Kovačič just off the podium, Kuhar among the best

The European Championship in ski-mountaineering on the slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily from February 22 to 25 was marked by poor weather, but the best competitors of the old continent managed to compete for the European title. Slovenian colors were successfully represented by Luka Kovačič, who with 4th place among under-23 and 10th place overall in the uphill race achieved the result of his career, Nejc Kuhar with placement in the top 20, and Luka Mihelič and Matjaž Mikloša.



The Slovenian national team in competitive ski-mountaineering, operating under the Alpine Association of Slovenia, successfully performed at the 2018 European Championship on the Italian volcano Etna. Six years after the World Cup race, Nicolosi in Sicily was again the venue for top-level competition, this time the continental championship, where around 200 competitors from 18 European countries competed during the last February weekend. The competition was shaped by gusty winds, rain, and fog, so races were repeatedly canceled and postponed, but Saturday and Sunday allowed the execution of sprint, individual, and uphill races.



The most successful Slovenian representative was Luka Kovačič (TSK Olimpik), who missed the medal by a few seconds in the uphill race among under-23, while in the absolute men's category his good time sufficed for a breakthrough into the top 10. "This was one of my goals for this season, as I really wanted to try how high I could climb in the elite competition. For now, I can compete in the uphill, as it requires only exceptional physical fitness, both physical and mental, and not so much technique and skiing, where I still lag a bit. In my head, I honestly had a medal among under-23, which made me maximally motivated for the race. During the race itself, I managed to hold a really good pace and was always in touch with the best. In the end, I was 10 seconds short of the medal, but I was extremely happy with 4th place among under-23 and 10th overall, as I set the best result of my ski-mountaineering career. I think this is an exceptional success for me, which fills me with huge motivation to progress further. Thanks also to Iztok Cukjati, who obviously prepared me excellently physically for this competition," the 22-year-old from Kranj could not hide his joy, though he achieved 9th place among under-23 or 29th overall in the individual race.



Uphill is also the flagship discipline of Nejc Kuhar (Association for the Development of Ski-Mountaineering), for many years the most successful Slovenian competitor in ski-mountaineering, who achieved his best career placement - 5th place in a World Cup race - right on Etna in 2012. This year's European Championship in strong competition he concluded with 13th place in uphill and 20th in individual. "The European Championship this year was unfortunately mainly marked by bad weather, cancellations, and postponements of events. Nevertheless, the organizers eventually managed to run all races on quite adapted courses. In the individual race, I took 20th place, I expected maybe one place higher but daily condition didn't allow more. Basically, I expected more from the uphill, and I proved it with 13th place, thus fulfilling my goal," the 32-year-old competitor from Preddvor was also satisfied.



Slovenian colors were also represented by newcomer Luka Mihelič (TSK Olimpik) from Naklo, who placed 38th in the uphill race and 46th in individual, and experienced Kranj resident Matjaž Mikloša (TSK Olimpik) with 41st result in individual and 45th in sprint. The European uphill champion was Spaniard Kilian Jornet Burgada, silver went to Italian Davide Magnini, bronze to Spaniard Antonio Alcalde Sánchez, while in the individual race Italians Robert Antonioli and Michele Boscacci climbed to 1st and 2nd place, third was Spaniard Burgada.



Slovenian competitors await the national ski-mountaineering championship this coming weekend on Zelenica and surrounding mountains, specifically uphill on March 3 and individual on the 4th, where recreational ski-mountaineers can also test themselves on the competition course without time measurement.