On February 23 and 24, 2019 ANDORRASKIMO ski mountaineering competition will be held in Andorra. The competition will be attended by 460 teams (2-3 people in each). Participants will be able to complete four routes: Skimo2, Skimo4, Skimo6 and Skimo 10. Race promoter, Gerard Riart, told all-andorra.com about the events’ organizational issues, as well as the differences between the competitions:
“ANDORRASKIMO is a format for long distance skiing for teams of two or three people.
The goal of ANDORRASKIMO is to cross Andorra by using all types of skiing. There are three ski resorts in the principality and two valleys on the way of sportsmen. Competitions are aimed at professionals and amateurs who are in love with ski mountaineering and who are ready to challenge themselves.
Along the Skimo6 route you can find six mountain shelters. The length of the route is 30 km, the elevation difference is 2000 m above sea level. It runs from Naturlandia to Grau Roig through the Madriu valley. This route is without special technical difficulties.
Skimo10 contains 10 mountain shelters. It is 70 km with a height difference of 5000 meters (the competition lasts two days). The first stage is the Skimo6 route, the second stage is the transition from Grau Roig to Arcalis – this stage contains many technical difficulties.
For the 2018-2019 season, we will also offer two new routes. Skimo 2 – a competition for young people under 18 years. The distance of the route is 14 km, the elevation difference is 1050 meters. Participants will pass by 2 mountain shelters.
Skimo4 is a competition that starts in Grau Roig and ends in Arcalis. The distance will be 40 km, elevation difference – 3000 meters. The route passes 4 mountain shelters.
To prepare such a competition requires one year. In other words, we began the preparation of ANDORRASKIMO-2019 the day after the end of ANDORRASKIMO-2018 in February of this year. Two months before the competition, the hottest weather begins, but we work all year round. It takes time to agree on routes, answer all questions with colleagues and partners, prepare contracts, decide on sponsorship gifts for participants, etc.
Our permanent team is made up of 20 people. There are also volunteers who help us a lot during the competitions – this is about 200 more people.
As for security measures, we work with fire brigades, rescue teams, and the mountain police who test the routes. The preparation is taken very seriously.
During the competition, of course, accidents and falls occur (1% of the total number of participants), but there was nothing serious last year, and we intend to do everything that we can to minimize the number of accidents.
The budget of the event for 2019 is 200,000 euros.
Anyone can participate in the competition, but you must have a license from the Federation of Alpine Skiing, however, if it is not there, participants can buy one-day insurance. The cost of insurance is 10 euros.
Participation fee: 85 euros (for Skimo4 and Skimo6 – 130 teams in each competition maximum), 45 euros (Skimo2, maximum 50 teams) and 135 euros (Skimo10, maximum 150 teams).
Attention! Registration begins on December 10 at 22:00. There are a limited number of places!”
Irina Rybalchenko
* all-andorra.com is the information partner of the ANDORRASKIMO competition.
