After the launch in 2022 and two world championships, SkySnow – skyrunning at altitude on snow – is ready to welcome the first ever European Championships at the Tarvisio Winter Trail in North Eastern Italy, on March 14-15, 2025.
The event was host venue to the 2024 SkySnow World Championships earlier this year and thanks to the growing success of this new sport, the International Skyrunning Federation has decided to extend the discipline with a European Championships, alternating with the World Championships biennially. Other continents may be included in the future.
ISF National Teams from across Europe will battle for the twenty-one medals at stake across the VERTICAL and CLASSIC disciplines, the Combined title, and the country ranking. Sweden, Italy and Germany came out on top at the 2024 SkySnow World Championships where 22 countries participated.
The events will kick off on Friday, March 14, 2025 with the VERTICAL discipline at the Monte Lussari Vertical – 3.6 km long with 974m vertical climb. The race starts at dusk where athletes wear headlamps to illuminate the steep ascent and micro-crampons to grip the snow, passing through a fairy-tale Alpine village to finish at the 1,790m summit and the applause of fans and locals.
Saturday, March 15 is the turn of the Monte Mangart Winter Trail for the CLASSIC discipline, 15 km long with 515m vertical climb. The start and finish are on the shores of the Fusine Lakes, surrounded by pine forests and overlooked by snow-covered mountains where the highest point of the race reaches Monte Mangart at 1,390m altitude.
The spectacular location of the events lies in an amphitheatre surrounded by the Julian Alps in the Udine Province on the border between Austria and Slovenia.
Main sponsor of the events is Italian brand NORTEC, market leader and producer of micro crampons, also sponsor of the 2022 and 2024 SkySnow World Championships.
“We’re very pleased that the ISF has confirmed the organisation of the SkySnow European Championships after the success of the World Championships here in 2024,” commented Maurizio Ragonese, Organising Committee President, “also thanks to the recognition of the work and the great organisation by the Mario Tosi Sports Association and the precious support and sanction of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, the Tarvisio Council and the private sponsors.
“It’s also a well-deserved acknowledgement of the beauty of the two race locations which will feature in the Championships again – Monte Lussari and the Fusine Lakes.
“We’ve already begun to work with institutions and sponsors in synergy with other events in the region with the object of proposing an unforgettable championship to the best European mountain runners.
“The two races will also be valid for the NORTEC/FISky National Circuit and therefore we expect a strong participation of Italian athletes aiming for the ranking of this important circuit,” he concluded.
In Europe, the first snowfalls are already on the ground – a great reason to start training straight away – and to joining the first SkySnow European Championships.
