Skating 200km on the Weissensee in Austria
Because of the climate change the 200km skating event, Elfstedentocht, in the Netherlands cannot regularly be organized while many skaters liked an endurance test of this kind, other possibilities were looked for to skate such tours. The most heroic were the skating events in Finland and Sweden but here I like to present the most popular one, held on the Weissensee in Austria, where yearly thousands of Dutch skaters participate. It is called the alternatieve Elfstedentocht although there is only one little town at the lake
The Weissensee is a lake in the mountains of Austria on a height of 1000 meters. In the winter the lake is frozen and offers a skating track of 25 kilometers. In 1989 the first “Alternatieve Elfstedentocht” was organized there consisting, as usual, of a race for marathon skaters and a tour for everybody who would like to skate 200 kilometers. To skate the 200 kilometers one has to round the lake 8 times. The start is at 7 a.m. and one has to finish before 7 p.m. So the maximal time in 12 hours. The surroundings are very beautiful and this event was immediately a success for the marathon skaters but also for the tour skaters. On Youtube a video is available which introduced this event to the Dutch skate fanatics
The Weissensee is a lake in the mountains of Austria on a height of 1000 meters. In the winter the lake is frozen and offers a skating track of 25 kilometers. In 1989 the first “Alternatieve Elfstedentocht” was organized there consisting, as usual, of a race for marathon skaters and a tour for everybody who would like to skate 200 kilometers. To skate the 200 kilometers one has to round the lake 8 times. The start is at 7 a.m. and one has to finish before 7 p.m. So the maximal time in 12 hours. The surroundings are very beautiful and this event was immediately a success for the marathon skaters but also for the tour skaters. On Youtube a video is available which introduced this event to the Dutch skate fanatics
The advantage of this tour compared with the real “Elfstedentocht” is that one does not have to walk on the skates (klunen) but can continue skating, in general the ice is rather good and the weather is much better than in the Netherlands during the "Elfstedentocht". There was also a bit of the atmosphere of a real “Elfstedentocht”.
The winner of the first "Alternative Elfstedentocht at the Weissensee" was Dries van Wijhe (Dolle Dries) who won many races over long distances during the last years. His winning time was a new record with 5 hours and 40 minutes. The winner of the women´s race, Alida Pasveer was also very fast. It took her only 8 minutes more than Dries van Wijhe.
The winner of the first "Alternative Elfstedentocht at the Weissensee" was Dries van Wijhe (Dolle Dries) who won many races over long distances during the last years. His winning time was a new record with 5 hours and 40 minutes. The winner of the women´s race, Alida Pasveer was also very fast. It took her only 8 minutes more than Dries van Wijhe.