After an opening round in Asia, the second stop on the 2025 UIAA Ice Climbing World Tour sees athletes head for the Swiss Alps. The resort of Saas-Fee celebrates 25 years of hosing UIAA-sanctioned competitions, a relationship which began in the year 2000. The local organizers, supported by the Swiss Alpine Club, always put on a memorable event for athletes and the general public alike.
Over 125 athletes from the following member federations will take part: Czechia (6), Finland (8), France (8), Germany (1), Iran (9), Ireland (1), Japan (7), Liechtenstein (8), Mongolia (5), Netherlands (3), Poland (10), Slovenia (3), Slovakia (6) South Korea (11), Spain (5), Ukraine (1), United Kingdom (10), United States (10). Highly competitive host country Switzerland brings a squad of 14 athletes. A full list of registered athletes is available here.
Lead preview
All four gold medal winners, and consequently current World Tour leaders, from Round 1 in Cheongsong are in attendance. In lead, Lee Younggeon, South Korea, will hope to better his two previous visits to Saas-Fee which saw him twice take bronze. The Swiss team are likely to have a huge say in the medal count. Sina Goetz not only proved dominant two weeks ago but has a silver and a gold from her last two World Cups in Saas-Fee.
Lead Semi-Finals, 25 January, 11:00 local time
In the men’s event, the Ladevant brothers from France will seek to build on their return to competition last time out; Iran’s Mohammadreza Safdarian, a medallist in lead and speed in Cheongsong, will seek to impress at a venue where he has always performed better in the latter discipline; the Swiss team will have high hopes for the increasingly strong showings of Benjamin Bosshard and Jonathan Brown.
Lead Finals, 25 January, 19:00 local time
Goetz will face close competition from within her team in the women’s event with Vivien Labarile improving year on year while strong challenges are expected from Eimir McSwiggan (Ireland), Marianne van der Steen (Netherlands) and Catalina Shirley (United States). Having lost out on a medal place in her home event, South Korea’s Woonseon Shin, current world champion and reigning World Tour winner, will seek a return to form. She won in Saas-Fee in 2024.
The lead wall has been extended during the off-season. It now reaches the top of the competition venue, adding further vertical challenges to the always demanding technical routes.
Speed preview
The speed event, on a 15m wall, returns to athlete versus the clock format. In Cheongsong, European athletes failed to medal so the likes of world champion Aneta Loužecká (Czechia) and the Beck sisters, Lea and Lorena (Liechtenstein), will seek to overturn that statistic and confront strong teams from Iran, Mongolia, South Korea and the United States. Gold medallists from Cheongsong – Safdarian and Shirley – will seek to build their advantage in the overall standings.
Speed Finals, 24 January, 20:00 local time
Action starts on Friday 24 January with the lead qualification and entire speed competition. Saturday 25 January, when a sizeable spectator crowd is expected, is reserved for the lead semi-finals and finals. The full event programme is available here.
The UIAA will provide livestream of both the speed finals (20:00 local time – 24 January) and the lead semi-finals (11:00 local time – 25 January) and lead finals (19:00 local time – 25 January). For a time zone convertor please use the following link. Embed codes for the livestreams can be found below. Please subscribe to the UIAA YouTube channel for reminders and updates.
Before the lead finals, a minute’s silence will be held in memory of Dario Andenmatten who tragically passed away in October. Dario played an instrumental role in the organisation of UIAA competitions in Saas-Fee and this weekend presents an opportunity for all involved to pay their respects and celebrate his legacy.
Saas-Fee is not the only UIAA competition on the horizon with a Continental Open taking place in Ouray, United States from 24-26 January. Over 50 athletes from Canada and the USA have registered. Further details here.
Assets for Media and Fans
Short-form content, highlights, podium posts and updates are available on the UIAA social media channels, notably Facebook and Instagram.
Event photos are available on the UIAA Flickr channel.
Live results are available from the UIAA Ice Climbing website.
A selection of ‘best of’ photos for media, prepared for the 2024-2025 season, can be found here.
Press releases will be available for all World Cup events, both previews (-3 days before) and reviews (day +1). Please subscribe to receive press releases directly to your inbox.
Please visit iceclimbing.sport for all event information, details on event programmes and timings, athlete registrations, live results and more.
UIAA ICE CLIMBING WORLD TOUR PARTNER
Main photo: UIAA/Kaspar Kellerhals
