20 Apr. 2016 – “Patrouille des Glaciers” (Pdg) is an international backcountry skiing (53km) race that happens every other year on the mystic Swiss mountains. We have a Lebanese team that is preparing for the challenge: Lindos Daou, Eddy Saab and Avedis Kalpaklian are now ready for the ultimate challenge.
This team in particular suffered a lot during their preparations throughout the years; they had to withdraw from the race four times: in 2008 due to bronchitis, in 2010 due to the eruption of the volcano in Ireland, 2012 due to an avalanche risk and finally in 2014 due to logistic problems.
After four consecutive fails, they decided to never give up and go out for the adventure again this year in 2016! The challenge is not easy at all and no Lebanese team has ever finished the race yet. It is a 53km race which includes 4200m of ascent and 4000m of descent.
The race starts in two days, on Friday 22 at 11:00 PM (local time). The moment of truth has finally arrived. According to Avedis, Mountaineering is his life. His love for sports and nature was so great that he decided to combine both. The three mountaineers are driven by the will conquer the mountains.
The course starts at night at 1600m in Zermatt, they start running with their skis on their back. They must reach the glacier at an altitude of 3600m, and sometimes on the course, the team must ski roped for some time as there are crevasses. They skin up then they take the skins off and continue skiing downhill. They will then have to cross a technical descent and hold on to a fix rope. Finally, the challenge ends with a 1000m walk ascent with the skies on their back.
It must take them approximately 15 hours! We wish them all the best in this great adventure hoping that they will become the first Lebanese team to ever finish the Race!
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