Attend an Ice Climbing World Cup Event

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Ice Climbing is a relatively young competitive sport even though it can trace its routes back to 1912 when a contest was staged at the Brenva Glacier in Courmayer, Italy to identify the person that could scale an ice wall faster than anyone else. Modern competitions saw their beginnings in Russia in the early 1970’s with events that stressed speed, difficulty and endurance. Competitions in Courchevel, France beginning in the mid 1990’s were also widely followed including a contest to identify the individual that could scale the greatest distance up a 40 meter tall wall in a timed event. The Winter X Games also includes distance and speed oriented ice climbing events. The International World Cup for Ice Climbing saw its beginning in 2000 in Cortina, Italy. In 2002 the International Ice Climbing Commission of the UIAA (International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation) assumed responsibility for staging these international events that have grown in popularity with the goal to have them included in future Winter Olympic Games. The competitions see racers scramble up a sheer ice wall with nothing but two ice picks in their hands and spikes on their shoes. The most proficient ice climbers are a combination of track athletes, weight lifters and acrobats as they maneuver their way fearlessly up and down the ice. Events are held in a number of sites throughout the world including Ouray Ice Park in Colorado, USA; Canmore, Alberta, Canada; Cheongsong, Korea; Saas Fee, Switzerland; Champagny en Vanoise, France; Busteni, Romania and Kirov, Russia which has hosted the European Championships and World Championships most recently. Your dream to witness a cutting edge extreme athletic competition could be realized by attending an Ice Climbing World Cup Event. Add this to your list and investigate how one of these bourgeoning events could tie in with your other dreams.

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