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Boí Taüll hosts the Skimo World Cup 2024
In 2022 the Catalan resort of Boí Taüll shone with its own light in the organization of the European ski mountaineering championships, and only one year later it catapulted its reputation and, above all, that of this modality with so much to exploit, during the ISMF World Championships Skimo 2024.The ISMF World Championships Skimo Boí Taüll Boí Taüll 2023 will be held just one year later, catapulting its reputation and, above all, that of this modality with so much to exploit.
Now it is back with two events of the Ski Mountaineering World Cup 2024, Sprint on January 27, and Mixed Relay the next day, when it is expected the participation of specialists from all over the world to the privileged environment of the Alta Ribagorça.
Skimo Boí Taüll
Before continuing, it is worth remembering that ski mountaineering, internationally known as Skimo, is a modality that is usually practiced in unmarked and unmarked areas. The fun of this sport lies in making crossings or excursions on the snow, or in ascending or descending peaks on skis. For this reason, its competitions are characterized by the use of very light equipment that allows athletes to speed up their activity to the maximum at the highest altitudes in the world: skis much more agile than those of other modalities, boots designed to optimize both the ascent and descent, helmet and skins to protect us from any inclement weather, and a safety kit that includes shovel, DVA and probe.
The Skimo Boí Taüll 2024 World Cup is co-organized, approved and supported by the International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF), an organization founded in 1999 by the International Union of Mountaineering Associations (UIAA).
To date, some 200 athletes from 27 teams from Andorra, Germany, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, United States, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey and China have already been accredited.
As for national athletes, Oriol Cardona has been proclaimed winner in the first round of the World Cup and recently became European champion in the Sprint and Mixed Relay, as he did two years ago in Boí Taüll. In last year's World Championships he won the gold medal in the Sprint event and a fifth position in the Mixed Relay; this year he is again one of the clear candidates to win the medal in the Sprint and Mixed Relay events.
On the other hand, Marta Garcia (Calldetenes) after getting a fourth position in the Relay last year and a top 10 in the Sprint, will show her possibilities and will try to take the lead in the Sprint and Mixed Relay events.
In the U23 range, it is worth mentioning Ot Ferrer (Berga), who was first in the Youth Olympic Games in 2020 and 6th in the last European Championships of the modality, with many options to make the podium in the Sprint event and Maria Costa, winner of a gold medal in the Sprint modality in the Olympic Games in 2020, and Maria Costa, winner of a gold medal in the Sprint modality in the Youth Olympic Games in 2020.She also won a silver medal in the U23 range at the European Championships held in Flaine-Chamonix last week, in addition to being in the top 10 in the absolute top 10 of the event.
To take into account the role of the Grenadian Ana Alonso, who managed to qualify as European runner-up in the Sprint range last Wednesday, January 10 in Flaine-Chamonix (France) and European champion in the Mixed Relay range; Basque skier Iñigo Martínez had a very good performance in the first round of the World Cup in Val Thorens (France), with a second position in the Sprint event and a third position in the Mixed Relay.
Skimo Boí Taüll 2022
The Boí Taüll ISMF World Cup Skimo 2024 will change the format of the European and World Championships that the resort hosted in February 2022 and March 2023 respectively.
Of the five competition modalities, two will be Olympic events for the first time at the Cortina-Milano 2026 Winter Games. The difference in format between the traditional races and the high-level competitions lies in the adaptation of the routes to make the competition more accessible to spectators and attendees, while facilitating television broadcasting of the events. The two modalities that will be part of the Boí Taüll World Cup will be: sprint and mixed relieves.
This race lasts about 3 minutes and is disputed in a maximum of 70 meters of positive slope. In addition to the spectacular nature of the sprint, we must add a privileged location that will allow us to enjoy the race without having to travel around the resort. We will be at the base of the resort. A spacious start and finish area that offers the possibility of warming up comfortably without losing sight of the course.
A route that begins smoothly to, immediately, enter a constant slope where we find the area of "zetas". When you reach the first change, put skis on your back and start the section on foot will be done comfortably given the width and the little unevenness of this platform. From here the terrain takes a considerable slope that will be saved through steps cut on hard snow.
The second change and the last part of the ascent is made by a stretch with a demanding slope that does not slacken until the last meters of ascent. The descent is traced by an initial terrain of untrodden snow, which will require control and precision on the part of the particitrousers, followed by a couple of fast curves, to finish in the flat part of the start that will require a fairly long stretch to be done with the skating step technique to the finish line.
This race is run in mixed pairs. The first few meters of gentle climb, which then take slope to overcome a slope of 70m positive, after which, we will make a first downhill smooth and wide. We reach the area of the cetas and climb back up a demanding slope that leads us to the section on foot. A short distance with the skis on the back and quite steep, leads us to the last descent before passing relief. A demanding descent in which we have to work on our technique to reach the relay in the best possible conditions.
Mixed Relay in Boí Taüll
Fair but possible deadlines for the new gondola lift that should connect the village of Benasque with the ski slopes of Cerler. If all goes well, the manufacturer will be awarded this summer, and in autumn they will start working for December 2025 to be able to release it.
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