Italian-French victory at EP Domžale 2017

Italian-French victory at EP Domžale 2017, Šuštar and Hrast winners of SHS Cup.



The opening competition of the 2017 European Cup (EP) in ice climbing in the lead discipline took place in Domžale on December 2, crowning Italian Angelika Rainer and Frenchman Louna Ladevant as winners. Among 45 competitors from 12 countries, seven Slovenes also competed in front of the home crowd, with Marija Jeglič being the most successful in seventh place. The European event was also the final competition of the 5th Open Slovenian-Croatian-Serbian (SHS) Ice Climbing Cup, in which Slovenians Maja Šuštar and Jaka Hrast triumphed.



The opening European Cup 2017 ice climbing competition was organized under the auspices of the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) and the sponsorship of the Municipality of Domžale by the Mountaineering Association Domžale and the Commission for Mountain Sports of the Alpine Association of Slovenia (PZS). The next EP stops are hosted by Slovakia (Dec 9), France (Jan 11-13), and Finland (Feb 23-24). In Domžale, 45 competitors from Finland, France, Croatia, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, and Switzerland sharpened their ice axes and crampons.



In the women's competition, Italian Angelika Rainer was unbeatable, reaching the top of the route as the only finalist confidently. "It was an excellent competition in Domžale, praise to the organizers and route setter who did a great job. I'm very happy that I managed to win," said the favorite of the Domžale competition, also a three-time world champion. Second place was climbed by Dutchwoman Marianne Van der Steen in front of a loud audience that well filled Masljeva Park near the parking garage, and third by Frenchwoman Coralie Jary, despite four stitches from an injury in qualifications.



Among the Slovenian competitors, Marija Jeglič (AO PD Ljubljana Matica) was the most successful, even fourth in qualifications, but a mistake on the ice bulge in the final brought her seventh place. "I'm very satisfied that I was calm and could climb focused. The routes were very good, real praise goes to the route setter Janez Svoljšak, both in qualifications and in the final as far as I climbed, then I watched the other competitors. It was difficult, higher up it overhanged, the moves were technically demanding, and in qualifications it was visible that competitors not used to climbing on ice or wood or hammering ice axes had more trouble," said the Ljubljana native, who nevertheless had a bit of stage fright in front of the home fans but managed to put it aside: "I didn't want to have too high expectations from the audience, because you can be very strong but mess up, your ice axe can fly, you can approach a move wrong or get tangled in the rope or crampons. Anything can happen, but spectators might not know that." Jeglič, also a member of the Slovenian youth alpinist national team (SMAR) and fifth overall in the SHS Cup, decided not to compete this year but to focus on climbing goals without an audience.



Slovenia had two more competitors in the women's field: Sara Jaklič (AO PD Kranj) qualified for 10th (6th in SHS Cup) and Maja Šuštar (AO PD Domžale) for 12th place, while also becoming the winner of the Slovenian-Croatian-Serbian Cup. "Maybe the competition didn't go as expected, but it was a great lesson, because if you fall on an ice climbing competition on the only hold where you need to hammer the ice axe, you just don't deserve the final. It was a good lesson and I have a vision of how to train further, so the defeat was perhaps welcome," summarized the Kamnik woman, who dominated the open Balkan Cup this year, stringing three wins before Domžale. "The Slovenian-Croatian-Serbian Cup competitions were a very good season opener, I learned a lot from them. Next week we're going to Bratislava for the next European Cup competition, where I hope to fix the things that didn't go well now, and in 2018 I'll continue with World Cup competitions," added Šuštar.



The men's final delivered three tops, so time decided the winner. Frenchman Louna Ladevant, leading after qualifications, rejoiced in the victory. "An excellent competition is behind us. Before the first competition of the season, I wasn't entirely sure about my form, so the win really surprised me. The loud fans helped me, the atmosphere was really great," was enthusiastic the French national team member, who beat silver medalist Swiss Lukas Goetz and bronze Russian Nikolai Primerov.



The most successful Slovene Jaka Hrast (AO PD Domžale) finished 9th just below the final edge, only 12 seconds short, but became the winner of the Slovenian-Croatian-Serbian Cup. "I've been doing drytooling for two years, but competing only for two months, so this competition was completely new for me. There was a bit of pressure and nervousness, so I lost those few seconds, I hope next time it will be better. Janez prepared perfect routes, considering it was for both the European and Slovenian-Croatian-Serbian Cup, which is at a slightly lower quality level, but you definitely have to work hard," assessed his performance Hrast, who will also compete in the next European Cup events. Slovenia was also represented by Nace Grgorinič (AO PD Kranj), who qualified for 21st in EP and 5th in SHS Cup, just behind him in 22nd Edvin Nepužlan (AO PD Železničar), fourth in SHS Cup, and Uroš Grilj (AO PD Ljubljana Matica) 27th in EP and 14th in SHS Cup.



"Slovenia as an alpinistic country with tradition and excellent climbers is an ideal venue for an excellently organized competition. We are very pleased that everything went without hitches, the best indicator of the great success of the new European Cup is that there were more competitors on the first competition than expected. In Domžale, it showed how important cooperation and team spirit are, so Switzerland, where I come from, can learn from Slovenia," assessed UIAA delegate Thomas Kaehr of the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA). He was confirmed by Andrej Pečjak (AO PD Domžale and PZS Mountain Sports Commission), the technical leader of the competition and UIAA international judge expert in such events: "The European Cup competition in Domžale is definitely at the level of the best World Cup events in organization. It's hard to have a better team of almost 40 volunteers who helped with the organization, and the competitors made a good spectacle with their performances. The fans were top-notch, there has never been so much audience at any ice climbing competition in Slovenia." The competition director Matej Ogorevc was also satisfied, as was the competition jury: president Nejc Šter and route judges Žiga Šter and Danijela Babović.



Results of the European Cup ice climbing competition Domžale 2017

women - 15 competitors men - 32 competitors

1. Angelika Rainer (ITA)

2. Marianne Van der Steen (NED)

3. Coralie Jary (FRA)

4. Barbara Zwerger (ITA)

5. Sina Goetz (SUI)

6. Olga Kosek (POL)

7. Marija Jeglič (SLO)

8. Cora Vogal (SUI)

...

10. Sara Jaklič (SLO)

12. Maja Šuštar (SLO)



1. Louna Ladevant (FRA)

2. Lukas Goetz (SUI)

3. Nikolai Primerov (RUS)

4. Tristan Ladevant (FRA)

5. Dmitri Maslov (RUS)

6. Dennis Van Hoek (NED)

7. Tapio Alhonsuo (FIN)

8. Ian Hanson (NOR)

9. Jaka Hrast (SLO)

...

21. Nace Grgorinič (SLO)

22. Edvin Nepužlan (SLO)

27. Uroš Grilj (SLO)

Overall standings of the 5th Open Slovenian-Croatian-Serbian Ice Climbing Cup

women - 9 competitors

men - 23 competitors

nations cup

1. Maja Šuštar (SLO) 365 points

2. Antonina Brdarič (SRB) 291 points

3. Katarina Manovski (SRB) 250 points

4. Ivana Mijić (BIH) 110 points

5. Marija Jeglič (SLO) 100 points

6. Sara Jaklič (SLO) 80 points

1. Jaka Hrast (SLO) 380 points

2. Mario Musulin (CRO) 268 points

3. Marko Petrunić (CRO) 265 points

4. Edvin Nepužlan (SLO) 206 points

5. Nace Grgorinič (SLO) 161 points

...

11. Janez Svoljšak (SLO) 100 points

14. Uroš Grilj (SLO) 40 points 1. Serbia 1489 points

2. Slovenia 1432 points

3. Croatia 773 points

4. Bosnia and Herzegovina

110 points