The first World Cup of the 2022-23 UIAA Ice Climbing World Tour will be held in Cheongsong, South Korea from 13-15 January.
Approximately 90 athletes from 17 countries are expected to take part in the first World Cup held in Asia since 2020. Action commences on Saturday 14 January with qualification and then the Lead Semi-Finals (1700 local time). The Speed (1000 local time) and Lead Finals (1330 local time) will be held on Sunday 15 January. Livestreaming will be available on the UIAA YouTube and Facebook channels. Embed codes are available below. Subscribe to the UIAA YouTube channel for stream reminders. Check your local time here.
The event, organised in partnership with the Korean Alpine Federation (KAF), will also include the Asian Championships.
Among the largest national teams will be the host country as well as Japan, Mongolia and the United States.
Men’s Lead: Favourites for podium places include French brothers Louna and Tristan Ladevant (France), together with teammate Virgile Devin, Iran’s Mohammadreza Safdarian, Benjamin Bosshard of Switzerland while United States athletes bring a strong team including Tyler Kempney and emerging teenage talent Keenan Griscom. Local favourite Heeyong Park will also seek to add another World Cup gold medal to his considerable curriculum.
Women’s Lead: Another star Korean athlete Woonseon Shin will spearhead an impressive local team. Equally strong are the Swiss team comprising Sina Goetz, Vivien Labarile and Petra Klingler. Other leading European climbers like Aneta Louzecka (Czech Republic), Enni Bertling (Finland), Eimir McSwiggan (Ireland), Marianne van der Steen (Netherlands) and Olga Kosek (Poland) will all be in contention for medals.
Men’s Speed: World champion Mohsen Beheshti Rad of Iran will be one of the favourites in an open competition with a number of athletes having to manage competing in lead and speed. Mongolia’s Kherlen Nyamdoo will seek to podium having twice finished fourth in World Cups, including once in Cheongsong.
Women’s Speed: This event appears to be a wide open competition with a number of athletes competing in their first World Cup. Catalina Shirley of the USA will look to replicate the form which saw her win the North American Championships in Ouray in 2022. Aneta Louzecka, Enni Bertling, Marianne van der Steen, Olga Kosek and Vivien Labarile will also combine the lead event with speed.
A preview press release of the entire World Cup season can be found here.
The semi-finals of all lead events, and speed finals, will be livestreamed on the UIAA YouTube channel and also broadcast on the UIAA Facebook channel. See links above.
Photos from all events, cleared for editorial use, will be posted to the UIAA Flickr channel.
The UIAA Ice Climbing Instagram channel will offer short-form video highlights and other enticing content throughout each competition weekend.
A press review from each UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup will be published after each event. Subscribe here to review news releases.
Live results & registration lists from Cheongsong and other information can be found on the UIAA Ice Climbing website. The event programme is here.
The second event of the season will be held from the 19-21 January in Champagny-en-Vanoise.
Photo: 2020 UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup in Cheongsong, credit: UIAA/Rhea Kang
TITLE SPONSOR UIAA ICE CLIMBING WORLD TOUR
