Patrouille des Glaciers 2016, the race is on from Zermatt to Verbier

The first athletes taking part in Patrouille des Glaciers 2016 set off yesterday at 22:00, as night fell and as punctual as a Swiss clock. The legendary ski mountaineering competition from Zermatt to Verbier celebrates its 20th anniversary this year and over 2000 athletes have signed up for the event, so many in fact that for safety reasons the organisation has split the "platoon" into two groups: the first teams of three ski mountaineers each set off last night, while the second will start (from Zermatt and along the same route) on Friday night. The strongest athletes are all in the second pack, and some amazing times are expected to be set along the 53km route which tackles an elevation gain of almost 4000m.

The Patrouille des Glaciers dates back to 1943 when the Swiss military organized the race to train its soldiers, and over the years it race has attracted more and more competitors. Many choose to participate in the "Petite Patrouille des Glaciers", a somewhat less arduous race that leads from Arolla to Verbier. Nevertheless this tackles 26 kilometers, 1,880 meters height gain and 2340m height loss, and once again the more than 2,000 athletes are split into two groups; the first departed this morning, while the second will set off in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The first athletes arrived at 8:56 this morning after journeying through the night for about 7 and a half hours, but the final verdict will made on Saturday morning. In the meantime, the race can be followed live on www.pdg.ch and my5.raceresult.com

The start of Patrouille des Glaciers 19/04/2016