The UIAA congratulates UIAA Ski-Mountaineering and the Swiss Alpine Club on the great success of the 4th Ski-Mountaineering World Championship, organised in Portes du Soleil in Switzerland. Working under difficult meteorological circumstances, a dedicated group of volunteers from the Swiss Alpine Club ran a series of events which concluded on Friday the 29th of February with the long distance race from Morgins to Champéry (24 km, + 3000 vertical meters for the men’s race.) In very harsh weather and snow conditions, the Gold, Silver and Bronze medallists managed to finish within three hours!
In the final Nations Medal ranking, the Italian team took 1st place, followed by the home team, Switzerland, and France. Check the Ski-Mountaineering section for full results.
The UIAA Board was in Portes du Soleil for a Board meeting arranged to co-incide with the World Championship. Mike Mortimer, the UIAA President was impressed with the athletes and with the quality of the organisation. “Congratulations to the ski mountaineers for organising such a tremendous event. I was particularly encouraged to see the truly international character with UIAA federations from all over the world, such as New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Chile and Argentina”, he said.
Given the high quality of the performance of the athletes and the level of organisation Mike believes that this sport is well positioned to meet the high standards of the IOC. “Ski Mountaineering is one of the most interesting of all mountain sports combining both athletic ability and mountaineering skills. It is hard not to be impressed with the vitality and the excitement surrounding the competition. Bravo to both the event host, the Swiss Alpine Club and also to the athletes,” he said.
