Sports United,  thanks to an agreement between Euronews and SportAccord, is a programme that  features sports, news, and interviews featuring SportAccord members.
This show is one of the opportunities for the ISMF to gain valuable coverage and additional visibility, thanks to a broadcasting reach of over a billion viewers in over 150 countries, spread across 13 language editions.
Ski mountaineering was visible during the fourth edition of the Sports United news that first broadcast on the 29th of January 2015. The Sports United show runs on a weekly basis and is aired on Thursday each week.
This is for the ISMF an occasion to thank SportAccord for the great opportunity given to our sport as well as Infront and R&C Communications for the stupendous and informative videos and interviews made for the Sport United Show.

The Scarpa ISMF World Cup circuit closed this morning on the snows of Prato Nevoso (Cuneo) with the Sprint Race. The Sprint Race represents a mix of all possible ski mountaineering situations, inversions, stretches on foot, skins on/off transitions and technical slopes. All this is concentrated in little more than four minutes of racing.

After the qualifying heats, the quarter and semifinals, of the men, those on the starting line were Yannick Ecoeur, Nadir Maguet, Josef Rottmoser, William Bon Mardion, Robert Antonioli and Michele Boscacci. Immediately after the starter’s gunshot the two Italians Boscacci and Antonioli went straight to the front to the group, pursued by Rottmoser and William Bon Mardion. Robert Antonioli arrived at the first skins transition with an advantage of a couple of seconds with respect to Boscacci and Rottmoser. The first to shot off on foot is Michele Boscacci, a fraction of a second behind are Antonioli and Rottmoser, and a little further back is the Frenchman William Bon Mardion. The small group climbs at the same pace, but at the last skins transition the first to arrive is still Antonioli, then Boscacci and Bon Mardion. Antonioli, maybe losing for a moment the lucidity that has always made him stand out, does a not-too-rapid skins transition. Boscacci takes advantage and throws himself down the slope towards the finishing line, just in front of Antonioli; the two of them fly towards the finishing line with Bon Mardion hot on their tails. Antonioli, not wanting to put winning the World Cup speciality at risk, doesn’t force the downhill slope and even makes some less-than-perfect manoeuvres, which lead to his team mate Boscacci crossing the finishing line by himself. Boscacci, executing a perfect downhill run, as his entire race, stopped the stopwatch with a time of 3’30’’. Antonioli, just behind him, manages by a hair’s breadth to confirm second place, while Bon Mardion is third. After which Josef Rottmoser, Nadir Maguet and Yannik Ecoeur arrive.

In the women’s race Laetitia Roux makes it to the final having won all the heats. With her at the starting line are Emelie Forsberg, Marta Garcia Farres, Valentine Fabre, Elena Nicolini and Malene Haukøy.
Roux runs the final without error and crosses the finishing line with a time of 3’43’’. Just behind her is a surprising Emelie Forsberg and the Swiss Valentine Fabre. Marta Garcia Farres and Elena Nicolini are respectively fourth and fifth, while Malene Haukøy is sixth.
In the Juniors Race, of the boys the Swiss Thomas Corthy wins with a time of 3’19, ahead of Arnaud Gasser and Nicoló Canclini. Of the girls Giulia Compagnoni wins. Marianne Fatton and Alba De Silvestro are second and third.
Nadir Maguet and Marta Garcia Farres are first in the Espoir category.
As regards the final ranking of the World Cup speciality, the Sprint Race, in the Junior category Thomas Corthay and Giulia Compagnoni win, in the Espoir category Nadir Maguet and Marta Garcia Farres win the Crystal Cup.
Of the Seniors, Robert Antonioli and Laetitia Roux have dominated the season and won the World Cup Sprint Race.

Photos HD

Race results are online on ISMF website.

http://ismf-ski.org/www/content/races-result?id=134

All the new provisional World cup rankings are on

http://ismf-ski.org/www/content/rankings-podiums&ranking=wc2015

The route of the race for the Senior and Espoir categories includes 4 climbs and 4 downward runs for an overall altitude gain of 1,700 metres over 13.7 kilometres. Three sections can be done on foot with skis in the backpack. The Junior Men’s category consists of a route with 4 uphill slopes and 3 downhill slopes for an overall altitude gain of 1,580 metres. The Junior Women will face a shorter route of
 1,135 metres of altitude gain over three uphill slopes.

After lunch at 3 o’clock an exhibition of the Patrouille des Glaciers will be open in the Museum of Bagnes, while the official prize giving ceremony will be held in the Sala San Marco at 5 o’clock.
On Sunday morning at 10 o’clock the Vertical Race which passes through the centre of Verbier and finishes at Les Ruinettes at 2,150 metres will start. For the Senior categories the altitude gain will be 755 metres, while for the Junior categories the altitude gain will be 619 metres.
The Open Category athletes and children will also participate in these races.

Prize giving will take place in the Sala San Marco at 2 in the afternoon.
 As regards the line up for the departures the best international athletes have enrolled including the winner of the 2013 World Cup William Bon Mardion who will have to defend himself against competition from Kilian, Matheo Jacquemoud, Robert Antonioli, Michele Boscacci, and Martin Anthamatten.
Of the women Laetitia Roux will be up against Maude Mathis, Emelie Forsberg, Axelle Mollaret and Elena Nicolini.

The total number of countries represented is 15: Andorra, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The latest news show that the “Individual” -World Cup and Swiss cup- on Saturday 18th January will take place on the original track. In case of changes, the technical commission may modify it according to the technical delegates of ISMF.
Concerning the Sunday 19th January race, the Vertical will take place between Médières and Les Ruinettes in the Verbier area. The competitors of the World cup will start at 10am from Médières and will pass trough Main Square in Verbier up to Médran to climb to Les Ruinettes via Clambin. The local organizing comity wished to give the opportunity to the fans of this sport to take advantage of the infrastructure set for the World cup to measure themselves to the top World competitors. Inscriptions are available on the event’s website: www.verbier2015.ch or on Sunday morning until 8am in Le Châble at the Espace St.Marc.
The first start will take place at 9am in Médières. And for the very young, the local comity invites them to compete on a short track up to Médran. The fee is offered.

On Saturday 18th January, the public can attend these competitions by using the new cable car Le Châble-Bruson to reach the competition track up to La Pasay hider with the chair lifts or on skins and on Sunday 19th January, take the cable car Le Châble-Verbier-Les Ruinettes. Many entertainments will take place during both days including the official opening of the exhibition dedicated to the 30 years of la Patrouille des Glaciers at the Bagnes museum.
The press room and the welcome desk are located in Le Châble at the Espace St.Marc and will be open for the accreditations on Friday 17th from 2pm to 7pm, Saturday 18th from 7am to 7pm and on Sunday 18th 7am to 3pm.
TK Sportmanagment, M. Thomas Kappen, director (+41 76 376 81 15) will produce TV shootings which can be used for television medias.
The tracks, the participants’ listings and the programs of the competitions are available on the website: www.verbier2015.ch and if further information is needed, please contact us.

Imperial Italians

Mattéo Eydallin and Damiano Lenzi took home the coveted title for  Italy.  Winners  of  the  Pierra Menta, the Tour du Rutor and the Patrouille  des  Glaciers  in  2014,  they  proved  themselves  again. From the first few metres, they had set a steady rhythm. They kept it right to the end. « We wanted this title, » commented Damiano Lenzi, winner of last year’s World Cup. « It was the only one we were missing, » added his team-­‐mate Mattéo Eydallin. He went on : « The conditions were  perfect today. Damion and I were in perfect harmony. »

Frenchmen   Xavier   Gachet   and   William   Bon   Mardion   finished   in   2nd    place.   « We   started   out

cautiously, » admitted Xavier. « As the race went on, we edged forward. We are delighted to have won silver. » Italy’s Robert Antonioli and Michele Boscaci  took  bronze.  Valentin  Favre  and  Didier Blanc of France came fourth, just missing out on a medal.

High-­‐profile Swiss
The Swiss CAS Team had 4 teams lined up. Haut-­‐Valaisan Martin Anthamatten and Bernois Werner Marti came in 5th. « It’s a good result, » said Anthamatten. « We put in  a steady performance. We were in perfect unison. »

In the final World Championship race of his career, Florent Troillet finished a respectable 10th alongside his friend Marcel Marti. « It feels great to finish here at home, on this fabulous course, » said an emotional Florent Troillet at the finishing line. « The conditions have been exceptional for this World Championships. The weather has been on our side, the snow conditions are excellent and the spectators bring enormous support. Now I’m going to take it a bit easy. I’ll still be there for the team races, especially the Pierra Menta. »

Steven Girard and Baptiste Spicher from Fribourg came in an encouraging 13th. Alan Tissières and Marcel Theux from Valais came 14th after a smoothly handled race. « We both had moments where we eased off, » explained Alan Tissières. His team-­‐mate added : « It’s a real pleasure to take part in these World Championships at home. Thank you to the organisers. »

Race results are online on ISMF website

http://ismf-ski.org/www/content/races-result?id=129

At the core of this reorganisation is the Sport Department, under the coordination of Lluis Lopez (Spain), the vice president sport. The heart of the Department is the Sport Director, Rebecca Vernon (United Kingdom) who coordinates the new Technical Director Gil Oriol (Spain), the Referee Manager Oriol Montero (Spain), the Technical Consultants Alex Pellissier (France) and Jordi Canals (Spain), the Project Manager of Les Grandes Courses working group Pierre Dupont (France), the Sport Development Commission and the Technical Commissions (Rules, Coaches, Athletes).

Another important area is Anti-doping, coordinated by the Anti-Doping Manager Anne Bochatay (Switzerland) and SportAccord, as Service Provider. The management of the Therapeutic exemptions, starting from the upcoming season, is a new job for the International Federations that will be managed by the Medical Commission, under the coordination of Pierre Dollo (France).

Despite the strong wind and the storm, the new formula brought about some really tough challenges with Michele Boscacci, the Italian champion, trying to bring home his second solo win at the Cup until the very end. After three rounds in the lead, his date with the highest step of the podium gave in to the all-out attack of the Spanish Kilian Jornet, who won in 1h 23’48”. Second place went to Michele Boscacci – 1h23’59”. In the contest for third place, it was the Swiss Werner Marti (1h24’50”) who won the day, with just 8” over the French Mathéo Jacquemoud.

They were followed by Xavier Gachet, Anton Palzer (first Espoir), William Bon Mardion, Rémi Bonnet (second Espoir), Robert Antonioli and Martin Anthamatten.

The women’s challenge (also run in four rounds) was won by Sweden, with Emelie Forsberg the first to hit the finishing line in 1h 43’15”. She shared the podium with the Spanish Claudia Galicia Cotrina, with 1h 43’25”. Third place for the other Spanish girl, Laura Orgué Vila – 1h 44’12”-, fourth place for Jennifer Fiechter. Fifth place for the French Laetitia Roux. The French champion, who was back after a long time recovering from surgery, led the race after the first round, then lost ground just before the end. Sixth place for Garcia Ferres Marta, and seventh place (first Espoir) for Alba De Silvestro. Martina Valmassoi, Nahia Quinciones Altuna and Mireia Mirò Varela made the top ten as well.

In the Junior class, first success of the season for the French Samuel Equy in 1h30’38” over Davide Magnini in 1h31’22” and Inigo Martinez de Albornoz Marques – 1h34’00”-. An Italian duo won the women’s Junior race with Giulia Compagnoni in first place with 1h22’45”, followed by Giulia Murada – 1h24’02”, while the third place went to the French Lena Bonnel – 1h24’44”-.

Now the individual challenge is over and done with, it will be the turn of the Vertical race in Arnisal tomorrow.

Photo Gallery HD

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0Bxbuxds-oXM6eHM5eUo5U3RNTjg&usp=sharing

Results are online on ISMF website

http://ismf-ski.org/www/content/races-result?id=151

Official results

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bxbuxds-oXM6MDRWcU5tRXJFQTA/view?usp=sharing

After several seasons the Valtellina Orobie is back among the great worldwide ski mountaineering events as second appointment of the 2016 ISMF World Cup. The 30th edition featured an unusual start and finish to be crossed on foot. The athletes of the individual event have had to prove their worth on a track with 1750 m of positive altitude difference, 5 uphill stretches, 5 slopes, 11 set-up changes, open ridges and spectacular downhill chase-downs. The little snow that fell so far this winter had made these parts all the more athletically challenging.

On his home mountains Michele Boscacci has attempted since the very start to win the race; he lived the dream and gave hope to his fans for three quarters of the race, before Kilian Jornet caught up and got the better of him. After a spectacular head-to-head, the two came together at the finish line in Campelli, a few kilometres from Albosaggia. The winner was declared by photo finish and then using the chip. Jornet finished the race in 1h, 35’28”609, Boscacci in 1h 35’28”690. Anton Palzer, the first among the Espoir, came third in 1h 35’56”, followed by a steadily and progressively growing Robert Antonioli. The top ten also included Xavier Gachet (FRA), Valentin Favre (FRA), Mathéo Jacquemoud (FRA), Martin Anthamatten (SUI), Matteo Eydallin and Alexis Sevennec (FRA).

The women – and junior men – race comprised 4 uphill and as many downhill stretches (1315 D+ 1315D-). As for the women the French Laetitia Roux got her first success. The queen of ski mountaineering was restored to her throne ending the race first in 1h 42’30” before her Swiss rival Jennifer Fiechter – 1h 44’59” – and the Swede Emelie Forsberg – 1h 46’51”. Worth reporting is that Forsberg lost the second place after a time penalty: incorrect position of her skis in the bag. The Spaniard Claudia Galicia finished fourth before the azzurra Katia Tomatis; then, Valentine (France), Martina Valmassoi (Italy), Mireia Mirò and Marta Garcia (Spain) and the young – and first among the Espoir – Alba De Silvestro (Italy). In the Junior race Italy conquered the first two spots with Davide Magnini e Giulia Compagnoni; after 3 uphill and 3 downhill stretches (990 D+ 990 D-), the podium was completed by Lena Bonnel (France) and the local favourite Giulia Murada. As regards the men podium, the French Samuel Equy finished second and Nicolò Canclini won the bronze medal.

Tomorrow the World Cup circus will be back on track at the Centro Sportivo Caspoggio with the Sprint event.

Photo Gallery HD

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0Bxbuxds-oXM6aENMQ0FIa3E3U2c&usp=sharing

Online on ISMF website : http://ismf-ski.org/www/content/races-result?id=152

All the ISMF World Cup rankings are online on

http://ismf-ski.org/ismf2011/rankings.php