Domžale's Introduction to the European Ice Climbing Cup

The European Cup (EC) is this year's novelty on the calendar of ice climbing competitions under the auspices of the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA). At the opening competition on December 2, 2017 in Domžale, on Slovenia's first artificial drytooling wall, 45 competitors from twelve countries will sharpen their ice axes and crampons, including a Slovenian team of seven who have already achieved excellent results this year in the Slovenian-Croatian-Serbian ice climbing cup. On the eve of the competition, there will be a lecture by Klemen Premrl, one of the world's best ice climbers, at the Domžale Library.



Domžale proudly steps onto the map of international ice climbing venues. The opening competition of the 2017 European Ice Climbing Cup under the auspices of the UIAA and the sponsorship of the Municipality of Domžale is organized by the Domžale Mountaineering Association and the Commission for Mountain Sports of the Alpine Association of Slovenia (PZS), with subsequent EC stops hosted by Slovakia, France, and Finland. For the local community and the wider public, especially ice axe climbing or ice climbing enthusiasts, the important addition is Slovenia's first artificial drytooling wall, equipped with lighting that enables quality training or just recreational climbing even in the evening, which is especially welcome in short winter days.



The European Ice Climbing Cup is this year's novelty, and the EC Domžale 2017 competition will also be the final of the 5th Open Slovenian-Croatian-Serbian Ice Climbing Cup. "The very first European Ice Climbing Cup competition will feature 15 female competitors and 30 male competitors, with twelve countries represented by as many as 45 athletes, which is a really nice number for the first time. All of them will compete in the qualifications, for which Janez Svoljšak and his team have prepared two routes, and the top eight will compete for the highest places in the final. Each will face just one route there. Although the main event is the competition, we have also prepared an interesting supporting program for visitors. On Friday, December 1, in the evening after the lighting of the city's Christmas decorations, the teams from participating countries will present themselves to the gathered crowd at the Domžale market, at 7 p.m., Klemen Premrl, one of the world's best ice climbers, will present his most interesting and hardest ice climbing experiences at the Domžale Library," said competition manager Matej Ogorevc from PD Domžale at the press conference and presented the schedule: "Saturday will be fully dedicated to the competition, starting at 8:15 a.m. with women's qualification performances, followed by men at 11 a.m. The top eight women will compete in the final at 5 p.m., and the top men an hour later. At 7:30 p.m., there will be a ceremonial awarding of medals and cups and the announcement of the best female and male competitors in the overall Open Slovenian-Croatian-Serbian Ice Climbing Cup. We will end the day with a concert by rappers Nipkej and Trkaj, with their guest Challe Salle."



EC ICE CLIMBING DOMŽALE 2017 PROGRAM (entry to all events is free)

Friday, December 1 Saturday, December 2

6:00 p.m. reception of team leaders

(after the lighting of Christmas lights in Domžale)

7:00 p.m. Ice Dreams: lecture by Klemen Premrl 8:15 women's qualifications

11:00 men's qualifications

5:00 p.m. women's and men's finals

7:30 p.m. medal ceremony and concert (Nipkej & Trkaj & Challe Salle)



"The European Cup is intended for climbers who are just preparing to enter the World Cup, and for those ranked below tenth place in the World Cup. Although not intended for the best, it is interesting for them too, so Angelika Rainer from South Tyrol, overall second in the World Cup, will compete in Domžale in the women's category. The European Cup is also an opportunity to promote ice climbing on the old continent, following Domžale there are three more competitions: in December in Slovakia, in January in France, and in February in Finland," explained Andrej Pečjak from the PZS Commission for Mountain Sports, who together with his wife Jasna, the commission's head, is the driving force behind ice climbing in Slovenia, and also presented the milestones of this sports discipline on the sunny side of the Alps. Slovenes are among the pioneers of competitive ice climbing with competitions in Bohinj from 1992 to 1999, the national cup from 2000, competitors at the highest level from 1997, international judges from 2002, and active participation of a PZS representative in the UIAA Ice Climbing Commission and the Ice Climbing Subcommittee in the PZS Commission for Mountain Sports. Top results of Slovenian competitors give a special mark to ice climbing: Janez Svoljšak achieved the first Slovenian World Cup ice climbing victory in the lead category in January 2016 and also won the 2016 European champion title. In 1997, Janez Jeglič - Johan actually celebrated in both lead and speed at the unofficial world championship, which marked the beginnings of the current World Cup, from 1999 to 2005 Aljaž Anderle, Klemen Premrl, and Primož Hostnik also placed excellently. In 2009, Matevž Vukotič won a World Cup competition in Mlačca near Mojstrana and won the World Cup in the speed discipline. Among the girls, Alenka Jerala and Jasna Pečjak competed in the World Cup from 1997 to 2002 (placements from fourth to 15th) and later Tanja Grmovšek, who ended one season even among the finalists.



Competitive ice climbing has mostly moved from ice to artificial walls, such as the one on the parking garage on Masljeva Street in Domžale. "Ensuring more equal conditions for all competitors and climate change have moved ice climbing to rock and artificial structures. Some competitions are still mainly on ice, e.g., in Champagny en Vanoise and Rabenstein, others almost completely on dry walls. In Domžale, the competition wall will be very varied, we will also have an ice pillar, sections imitating ice where ice axes need to be hooked, hanging barrels and ice candles where acrobatic moves will be seen, and many other attractions. Routes are set by Janez Svoljšak, so we can expect a tense battle among the best," predicts Pečjak, also an international UIAA ice climbing judge.



The main route setter for EC Domžale 2017 is Janez Svoljšak, Slovenia's most successful ice climbing competitor, for whom this new role is a special challenge. "Setting routes for the European Cup is quite demanding, as it's a competition with a very wide range of competitors with different experiences and climbing levels, from the world top to those competing more at national levels. It took us quite some time and trying different moves to set routes that I think will be suitable for all competitors through both rounds. We will have ice, ice imitation for hooking and holds, routes will be technically demanding and I think competitors will have to show a lot of knowledge and experience to successfully reach the top," assesses the current European champion, who will not compete in the World Cup this year as he will focus on alpinism: "For the last few autumns and winters, I dedicated myself exclusively to ice climbing competitions, so this year I took a competitive break to fulfill some goals related to climbing in the mountains."



Slovenes will have seven irons in the fire at the home competition: in the women's category Maja Šuštar (AO PD Domžale), currently leading in the Slovenian-Croatian-Serbian Cup, Marija Jeglič (AO PD Ljubljana Matica), and Sara Jaklič (AO PD Kranj), all with World Cup experience, in the men's category Jaka Hrast (AO PD Domžale), also leading in the Slovenian-Croatian-Serbian Cup, Nace Grgorinič (AO PD Kranj), Uroš Grilj (AO PD Ljubljana Matica), and Edvin Nepužlan (AO PD Železničar).



Šuštar and Hrast dominate this year's Open Slovenian-Croatian-Serbian Ice Climbing Cup, which is in its fifth season; last year the Serbian association joined the cups of the Slovenian and Croatian mountaineering associations, which also organized the first competition this year. "The purpose of uniting the cups of Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia is multifaceted: with the waning interest in ice climbing competitions, it makes sense to combine local competitions with a few competitors into a larger one with a broader field, the second purpose is to spread knowledge and enthusiasm for this sports discipline also to areas where ice climbing or drytooling does not have such a tradition as we do. Here I have in mind Serbia, where especially the head of the drytooling and competitive ice climbing commission Katarina Manovski and a good number of enthusiastic competitors are actually breaking new ground in this sport. Thus, they have much better development opportunities as they learn from more experienced northern neighbors. At competitions, we often joke that because of us borders are falling again - and it's not just a joke. We feel very connected, which can be seen at every competition when we cheer for each other regardless of nationality. We are happy for every new competitor, we help each other with training planning, joint preparations, we arrange joint attacks on larger competitions across Europe and ice climbing projects in the mountains ... This is brotherhood in the true sense of the word, as we sang about in the times of the former Yugoslavia," vividly described Maja Šuštar.



For the winner of all three competitions of this year's Balkan Cup, the European trial will be yet another competitive step up: "The competition in Domžale will be strong, if not the toughest, as Angelika Rainer is coming, who last week managed to climb the hardest women's drytooling route, graded D15. However, I don't really have expectations about my placement relative to the others, as I have no idea where I currently stand compared to the European competition. Last year I participated in only one World Cup competition and with the flu ended up on the edge of the semifinals. I know that since then my form is about 200 percent better, and I also started preparing early for this season. I want to achieve at least 80 percent of my current optimal performance and enjoy the performance. Anything deviating from that, I will take as an opportunity for learning and further progress," reflects Kamničanka Šuštar, formerly also a member of the Slovenian sports climbing national team, who plans to compete in the next European Cup competition in Bratislava, in January the World Cup begins, where we can cheer for her in Rabenstein and Saas Fee, then in Russian Kirov, and for the Asian tour she will decide based on the results of European competitions.



"The Municipality of Domžale is not only a place of satisfied people, but also a city of sports, which we prove with numerous sports events. The European Ice Climbing Cup is thus just the icing on the cake of the excellent response from many who use the climbing wall on the parking garage for sports purposes. The municipality built the wall in spring 2016 and the response from citizens and climbing enthusiasts exceeded expectations - from early spring to late autumn it is full of both climbing beginners and climbing aces who come to us from all over Slovenia. The winter makeover will ensure the wall is relevant also for alpinists in winter, thanks to the Domžale Institute for Sports and Recreation. It not only financially and professionally supported the international competition and thus enabled Domžale residents to get to know alpinism, but also enabled us to test ourselves in alpinism. The first artificial drytooling wall will in the future be open to all those eager for winter climbing," emphasizes Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Domžale Renata Kosec, already looking forward to the unique competition: "Domžale residents are already very much looking forward to Saturday's competition, as it is an event that will more than enliven the winter magical happenings in our town. We will have the opportunity to see the best climbers who climb to the top of the garage in the middle of Domžale with an ice axe, which will really be an exceptional and unique event. If the snow we ordered comes, it will be a real Domžale ice fairy tale."



Live broadcast of the final and medal ceremony on Saturday from 5 p.m. onwards will be on the Domzalec.si web portal.