CANADIANS AT THE ALTERNATIVE ELFSTEDENTOCHT IN WEISSENSEE

Since 1989, Weissensee, Austria, has been hosting the ALTERNATIVE ELFSTEDENTOCHT, known as the 11 cities race. From January 24th to February 5th, 2011, this small town changed drastically and became busy with speed skating fever. During these 13 days, different races including 3 alternative races of 200km, a Grand Prix as well as shorter distances were held on a 12 km long track on Lake Weissensee.




Photos by Gaetan Rochette

Skaters came mostly from the Netherlands, but also from Belgium, Austria, Luxemburg, Germany, USA and Canada. This year, six Canadians, Yves Garneau (Quebec), Gaetan Rochette (Quebec), Charles Beaudoin (Quebec), Willem Lagenberg (Alberta), Jake Maarse (Ontario), and Gary Goplen (British Columbia) decided to try this ultimate skating challenge and race the 2nd recreational Alternative Eleven-Cities-Tour (distance up to 200km) on January 28. On that day, 855 skaters were at the starting line. The weather was nice and ice conditions good but also dangerous because of the many cracks. For this reason, most skaters skated with Nordic blades. All our Canadian skaters finished well and without too many falls or serious injuries.

The times and distances achieved can be seen here.

“The experience, I was told by Yves, was incredible, the skating atmosphere fabulous, the place beautiful, the event well organised and the best trip ever”.






Photos by Gaetan Rochette

For those looking for a summer challenge in 2012, this unique Dutch organisation is also offering a summer trip (information in dutch only)from the Netherlands to skate in Argentina during their winter. In this trip, 2 days of skating are included as well as visits of cities and Ushuaia, the Terra de Fuego at the southern tip of South America.