Lausanne – The ISMF is proud to announce the race calendar for the competitive season 2023/2024, one that will have the strongest ski mountaineering athletes of the world performing at their best from November 2023 until April 2024. Get your agenda ready, the new season is coming with lots of action planned!
“The calendar reflects the impressive growth of the sport in the last years while ISMF and the best athletes of the world are getting ready for the debut of Ski Mountaineering at the Milano Cortina Olympic Games in 2026. The ISMF is also continuing to invest on the youngest athletes, with a revamped and expanded Youth World Cup circuit that will provide many opportunities to the U18 and U20 athletes to start their international competitive career at an early stage”, said ISMF President, Regula Meier.
The 23/24 race calendar includes a combination of classics stops and new additions to the international circuit, providing athletes with more opportunities to compete than ever and greatly organised events that will facilitate an increased media coverage.
The World Cup season will include in total six Sprint, five Mixed Relay, four Individual and four Vertical races. Several LOCs are applying for the Olympic format disciplines, as these have an increased importance for the development of our sport. This also means that there will be less traditional events with Individual and Vertical races, however ISMF strongly believes that this calendar reflects the balance of its sport.
The ISMF World Cup circuit will have seven stops planned in 23/24, with Val Thorens (FRA) kicking off the season with Vertical, Sprint and Mixed Relay races between 24 and 26 November 2023. The circuit will then move to the Pyrenees for Arinsal (AND) on January 20-21 and Boi Taüll (ESP) the following week, with Individual and Vertical races coming up in Andorra and Sprint and Mixed Relay in Spain.
Villars-sur-Olon (SUI) will welcome participants on the fourth stop of the World Cup on 2-5 February, for Sprint, Mixed Relay and Individual races, to then move to Val Martello (ITA) on 22-25 February for Individual Mixed Relay and Sprint races.
Schladming (AUT) will repeat on the World Cup circuit hosting Sprint and Vertical races on March 2-3, and Cortina d’Ampezzo (ITA) will organize the last stop of the World Cup circuit, with four days of racing including Sprint, Mixed Relay, Vertical and Individual races on April 6-10.
The European Championships will take place in Flaine-Chamonix, France, on January 8-12, with U18, U20, U23 and Senior athletes competing on Individual, Sprint, Vertical and Mixed Relay races. The classic Patruille des Glaciers -Zermatt, SUI- will host the ISMF-LGC World Championships Long Distance Team on 20 April.
The younger athletes of the Ski Mountaineering circuit will have an expanded Youth World Cup circuit that will start in Méribel (FRA) on 9 December with Sprint and Individual races on the menu for the U18 and U20 athletes. The second stop will take place in Bormio (ITA) on 3-4 February with Sprint and Mixed Relay events, also for the U18 and U20 athletes.
The third Youth World Cup will take place in Berchtesgaden (GER), on 17-18 February, with Vertical and Individual formats, while the last stage will be held in Molde (NOR) on 13-17 March for Sprint, Individual, Vertical and Mixed Relay races.
Expanding the race calendar to other continents, the ISMF is including on the calendar the ISMF Series, that will take athletes to Gangwon (KOR) for Vertical and Sprint races on March 9-10.
