictures.
Final results:
1st Place: Team: Vertical Ice: Romano Salis (Pontresina) and Julian Zanker (St.Moritz): 6:22
2nd Place: Team: drfettiunddrschöni: Markus Bendler (AUT) and Albert Leichtfried (AUT): 6:53
3rd Place: Team: Looser: Jack Müller (SUI) and Ron Koller (SUI): 7:25
4th Place: Team: Rabenstein: Reinhard Graf (ITA) and Florian Lanthaler (ITA): 8:19
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