Start of the Patrouille des Glaciers postponed

Published: Thursday, Apr 18th 2024, 22:10

Following the cancellations in the first half of the week, the start of the Patrouille des Glaciers races planned for Friday has been postponed by 24 hours on Thursday. The reason is the weather conditions.

The commander of the patrol places the highest priority on the safety of the participants in the ski touring race, the members of the army involved and the civilian helpers along the high alpine route from Zermatt or Arollo to Verbier VS.

The disturbances that passed through during the night from Friday to Saturday led to a lot of snow on the route, the organizers announced on Thursday evening. In addition, fog and clouds would prevent normal helicopter flights and thus the rescue from the air.

According to the commander, Brigadier Christian Sieber, the postponement was decided in the hope of better visibility conditions during the night from Saturday to Sunday. The first launches on Tuesday and Wednesday had already been canceled on Monday. Safety risks due to the weather conditions had also been the deciding factor at that time.

A low pressure system from the northwest had caused temperatures to drop to what felt like -25 degrees at 3,000 meters above sea level. In addition, there were gusts of wind of 50 kilometers per hour on ridges and crests.

Almost 4900 participants had registered for the 40th Patrouille des Glaciers. A total of 1633 teams of three were due to start. The most experienced teams set off from Zermatt on the 57.5-kilometre route with its 4386 meters of ascent. The route from Arolla is 29.6 kilometers long and includes 2200 meters of ascent. The army takes over the entire organization of the event and is on site with 1600 military personnel.

©Keystone/SDA

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