SkiMo World Champs Wrap

The Ski Mountaineering World Championships in Morgins was held from 2-8 March in Morgins, Switzerland, where record number of Australians competed. Rob Jones compiled the following report from the World Champs.

VERTICAL RACE
The Vertical Course for the ISMF World Championships saw seven Australian athletes compete against the best in the world on a brutal course. The course consisted of climbing 500 vertical meters in 2.7km in a mass start format.

The women were the first to take on this brutal course with Lara Hamilton, Innika De Rosa and Kate Zander all signing up for this suffer fest. The women all performed excellently with Lara Hamilton managing to snake a top 20, finishing in 19th place in a field of 49 starters, only six seconds off 18th. Innika and Kate managed to battle it out, finishing in 41st and 43rd respectively on the picturest yet brutal course.

In the men’s, Brian Lichi, Daniel Trevena, Bastien Missud and Issac Thompson all signed up for the suffer-fest that was to follow. Reigning World Champion Remi Bonnet revelled in his home crowd support to set the quickest time and claim yet another World Championship Gold. This didn’t stop the Aussie lads from seeking to upset a number of European locals though. Bastien and Dan fought together with Dan managing to pip Bastien for honours in the last 20 meters of the race with the pair finishing in 73rd and 74th respectively. Brian managed to have one of his best Vertical performances of his career with him finishing in a very respectful 82nd while Isaac, fresh into his first vertical at a World Championship of World Cup managed to finish in 87th position.

All Australians left it out on the track, completing the brutal course on top of a Swiss Mountain as the Sun Set, all thankful that the following day would be a rest from racing.

SPRINT
On Thursday 6 March, six Australian Athletes would take to the start line to compete against the Worlds Fastest SkiMo Athletes on a course consisting of 70 meters of vertical gain and a fast, ski-cross style downhill. Unfortunately, Innika De Rosa broke her leg and ankle in training on the Wednesday and Ava McCann had come down with a serious illness which ruled them both out of competing.

None the less, Lara Hamilton and Kate Zander would hold the flag for the Australians while Phillip Bellingham, Bastien Missud, Daniel Trevena and Brian Lichi would push hard on the men’s side.  

In the women’s event, Lara managed to have the sprint race of her career, finishing in 41st position out of 70 starters, only 11 seconds of qualifying. Kate put in a respectable race although unable to replicate her performance in the Bormio Test event the week prior, finishing in 64th position.

In the men’s event, Oriol Cardona Coll, the World Championship favourite set a blistering pace of 2:45.40 to win the qualification. This did not deter the Aussie men with Phil managing to continue his excellent season placing in 48th position out of 91 starters and only 12 seconds of qualifying for the heats. Unfortunately, Bastien managed to lose a skin after the diamonds section, costing him valuable time. None the less, he managed to recovery and finish in 86th position. Dan, using the event as a tune up for the upcoming teams and individual also put in a solid effort, finishing in 87th, while Brian, who was competing in his final event of the season managed to finish in a highly respectable 88th position. 

INDIVIDUAL
The premier event of the championships, the Individual, occurred on Friday 7 March and would see yet again a strong contingent of Australian Athletes competing. This included Kate Zander in the women’s field and Bastien Missud and Daniel Trevena in the Mens.

The course would consist of up to 1500 vertical meters gained over 12km. The course would take athletes on short and sharp brutal climbs with incredibly technical and icy descents through the trees. 

In the women’s event, surprise Swedish Athlete Tove Alexandersson would set the winning time, managing to gap the next best by over 2 minutes. This didn’t deter veteran Aussie Kate to put in her all. Kate managed to ski smoothly, transitioning and slowly climbing through the field to finish in an impressive 33rd position out of 47 starters. This included besting top athletes from Spain, Poland and the USA.

In the men’s event, yet again Remi Bonnet would show the world why he is one of the greatest SkiMo Athletes ever seen by wining in an amazing time of 1:33:07.4. This time did not deter both Aussie men with Bastien skiing smooth, transitioning well and finishing in 68th out of 87 starters. Dan, competing in his first World Championship or World Cup individual managed to overcome the heat and a fall to finish in an impressive 71st position.

Post-race, both men had to recover quickly in order to prepare for the longest event of the championships the next day, the Teams race. 

TEAMS
The Teams race. The single most brutal race of the entire championships. This would see pairs of athletes competing together as a team over a 21km course with over 2000 vertical meters of climbing against the best in the world. The athletes would cover terrain consisting of extended boot packs, vertical climbs of over 500m and highly technical downhills in all snow conditions (fresh powder, ice and deep slush). In this event, Australia entered a team for the first time, with Bastien Missud and Daniel Trevena competing as a team, fresh off their performances the previous day in the Individual. 

Both men started out strong and quickly set into their pace. The rules require team mates to be no more than 30 seconds apart, thus requiring a balancing of strengths and efforts. Although heavily fatigued by a week of racing (with Bastien racing in every event of the week), both Aussies skied well, overcoming all challenges and finishing proudly in 25th position out of 28 teams.

CONCLUSION
The ISMF World Championships were a highlight of not only the Australian Athletes, but for all who competed. The organising committee in Morgins and the ISMF managed to highlight the challenges and the beauty of the sport of Ski Mountaineering. This World Championships represented the high point for Australian SkiMo, with the most athletes competing at a championships and a number of Australian best results. 

From here, Kate Zander, Lara Hamilton Ava McCann, Daniel Trevena and Issac Thompson will head to Schladming to compete in the next World Cup consisting of a Vertical and Sprint event. These athletes will be met with Anna Trnka who will also be re-joining the World Cup to compete against the best in what is set to be more brutal, fast and furious racing.