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Ski Mountaineering World Championships in Verbier

A great week of events at the ISMF Ski Mountaineering World Championships

featured in Events reviews Author Ben Gilbert, Verbier Reporter Updated

Verbier/Val de Bagnes saw the arrival of the 8th Alpine Skiing World Championship on the 6th-12th February. The Championships saw the largest amount of athletes ever to compete in the competition, with 251 athletes from 23 nations including, China, USA, Japan, Norway, Italy, France, Bulgaria and of Course Switzerland. 

The Championships consist of a Sprint Race, Individual races, Vertical race, Team race and the Team relay, from Men's,Women's, Juniors, Seniors, Espoirs and Cadets all taking part.

In the first two weekends of the championship, Killian Jornet (ESP) won the individual and the vertical race, so going into the week in Verbier, he was expecting to do it again. The favourite in the women's category was Laetitia Roux who won every race in 2014 and so far in 2015 she is doing the same. 

In the first sprint race in Champsec, Haute-Valasian Iwan Arnold took Bronze behind the formidable Robert Antonolio and Germanys Josef Rottmoser. The winner of the women's "Patrouilles des Glaciers" last year, Valasian Séverine Pont Combe won bronze in her category. 

The Vertical race from Médiéres to Les Ruinettes saw the athletes climb 847 metres and the Catalan Killian Jornet smashed it in just under 40 minutes, in front of a large crowd at the finish line. Victoria Kreuzer the Haut-Valasian took Bronze in the womens with a time of 45 minutes 47 seconds.

The sun was still shining on the 3rd day and the juniors and cadets took centre stage in Verbier. Rémi Bonnet From Gruyére, Fribourg took the title in the mens juniors by a whopping 30mins. In the men's cadet category Jullien Ancay from Fully took 2nd Place and Florian Ulrich from Vaud took 3rd place. In the women's Florian Buchs took bronze and said she was "over the moon with the result". 

The forth day saw the individual race in Bruson on a glorious day and up stepped Killian Jornet again. With perfect snow conditions and more blue skies, Killian regained his title in front of Itallian duo Robert Antonioli and Mattéo Eydallin.

The Juniors took the spotlight for the 5th day, with still fantastic weather and an amazing backdrop, Réni Bonnet took his second Gold of the Championships and Jullian Ancay finished 2nd in the cadets Individual race. Verbier's Arnaud Gasser was very happy with his 5th place to go along already, with his other 5th and 2nd place in the Championship. 

The 6th and 7th days saw the team race and the team relay set on Mont Géle and the final day in Champsec. The Italians took gold in both races for the men in a very close battle with France and Switzerland. In the women's, Switzerland lost out to France on the final day by just 8 seconds, after an incredible race from Laetitia Roux and the French team succeeding from their victory the day before in the Team Race. 

It was a fantastic week held in Verbier/Val De Bagnes, well done to all the Athletes who competed!

Location

Map of the surrounding area