Organised by the Slovak Mountaineering Union (JAMES), round 2 of the UIAA Ice Climbing European season was held in Zilina, Slovakia on Saturday 27 November.
In the lead only competition, thirteen women took to the wall with Poland’s Olga Kosek proving star turn. Kosek topped the final route in a faster time than Finland’s Enni Bertling, second, with another experienced performer, Marianne van der Steen, Netherlands, taking third. After two rounds of the season Bertling leads the overall standings ahead of Aneta Louzecka (Czech Republic) and Sina Goetz (Switzerland).
A massive 39 athletes contested the men’s competition with the leading 11 featuring in the final round – an extra quota of European athletes was added to take into account for the three American climbers who made the final. Tyler Kempney and Kevin Lindlau, both representing the USA, took the top two spots although neither topped the final route. David Bouffard of Romania took third. All of the non-European athletes have been removed from the UIAA European Cup overall rankings, which after two rounds has Bouffard sitting in first place. He leads William Morris from the UK and Virgile Devin from France.
For further details about the event and also the European Cup results with the non-European results discarded – please visit the dedicated page.
A photo gallery from the event is available here.
Next weekend, round 3, sees Brno, Czech Republic play host on Saturday 4 December. Details here.
Main photo: Credit: UIAA/JAMES