Ice Climbing 2009

By Markuz Lindgren (We are very much interested to come in contact with somebody who could report from the comps)

The big news this year is the restrictions of heelspurs in the climbing shoes. According to the document Interdiction of Spurs 2009 they are now forbidden to use during competitions.
According to UIAA they want to follow the natural trend in mix- and ice climbing. This will encourage the climbers to develop new techniques and strategies in their way of climbing, specially in competitions. Otherwise the rules has not changed so much, but are more simple to read and understand than last years rules.
New this year is also that UIAA has an online form for the registrations.

This will surely benefit some of the strong climbers that can hang on to the tools for hours if the route setters don't make them more technical. Without the spurs every one has to climb faster, or find other rests instead of using every positiv hold on the wall with the heelspur. The classic figure of four will probably be used more to overcome big roofs. Or big roofs might not be part of the new routes at all. We will see.
But already in 2008 the route setters made routes which were more technical and more demanding on specific practice in mixed ice climbing. More shaped natural rock instead of plastic holds will also create better competitions since no one has the advantage of practicing on the holds. Also the plastic hold often were "too good" because a sharp pick could easily get stuck in it, so dynoing to hold is no problem. Natural rock demands more precise movements and balance.

Dates:
    * UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup - Val Daone / 16-17-18 January 2009, Lead, stage 1
    * UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup - Saas Fee / 22-24 January 2009, Lead, stage 2 / Speed, stage 1; Ice Climbing 2009 World Championship - Lead and Speed;
    *  UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup, Mojstrana, Slovenia / 31 January - 1 February 2009,  Speed, stage 2
    *  UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup, Busteni, Romania /  5-8 February 2009, Lead and Speed, stage 3 / FINALS; Ice Climbing 2009 World