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Austrian climbers stun Chamonix competition

Two Austrian competitive climbers have shown their form by scoring a double silver in competition in the French alpine resort of Chamonix, on the slopes of Mont Blanc.

Published: 14 July 2014 15:25 CEST
Austrian climbers stun Chamonix competition
Jakob Schubert climbing in Chamonix. Photo: ÖWK/Heiko Wilhelm
Current World Champion climber, the Austrian Jakob Schubert showed that he was in great climbing form by earning a silver medal.
 
His team mate Magdalena Roeck also excelled with a silver in her competition, which is the season opener for 2014.
 
"I am very happy with my race here in Chamonix. The routes were tough and demanding; we were really challenged. And now I have for my second World Cup after injury 180 points on the board – a cool thing," said Jakob Schubert after the event. 
 
These 180 points mean Schubert has the lead in the overall climbing World Cup standings after two eight-lead climbing competitions. 
 
In the women's competition, Magdalena Roeck took second place (160 points) behind the two-time winner Jain Kim from Korea (200 points).  Her first World Cup victory seems to be only a matter of time for the Junior World Champion. 
 
The competition circuit this year will take the climbers back to Austria in August, then on to Italy, Korea, China, Japan and Slovenia.
 
 

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CLIMATE CRISIS

Austria ‘likely to be ice-free within 45 years’

Austria is set to become largely "ice-free" within 45 years, the country's Alpine Club warned Friday, as two of its glaciers last year melted by more than 100 metres.

Published: 6 April 2024 12:17 CEST
Austria 'likely to be ice-free within 45 years'

Amid growing concerns over the effects of extreme warming on glaciers around the world, the latest report by the Austrian Alpine Club (OeAV) showed that rapid glacial retreat over the past seven years had accelerated.

The study found that 93 Austrian glaciers observed by the organisation retreated by 23.9 metres (78.4 feet) on average last year, marking the third-biggest glacier melt since measurements began in 1891.

Two of the glaciers showed especially drastic declines, with the Pasterze shrinking by 203.5 metres and the Rettenbachferner by 127 metres.

The 2023 readings came after the worst year on record for glacier melt in Austria, with glaciers shrinking by 28.7 metres (94.2 feet) on average in 2022.

Faced with extreme warming in the Alps, glacial ice in Austria could largely disappear within 45 years, the Alpine Club warned, adding that restrictive climate protection measures were introduced too late.

“In 40 to 45 years, all of Austria will be pretty much ice-free,” Andreas Kellerer-Pirklbauer, head of the Alpine Club’s glacier measurement service, told reporters on Friday.

The OeAV urged increased protection of glaciers as part of overall efforts to sustain biodiversity, noting that expansions of ski resorts had put Alpine regions “under constant pressure”.

According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), major glaciers worldwide suffered the largest loss of ice since records began in 1950, “driven by extreme melt in both western North America and Europe”.

In Switzerland, where the WMO is based, Alpine glaciers have lost 10 percent of their volume in the past two years alone.

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