Husson and Sansoz win 2nd stage of IWC 2001 in Valle Daone

Liv Sansoz and Stephane Husson win in Valle di Daone and consequently the Ice World Cup continues to wave the French flag. This second stage proved to be a veritable ice boulder feast and the large and enthusiastic crowd loved the show.

But even if Liv Sansoz undisputedly dominated the women's event and Stephane Husson confirmed his fantastic form in the Final, it was the Italian Mauro ‘Bubu’ Bole who won over the crowd with his excellent second place and disarming, friendly personality. Valle di Daone was the place to be last weekend.

Women's event

The Final started off with the Women's event consisting of two boulder problems. The first involved an ice start followed by an overhanging dry tooling section with long lock-offs and a hard traverse left to then finish on ice once again. The second problem climbed a steep ice tower, interrupted at half height by two large roofs, to a long reach for the finish.

Both problems were hard and it immediately became obvious that technique and a lot of power were needed. Nothing new, therefore, since strength has always been an indispensable factor in competitions. Olga Epiphanova, Anna Torretta, Margarita Kolodkina and Nadia Dimai all suffered and placed 8th to 5th respectively. Liv Sansoz has never really lacked strength and she proved this once more by topping out on both boulder problems. But if her power amazed, so too did the ease and class with which she transferred her sports climbing ability to ice climbing, for she climbed beautifully. She admitted to having some problems with the second problem, the ice tower, and this is understandable since her ice axe technique isn't the best as yet. But given the speed with which she is learning about this new discipline, there can be few doubts as to the outcome….

Ines Papert, Ildi Pellisier and Sandra Wielebnowski all competed excellently, placing second and third equal respectively. Papert climbed strongly and securely to the top of the first boulder (the only athlete other than Sansoz to top out on this boulder), while Pellisier (née Kiss) climbed well on the second problem but failed on the final move to the top.

Stephane Hussain in action in the Final - photo ice-time.com

Men's event

When the men finally set foot beneath the ice structure even spectators new to ice climbing competitions could understand what ice bouldering is all about. It is a game that mixes strength, determination, intuition and technique to overcome moves that at first sight seem impossible. So impossible that no one topped out on either of the men's routes.

Dry tooling was a fundamental prerequisite and the first problem traversed a horizontal roof rightwards to its lip and on up to an ice tower, while the second, ferocious problem traversed a steep board leftwards on holds and tufas designed specifically for the event. The action was fast and furious, with dynos, figure-of-fours and powerful lockoffs until the last second of the 6 minutes had ticked by.

The Frenchman Stephane Husson climbed the highest on the central boulder problem, reaching the ice on the upper section, just when ‘Bubu’ Bole, climbing on the second problem, powered through a move everyone else had failed on. Both looked set to go high and the crowd went wild.

But it wasn't to be. Stephane Husson tumbled, deceived by a section of ice that broke away, and ‘Bubu’ fell after an epic and incredible battle. Husson then failed to reach Bubu's highpoint, but his performance on the first had been good enough to seal victory. Mauro Bole placed second, while Daniel Dulac, stopped by a judge for a boundary infringement high on the first boulder, placed third. He was followed by Dmitri Bytchcov, Evgeny Krivosheitsev, Tim Emmet (ENG), Anthony Lamiche and Diego Mabboni.

Focus

There are many things that could be said from a technical point of view, and after the next competition in Saas Fee on 27-28 January this can be examined more closely. What seems obvious is that ice competitions are changing rapidly and the level of difficulty is rising dramatically. This means specific training for those who want to be in with a real chance. Consequently, it is equally clear that those who have always trained (in other words sports climbers) have a real advantage. One can argue as to whether these events are moving away from the true spirit of ice climbing, and whether this is a good or a bad thing. But this is a competition, and competitions have always been a completely different ball game. One measures ability in a controlled environment, on the same routes, under the exact same conditions, accepting the rules set by judges. Who climbs highest wins!

What counts most for now though is the success of the competition. The crowd truly loved it and most sports climbing competitions only attract half the number of spectators. It’s success is due to the impeccable organisation that worked hard to ensure the smooth running of the event. The ice structure played its part too, for what has undoubtedly been the best and most advanced structure ever seen in this event. A milestone for future reference.