In 1943 during the Second World War the Swiss army thought it might be a good idea to test the abilities of it’s three-man units in the mountains and so the Patrouille des Glaciers race was born. As is usual in military circles they don’t organise a walk in the park, it had to be a real test of courage and endurance, and it most certainly was. The race started from Zermatt and finished in Verbier, in the south part of the canton of Valais below the summits of the Pennine Alps, that first edition had eighteen teams of three. In 1944 a total of 44 teams took part and the race was beginning to gain traction. It wasn’t long before tragedy struck, in 1949 three participants fell foul of a crevasse and paid with their lives. After much soul searching the Federal Military Department banned the race outright. The race was reinstated in 1984, to be held every two years at the end of April, and now welcomed the participation of civilian teams, the race remaining under the control of the army. Considering the terrain covered and the unpredictability of the weather, remarkably the race has only been cancelled twice due to adverse conditions, in 1986 and 2002.

In 2004 the PDG was won for the first time by a non Swiss team and with increasing enthusiasm and enrolments, it has reached the highest number of participants in the world for this kind of discipline. In that year there were 978 teams taking part, made up of 589 civilian and 389 military teams. In 2006 the organisers had to turn down a thousand entries such is the popularity of the race, in the same year a shorter race was introduced, from Arolla to Verbier, which is roughly half the distance. The PDG is the “New York marathon” of world ski mountaineering and has fired the imaginations of not only the ‘athletes’, but also spectators, there’s said to have been up to 75,000 on the route at any one time, making this a race famous all over Switzerland and beyond, consequently the race has become a fixture on the calendar.

In order to compete each participant must have Alpine experience and be capable of mastering unexpected situations under extreme conditions in an inhospitable high-Alpine environment, their training must be rigorous to meet the physical and mental requirements, they must demonstrate excellent skiing skills while being roped to the other members of the team and have experience in Alpine touring and mountaineering competitions. Participants must recognize their limits as well as respecting nature and the unique Alpine world. There are timing stations along the route and any team failing the time cut will be withdrawn on the spot. If you’re not in Verbier in 8hrs and 30 mins it’s tough luck, even if you made all the other cuts.

Brigadier Marius Robyr, the commander of the race refused to impose doping controls, perhaps naively calling on participants to act honestly and as there’s no financial gain to be had in winning or competing he probably thought there would be no need for strict controls but in 2008 suspicions were raised and ten competitors were checked. The participants have to equip themselves with a fair amount of tackle adding quite a handicap to an already daunting undertaking. Participants must have an ice axe, compass, altimeter, three climbing harnesses, snow shovel, a rope of at least 30m in length, three headlamps, first aid kit, glasses and an avalanche transceiver. What started out as a training exercise has now become an unmissable event for thousands of passionate skiers on one of the most beloved “haute routes” in the Alps.