UKC

Kandersteg Ice Festival 2012Report

© Andrea Badrutt
The weekend of the 7th and 8th of January saw the 2012 Kandersteg Ice Climbing Festival take place. 600 people attended the event, enjoying workshops, slideshows and of course an exciting competition.

The top-rope drytooling competition at Kandersteg - 2012  © Jack Geldard / UKC
The top-rope drytooling competition at Kandersteg - 2012
© Jack Geldard / UKC

Tim Emmett  © Jack Geldard / UKC
Tim Emmett
© Jack Geldard / UKC
UKClimbing attended the fantastic event, and were warmly hosted by Black Diamond, one of the lead sponsors and organisers.

Headlining the event was Swiss mountaineer Ueli Steck plus the 'Spray On' team of Will Gadd and Tim Emmett. Their presentations and slideshows were well received, showing mind-blowing footage and images from around the world.

Despite a severe lack of ice in the Kandersteg valley, psyche was high and over 100 people entered the drytooling competition. The floodlit men's final was won by the Swiss Patrik Aufdenblatten, with Austria's Markus Bendler and the Russian Nikolai Primerov claiming second and third places. In the women's competition first place was secured by the Swiss climber Petra Klingler. Petra Müller, also from Switzerland and who has claimed victory in previous years, was second.

The technique workshops on Saturday and Sunday were attended by around 60 eager participants, who tested their skills in dry tooling and received tips and tricks from the competition finalists and seasoned ice climbers

The Saturday night party was one to remember, going on until the early hours of the morning, with ice climbing aficionados from around the globe sharing drinks, ideas and dancefloor space.

A video of the event is currently in production and will be shown on UKClimbing.com soon.

Competition winners Petra Klingler and Patrik Aufdenblatten most likely spent their €500 in the bar!  © Andrea Badrutt
Competition winners Petra Klingler and Patrik Aufdenblatten most likely spent their €500 in the bar!
© Andrea Badrutt

Photo Gallery - Kandersteg 2012:

Black Diamond athlete Andy Houseman was on hand to share his mountain wisdom © Jack Geldard / UKC  © Jack Geldard / UKC
Black Diamond athlete Andy Houseman was on hand to share his mountain wisdom © Jack Geldard / UKC
Patrick Aubert de la Ruee of Black Diamond tucks in to his dinner at Kandersteg 2012  © Jack Geldard / UKC
Patrick Aubert de la Ruee of Black Diamond tucks in to his dinner at Kandersteg 2012
© Jack Geldard / UKC
The men's winners: Markus Bendler 2nd, Patrik Aufdenblatten 1st, Nikolai Primerov 3rd  © Andrea Badrutt
The men's winners: Markus Bendler 2nd, Patrik Aufdenblatten 1st, Nikolai Primerov 3rd
© Andrea Badrutt
The women;s winners: Petra Muller 2nd, Petra Klingler 1st, Lucie Hrozova, 3rd.  © Andrea Badrutt
The women;s winners: Petra Muller 2nd, Petra Klingler 1st, Lucie Hrozova, 3rd.
© Andrea Badrutt
The floodlit event in the evening drew a large crowd  © Andrea Badrutt
The floodlit event in the evening drew a large crowd
© Andrea Badrutt
The floodlit event in the evening drew a large crowd  © Andrea Badrutt
The floodlit event in the evening drew a large crowd
© Andrea Badrutt

The lead sponsors were Polartec , Black Diamond, Petzl and La Sportiva .

The local partners were Kandersteg Tourismus, Kandertal Tourismus, Kandersteg town council and Red Bull.

The magazines Vertical, Klettern and Desnivel and the websites UKClimbing.com and Bergfreunde.de were the media partners.


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12 Jan, 2012
Don't usually post at all but that just seems to be aid climbing with a top rope-real cutting edge stuff
12 Jan, 2012
Perhaps due to the fact there is hee haw ice available at the moment? But still, you are correct.
12 Jan, 2012
Kandersteg is all about the festival, they dont have a lead comp so that it will attract everyone from pros through to beginners. Its a friendly vibe and just a bit of fun to start the competition season. Drytooling could be described as aid climbing in the same way that ice axes are used as a form of aid to ascend vertical ice. Its only training for the real stuff anyway.
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