Tue, 29 May 2012
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With the whole of Europe in the grip of wintry conditions, the chief complaint in the Netherlands is about the quality of the ice.Despite the continuing low temperatures, the texture of the ice on most of the country’s lakes and canals is too poor for the national sporting passion, competition skating.
The first skating classic race of the year nevertheless went ahead on Monday on the frozen waterways of Loosdrecht, southeast of Amsterdam, for the first time since 1996. Twenty-four-year-old farmer’s daughter Carla Zielman took the title, despite falling twice. “It was terribly heavy ice,” she said.
Another of the 12 ‘natural ice classics’ around the country was scheduled for tomorrow, but has been cancelled. The skating marathon on the Veluwemeer, a lake 70 kilometres west of Amsterdam, was set to go ahead for the first time in 13 years. However, the skating association says there is too much water on the ice.
Treacherous
On most skating routes, the problem is what is being described as ‘fondant ice’. Over the past weeks, the wintry weather has been changeable, with freezing temperatures interspersed with powdery snow, sleet and brief thaws. As a result, even where the ice is thick enough, it’s so soft and uneven that it remains treacherous and makes skating heavy going. Nevertheless, this didn’t deter thousands of skaters from flocking to take part in three non-competitive skating tours held on lakes and waterways on Saturday.
Eleven Cities Tour
At present there is little optimism that the country’s biggest skating event, the Eleven Cities Tour, is likely to go ahead any time in the near future. The tour was last held in 1997, and before that in 1986. If the ice around the 200-kilometre route is declared sound, the entire country will come to a halt as tens of thousands converge on Friesland to watch. But according to a skating association spokesperson, the waterways will first need to thaw and then refreeze to create a fast and reliable surface.
The Eleven Cities Tour, 1997:
Radio Netherlands
looks like i really have to travel to Austria for 'elfstedentocht' with current quality of ice in low lands........here is the link to 'alternative elfstedentocht'
http://www.weissensee.nl/weissensee/algemeen/sws-in-english
looks like i really have to travel to Austria for 'elfstedentocht' with current quality of ice in low lands........here is the link to 'alternative elfstedentocht'
http://www.weissensee.nl/weissensee/algemeen/sws-in-english
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