Ice Climbing World Cup 2013, Tolokonina and Tomilov win in Saas Fee

A huge arch, a flying Dutchman and two large logs to be "whacked": these were the novelties at Saas Fee 2013, as always a beautiful stage in the ice climbing World Cup circuit. This year the organisers revamped the climbing structure in the cold multi-story parking lot in this Swiss village, adding a huge arch which unleashed the route setters' imagination that enabled them to create fabulous routes. Two wooden logs acted as substitutes for pure ice but proved spectacular nevertheless and served their purpose in providing a final ranking.

The women's rounds highlighted Angelika Rainer's class once again and she was beaten by a hair's breadth by Russia's Maria Tolokonina as a result of the Semi-finals, during which the athlete from Meran touched a hold which Maria had managed to stick. Their battle was beautiful and the two seemed in a league of their own compared to the rest of the field; the paying spectators in Saas Fee's Ice Dome went wild as the two challenged each other throughout their memorable match. Worth underlining is Lucie Hrozova's beautiful third place and Petra Klingler's excellent 4th place; recently crowned Youth World Champion, Klinger is a member of the Grivel race department just like Rainer and Tolokonina. The other Italian, Barbara Zwerger, placed 10th and thus only just failed to qualify for the final. This was a shame because it would have been great to see two Italians, registered via the South Tyrolean AVS, challenge the Russian army.

In the other final, the men's, a spectacular show was put on by the Russian / Korean duo comprised of Maxim Tomilov and Park Heeyong, with Heeyong eventually finishing second by just one hold. The two were certainly on great form and although they interpreted the final in two completely different ways they both came to within a whisker of the top. Third place went to Ukraine's Sypavin while fourth went to Russia's Kuzovlev, another two Grivel athletes just like winner Maxim Tomilov. The only Italian to compete in Switzerland was Mauro Dorigatti and although he placed an excellent fifth in the Semis he was subsequently disqualified for having touched the red border line on the wooden log with his axe. This decision came about after an appeal by the Bulgarian team and it left a bitter aftertaste, not only since he slipped to 20th, but also because not all athletes who touched outside this zone were disqualified. Hopes are high though for Italy's Rabenstein where together with Rainer, Zwerger and the other Italians he will battle it out in the next stage of the Ice Climbing World Cup.

In the speed event it's worth noting the historic achievement of flying Dutchman Dennis Van Hoek who single-handedly destroyed the Russian sprinters and the usual dominion of the Speed event. Van Hoek took a deserved victory and was flanked on the podium by the two Russians Spytsin and Iakovlev. The women's race was won by Maria Kravasina and she beat her teammates Maria Tolokonina and Julia Olejnicova, second and third respectively.

by Marco Servalli


Results Lead - Ice World Cup 2013 - Saas Fee:
Men Lead Final:
1. TOMILOV Maxim, RUS
2. PARK Heeyong, KOR
3. SYPAVIN Valentyn, UKR
4. KUZOVLEV Nikolay, RUS
5. LYULYUKIN Ivan, RUS
6. VOLKHONTSEV Andrey, RUS
7. LOBZOV Stanislav, RUS
8. DOBRINSKIY Pavel, RUS
Women Lead Finals
1. Tolokonina Maria, RUS
2. Rainer Angelika, ITA
3. Hrozova Lucie, CZE
4. Klingler Petra, SUI
5. Gallyamova Anna, RUS
6. Filippova Maryam, RUS
7. Badalyan Liudmila, RUS
8. Shin Woon Seon, KOR