The countdown has begun: 30 days until the 3rd Südtirol Ultra Skyrace

As soon as it starts on Friday, July 24th at 22 p.m., the extreme mountain runners have a maximum of 40 hours to complete the horseshoe tour in the Sarntal Alps over a distance of 121 kilometers (7554 meters in altitude). For them it goes from the Bozen basin up to the Rittner Horn, over the Sarner Scharte to the Latzfonser Kreuz. The extreme sports event then continues via the Fahnerschartenhütte to the Penser Joch, where around half of the route is completed.

Afterwards we go over the Scree Joch to the Oberberg, Unterberg, Alpler Nieder and the Hirzer Hütte. From there the athletes have to climb to the highest point of the race, namely the Obere Scharte at almost 2700 meters, just below the summit of the Hirzer. Now the participants of the South Tyrol Ultra Skyrace can expect a long descent to the finish on the Talferwiesen in Bolzano: past the Kratzberger See to Mittager, up to the Stoanernen Mandln, and via Langfenn to the town of Jenesien down to the state capital.

“Of course we have a lot to do a month before the starting signal. We are a motivated group and together with our 500 volunteers we will do everything we can to ensure that the participants have an unforgettable weekend in our mountains. To date, around 280 participants from 19 different nations have registered for the mountain run. We'll definitely break the 300 mark, maybe we'll even be able to reach the 400 participant mark," says OC boss Josef Günther Mair confidently.

Rabensteiner and Gross want to repeat last year's victory In the first two editions of the South Tyrol Ultra Skyrace, which GRW Sarntal, Athletes and Dynafit are responsible for organizing, two local extreme athletes performed best. Klausner Alexander Rabensteiner and Annemarie Gross from Sarnen, who lives in Merano, have won in the last two years. Both are at the start again this year, but face strong competition.

Rabensteiner in particular has to assert himself against a large number of top-class competitors. Above all, the German Stephan Hugenschmidt, who lives in Switzerland, won the Zugspitz Ultratrail last year, took fifth place at the Transvulcania and shared victory at the Sardona Ultratrail with his compatriot Matthias Dippacher, who also took part in the Südtirol Ultra Skyrace . "We will give our best. Then we will see whether it is enough for the third win in a row,” said Rabensteiner and Gross in unison at the press conference. For the majority of participants, the South Tyrol Ultra Skyrace is a fight against their own limits.

If the 121 kilometers are (still) too long for you, you can try the 68-kilometer “short” route with an altitude of 4260 meters. There is a significant change here compared to the previous year. “The starting signal for the so-called Südtirol Ultra Skyrace “short” no longer takes place on Friday evening, but on Saturday morning (July 25th) at 7 a.m. on the Talferwiesen. A change that was particularly well received by the participants. Already now, a month before the big showdown, 40 more starters are registered than last year,” explained OK boss Mair.

Eurac is conducting a study on fluid balance in mountain runners This year, for the first time, there will be a combined ranking for all participants who complete both the South Tyrol Ultra Skyrace “short” and the Maddalene Skymarathon. The two mountain running events will work closely together in the future. This year too, the Südtirol Ultra Skyrace counts as a qualifying run for “The North Face® Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc® 2016”. Four points are awarded to all finishers on the original route, while the finishers of the Südtirol Ultra Skyrace “short” get two points. This is also a quality feature that the organizers are particularly proud of.

In addition, the Eurac Institute for Alpine Emergency Medicine is conducting the South Tyrol Ultra Skyrace 2015 in collaboration with the mountain rescue service in the Alpine Association of South Tyrol and the Corpo Nazionale del Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico CNSAS, the Institute of Sports Science at the University of Innsbruck and the Central Laboratory for Clinical Pathology at the Bolzano Hospital and with the support of the organizer and the company Roche Italia, carried out a study on fluid balance in ultra-mountain running.

Finally, Josef Günther Mair thanked all sponsors and partners who were represented at the press conference by Jakob Oberrauch (athlete), Oscar Angeloni (Dynafit) and Andrea Kröss (Bozen Tourist Office). “I would also like to thank the state emergency service and the mountain rescue service, which is represented here today by state chief Ernst Winkler. Without your support and the help of the volunteers we would never be able to hold an event of this magnitude. Here’s to the success of this third edition of the Südtirol Ultra Skyrace,” concluded Mair.

Football

Italy

International leagues

International

Winter sports

Tennis

Other sports

Motorsport

Cycling

Watersports

Events

Favorites

The countdown has begun: 30 days until the 3rd Südtirol Ultra Skyrace

Suggestions

Comments (0)