SCARPA athletes clean up at Ouray Ice Festival
SCARPA athletes Josh Wharton and Sam Elias pulled down the top two spots at the 15th annual Ouray Ice Festival.
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BOULDER, Colo. – SCARPA team athletes cleaned up at the 15th annual Ouray Ice Festival, with SCARPA-sponsored athletes Josh Wharton and Sam Elias pulling down the top two spots respectively. They were also the only two climbers to complete the technical route at the festival climbing competition this past weekend.
The competition drew climbers from all over the world including South Korea, Japan, and Columbia.
Colorado-based Wharton is one North America’s leading all-around climbers. He won the same event last year and pulled down the top spot this year with a huge time margin. He topped out in less than 15 minutes while Sam Elias finished just moments before the allotted time of 20 minutes. Wharton’s career highlights include the first ascent The Azeem Ridge on the Great Trango Tower in the Karakoram region of Pakistan, the first free ascent of Fitz Roy’s North Pillar, and climbing M10, V10 and 5.13 in a week.
Elias, who has only been on the climbing scene for a few years, displayed obvious natural talent for the sport by taking second at this year’s festival. His accolades include climbing 5.12b to 5.13c in his first full season of climbing to being one of the few Americans to climb a 5.14 as well as double-digit V and M grades.
Will Gadd, who has won the men’s competition many times, took on a new challenge during this year’s Ice Festival by climbing 24 hours straight for the dZi, a charity that helps families and children in Nepal. He completed the full 24 hours on 150 feet of vertical ice in 194 vertical pitches (28,000 feet of ice).
About SCARPA and SCARPA North America
Founded in 1938, SCARPA builds performance footwear for climbing, hiking, skiing, mountaineering, trail running and other outdoor pursuits from its headquarters in Asolo, Italy. SCARPA has been owned and operated by the Parisotto family since 1956. In 2005, SCARPA opened its North American headquarters in Boulder, Colo., staffed and directed by veterans of the North American outdoor industry, to oversee sales, marketing and distribution in the U.S. and Canada. For more information about SCARPA footwear, visit www.scarpa.com.
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