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Each year, on the second Sunday in March,
a 42km cross-country ski race rips through some of Switzerland's
most amazing scenery. This year David Norris, a member of the CdS
and webmaster of Teleskiers.co.uk
did the race for the first time. Here is his story....
On the start line wearing lycra
“I'm standing on the start line, at 8.30 in the morning, it's -6
degrees and I'm wearing nothing but a thin layer of lycra. Oh, and
gloves, a headband and sunglasses. I'm with 13,000 other racers,
all jumping around to keep warm, on a frozen lake at the head of
the Engadin Valley, in southern Switzerland.
Luckily it's dry and not too windy.
To get us going there are some big tunes pumping out of the PA system
with enthusiastic DJ's doing an aerobics class style warm up routine
for us to follow. It's a great atmosphere, and I run over to the
side to take a look at the group ahead of us going off (the groups
are twenty minutes apart and there are 5 groups, ranked by experience
and ability). I'm in group 4, and our start time is 9.05. I’m psyched
and ready to give it my best shot!
Three days to learn how to cross country
I arrived in Pontresina (near St Moritz) 4 days earlier as part
of a group ("The Engadin Marathonistas"). There's about 40 of us
in all, arriving in groups during the week.
Ski school was badly needed. I had never been on a pair of cross-country
skis before in my life and I had three days to learn how to do it.
I picked up my gear from the ski shop (pencil thin skis, no edges,
and poles that come up to your chin), and on Thursday we met up
with Maren and Barbara our two instructors.
I was on skating skis. These are slightly shorter and firmer and
as the name suggests you skate along on them. This is faster, but
more tiring than classic technique, which involves a forward motion
in tracks carved into the snow by a piste basher. By the end of
the day, thanks to our excellent instructors, we were skating along,
still really unbalanced, but getting the idea.
On Friday morning I decided to try my technique out on the first
half of the course. Pontresina is at the half way point so I caught
the bus up to the start area and skied back. 2km in I was thinking
"oh-oh.... this is a looooong way!" I was skating over beautiful
frozen lakes and there were loads of other skiers out practicing.
But I soon warmed up and started to get into more of a flow and
then before I knew it I had crossed 2 lakes and was in St Moritz.
Uphill challenge
From St Moritz to Pontresina is the hardest part of the race. It
is an uphill climb of a sadistic nature - the sort of hill you think
twice about walking up, never mind skiing. But I made it to the
top huffing and puffing and began my decent. The decent here is
quite something - you are skiing through a forest on skis that have
no edges and that are thinner than your foot, with boots than barely
cover your ankles. All the trees are covered in orange plastic mattresses
(for safety), so it became known as "Mattress Hill". I got down,
rather inelegantly and made it into Pontrseina in a respectable
1 hour and 32 minutes, absolutely shattered and ready for a beer.
On Friday afternoon we had more lessons (hill climbing techniques),
and on Saturday morning we had our final lesson., before resting
and feasting on Saturday afternoon to get our energy levels up.
Final preparations
At 5am on Sunday the preparation began... breakfast and then leaving
the hotel at 6.30 to make our way to the start. When the start gun
went my group eased out, about 40 skiers wide, 20 rows deep, and
you had to be really careful to avoid catching the pole of the person
in front, crossing skis or getting run over. There's a real danger
that you might break a pole if that happens (and it did happen to
Chris who was just next to me), so I was cautious. That in hindsight
was a good thing because it helped me pace myself.
  
All went well and I was making good
time. The aim was to try and do 5km every 20 minutes and so the
first benchmark was St Moritz, which I hoped to reach in under an
hour. Good news - I was 5 minutes faster and so was making excellent
progress. maybe the 3 hour mark was possible after all. Then came
climb... what mayhem! The lessons though were paying off though,
as I was climbing much better than the other day and was holding
my own against the pack.
Mattress Hill came and it was chaos; sugary snow with icy patches.
I fell near the top & picked myself up again, and then I pushed
on. Shussing out of the trees into the less steep part I did a spectacular
crash, but nothing damaged so carried on & arrived in Pontresina.
 Great
news - I was there in 1.23, a full 9 minutes faster than the other
day. Thinking about it, this was due to better technique on the
hills, both up and down. Right on - now I can do it I said to myself!
Filling up on isotonic drinks from the drinks station given out
by willing volunteers and encouraged by the sight of my instructor
Barbara shouting "Hopp, Hopp, Hopp, go David!" I cracked on.
Jelly legs
The next 15 kms were generally undulating and then flat. I started
to tire and kept drinking but my legs were turning to jelly, my
arms were aching and my knee was really sore, but I kept pushing,
ignoring the pain, skied through a village and then got ready for
the final 5km.
I'm not sure which sick mind thought it would be a good idea to
have the last 5km hilly, but it was a real struggle to make it to
the finish in one piece. I passed the race photographer (smile for
the camera!), and the 5km, turned to 4km and then 3 and before I
knew it I was in the finish arena, and giving every last ounce to
make the finish.
I arrived on the line, knees in agony, legs like jelly, utterly
exhausted, but overjoyed. 2 hours and 44 minutes!(*my final ranking
was 5255 out of 12300)
I'm hooked. It’s a great sensation cruising along through the trees
or along a beautiful alpine valley. Next time I go skiing, I'll
be sure to add a little "langlauf" to the mix.
Check out more pictures
of the marathon.
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