Five weeks before the 53rd Engadin Ski Marathon on March 12, the organizers are observing the formation of ice on the Great Lakes and the development of snow conditions. As before, they assume that they will run on the original track.
The sometimes strong winds of recent weeks have delayed ice formation on Lake Sils and Lake Silvaplana. Although the southern parts of the banks, where the Engadin Ski Marathon trail is prepared, are almost always frozen, larger parts of both lakes are also open.
“We expect a cold week and assume that the two large lakes will freeze over enough afterwards that we can prepare a trail if some natural snow falls afterwards,” says Menduri Kasper, CEO of the Engadin Ski Marathon.
Although the Engadin has been offering a very large network of trails since the end of November, parts of the marathon trail are not yet accessible today. “The Engadin takes place in the wild, so you always have to have a plan B ready,” says Kasper.
“Should it not snow in the coming weeks, we would use alternative routes that we have already planned.” Without natural snow, however, the two large lakes between Maloja and Silvaplana could not be prepared. “We could not produce purely technical snowmaking on such a large area,” admits Kasper. But there are also prepared plans for moving the start to Sils or Silvaplana.
Decisions can be made just before the race
The demand for starting places for the biggest cross-country skiing event in the Alpine region remains unabated. More than 12,000 runners have already signed up. For Kasper, this is a very good interim result: “Training is more difficult for many this year because there is hardly any snow in the lowlands and the foothills of the Alps. But more people sign up every day. The fascination of Engadin ski marathon draws them to Engadin every year.”
Kasper and his team are concerned with the question marks surrounding ice formation and snow conditions, but the CEO is very confident.
“I expect a run on the original track today, because we still have almost five weeks until the marathon and, if necessary, we can make route decisions during the marathon week. The Engadin is backed by the world's best team of helpers and the communities of the Upper Engadin. We will definitely not let our runners down and find good solutions for all parts of the track.”
Engadin Ski Marathon media release dated February 6, 2023
Christian Gartmann has been responsible for media and communication at the Engadin Ski Marathon since 2014.