Preparing for my third "Elfstedentocht
I have mentioned in my report about my second “elfstedentocht” that I was rather frustrated about that tour because it took me so long losing a lot of time walking and because I fell so many times especially in the dark between Dokkum and Leeuwarden. This did not mean that I did not like skating anymore I was now regularly skating on the artificial ice track in Amsterdam and when it was possible on natural ice. There were also alternative tours of 200km organized in Norway and Finland but I saw that more as an activity for (semi)professional marathon skaters than for me as a tour skater.
But I was still looking for a possibility to skate a 200km tour in a less heroic situation than the Dutch "Elfstedentocht". In 1989 I saw a video about the first “Alternatieve Elfstedentocht” on the Weissensee in Austria. Below I show a short version of this video.
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 Alternative 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. The video concentrates on the marathon skaters but at the end one can see also a bit of the fun and the hardship of the tour skaters.
But I was still looking for a possibility to skate a 200km tour in a less heroic situation than the Dutch "Elfstedentocht". In 1989 I saw a video about the first “Alternatieve Elfstedentocht” on the Weissensee in Austria. Below I show a short version of this video.
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 Alternative 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. The video concentrates on the marathon skaters but at the end one can see also a bit of the fun and the hardship of the tour skaters.
I hope that you saw in this video how nice this event was. If you did not get it, you can also look at the complete version of the video and then you will be convinced. The full video is available in Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zisat-4358w.
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.
I was so impressed by what I saw that I thought immediately that this is the alternative tour of 200 km which I would like to participate in. So I was looking for an opportunity for this which came in 1991.
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.
I was so impressed by what I saw that I thought immediately that this is the alternative tour of 200 km which I would like to participate in. So I was looking for an opportunity for this which came in 1991.