The last stage of the Ice climbing World Cup took pace in Kirov, Russia last weekend and was won by Angelika Rainer from Italy and Maxim Tomilov. Both these athletes win the overall ranking 2012.
 
Three competition days were needed to decree the winner in Kirov, three days marked by the cold wind from the steppes which, in contrast, made the sun shine on Angelika Rainer: the South Tyrolean beat her closest rival Maria Tolokonina and in sealing her third victory this year she also won the overall World Cup 2012.

A move onto an ice pendulum proved fatal for the strong Russian as to gain height the athletes had to hit the ice firmly, something which Tolokonina failed to do and which Angelika mastered with ease, before continuing upwards and finish two holds short of the top right as time ran out.

"The route was certainly extremely difficult" said the 25-year-old from Meran, adding "I untied exhausted, convinced I'd given it everything I had. I then remained beneath the wall, close to friends and my boyfriends, to watch the final two athletes compete. When I saw that both fell off the ice drip, I understood that not only had I won the stage, but also that the dream I had failed to achieve over the last couple of years had finally come true: I had won the World Cup!"

Rainer's season is certainly noteworthy, with victories in three stages, the European Championship and the overall World Cup. Although on the face of it things may look easy, 2012 was anything but: the other competitors fought hard and 4 other women achieved more than 300 points: Maria Tolokonina, Anna Gallyamova, Seon Shin Woon and Lucie Hrozova. In fact Hrozova placed second in Kirov, ahead of Gallyamova.

The men's final proved extremely difficult: long moves and unreachable quickdraws for shorter athletes gave rise to Maxim Tomilov's incredible display of strength and he was the only one to top out. However, these distant quickdraws resulted in protests as at the end of the competition some athletes complained about the fact that they were simply unreachable for all except the tall Russian Tomilov brothers who clipped them with considerable difficult. This takes nothing away from the immense power of these two athletes, who placed first adn second in the overall results, but instead it deprived the others of the chance to climb for longer and show their worth. It is worth underlining the Maxim won the same competitions and titles as Rainer, including third place at the Master in Rabenstein, and 2012 is an incredible season to remember for him, too!

The Speed discipline was won by Maryam Filippova and by winning in Kirov she won not only the European championship but also the 2012 World Cup. The men's event was won by Pavel Gulyaev, while his team-mate Kolchegoshev Kirill won the overall 2012 World Cup.

Kirov marks the end of a beautiful competition season which began in Cheongsong and continued via Saas-Fee, Vanoise and Busteni. Each competition was highly fought over and the skill level of the athletes proved extremely high; each event was a different story in its own right, each stage provided a different structure and the strongest and most technical climbers won the 2012 Cup. Much is in store for next year, including 2 or 3 new stages, possible in the USA, Japan and Rabenstein in Val Passiria, Italy.