The Engadin Ski Marathon will once again be a duel between the Swiss national team and some of the world's best long-haulers and a rematch for the World Championships in Planica. The modified route between St. Moritz and Pontresina will be 43.5 kilometers long.
The entire Swiss national team and some of the most important young Swiss players will take part in the Engadin Ski Marathon on Sunday. As always, they face a strong selection of top French people and long-distance specialists, some of whom will forego the World Cup in Oslo after the World Cup. Last year's winners Nadja Kälin and Roman Furger are back, with Furger having just had a persistent, feverish cold.
If Furger were to win, it would be his fifth victory at the Engadin. Only the unforgettable Bertli Giger had achieved this so far.
Even Dario Cologna has probably not yet completely given up hope of a fifth victory. He too is a four-time winner, but carries the helmet camera and a two-and-a-half kilogram backpack for live broadcasts on Swiss television, and little is known about his fitness following his retirement a year ago.
In addition to Furger, Beda Klee and Jonas Baumann are the strongest Swiss Ski athletes, and the young Engadin Fabrizio Albasini and Niclas Steiger showed very appealing performances at the World Junior Championships.
If Nadja Kälin were to repeat her victory from the previous year, that would be a big confirmation for the 22-year-old local, who won unexpectedly in 2022. She looks back on a rather mixed season and could really use some success after the moderate World Championships.
Her sister Marina, who is two years younger, and the Zurich Oberlander Anja Weber are among the co-favorites after their two bronze medals at the Junior Women's U23 World Championships, and Carla Wohler, the winner of the Engadin Women's Run, has set a position in the top ten as a goal. Nadine Fähndrich, who is sparing herself for the last World Cup races after the World Cup, is not there.
As usual, there will be some strong female and male athletes coming from France, but there is certainly no way around the strong Swiss team for success. A decision is likely to be made shortly after St. Moritz: After the dairy on Lake St. Moritz, the field passes a bottleneck and then a rough climb. “Anyone who doesn't get past here in the top thirty has little chance of winning,” says race director Adriano Iseppi.
Route and start times adjusted
The current snow conditions and high temperatures in the Alps are leading to some changes in the route between St. Moritz and Pontresina during the Engadin Ski Marathon. For the first time, the marathon is across Lake St. Moritz and the total distance this year is 43.5 kilometers. The adapted trail through the Stazerwald cannot be prepared as broadly as usual everywhere. In order to prevent possible backlogs, the individual waves of the field are started at longer intervals. The women's elite therefore opens the race at 8:15 a.m., and the first men hit the track three minutes later.
In Silvaplana, the peak is expected at 8:42 a.m., it will pass Lake St. Moritz at around 08:55 and Pontresina at 09:08 a.m. La Punt awaits her from 9:30 a.m. and she should reach the finish line in S-chanf at around 09:48 a.m. The 28th and last wave leaves Maloja at 10:00 a.m. The organization asks all participants to find out about their adjusted start time. Current information on the route and organization of the Engadin Ski Marathon is available on the website www.engadin-skimarathon.ch available at any time. Traffic regulations for St. Moritz Bad on March 12 are being communicated by the municipality of St. Moritz.
Note: classic tracks
The Engadin Ski Marathon makes every effort to offer the usual classic tracks along the entire length of the route. However, the preparation of around 5 kilometers on Lake Sils and Lake Silvaplana is challenging this year. It is likely that no classic tracks will be available on these first two lakes. Classic tracks are prepared on the rest of the route.
Christian Gartmann has been Communications and Media Officer for the Engadin Ski Marathon since 2014. The Engadin Ski Marathon is the biggest cross-country skiing event in the Alps.