Etna Ski Mountaineering European Championships 2018

The ISMF competitions are back in the foothills of Mount Etna in Sicily with the European Championships, six years after a stage of the 2012 World Cup.

Everything is set in Nicolosi, just few kilometres from the city of Catania. The first competition is the Sprint race scheduled for today, followed by the Vertical race on Friday. The Individual race on Saturday 24th closes the European Championships.

All 19 countries competing arrived in Italy in the last few days in order to become aquatinted with the race course. Exceptionally, there is even a delegation from Brazil.

Due to unfavourable weather conditions the Organising Committee headed by Vasco Agen took the tough decision to move the competitions to Piano Provenzana, on the North ridge of the volcano. The races should have taken place on the South ridge close to Rifugio Sapienza.

The inaugural parade of the National teams was scheduled for yesterday afternoon in the centre of Nicolosi, while this morning the “White Circus” moves higher up the mountain for the first race. The Sprint competition is an exciting mix of speed and technical skills.

On Friday 23rd the athletes will compete in the 650m + Vertical. This race, just like the Individual race, is open to all FISI members. The last competition of the 2018 ISMF European Championships will take place on Saturday 24th with the Individual race; 1850m vertical gain spread out over four ascents.

The European titles will be assigned to Cadet, Junior, Under 23 and Senior categories. The race track drawn for the cadets is 910m long, a little shorter than the Juniors which tackles 1350m height gain.

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