{"id":3002,"date":"2020-03-02T14:22:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-02T13:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saas-fee.ch\/blog\/?p=3002"},"modified":"2023-10-22T14:29:08","modified_gmt":"2023-10-22T12:29:08","slug":"140-kilometres-per-hour-on-ice-and-snow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saas-fee.ch\/blog\/2020\/03\/140-kilometres-per-hour-on-ice-and-snow\/","title":{"rendered":"140 kilometres per hour on ice and snow"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When the starting pistol sounds for the Glacier Bike Downhill, more than 200 people jump on their bicycles and tackle the ski slopes from Mittelallalin to Saas-Fee. Mountain bike guide Kyle Harris explains.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBefore the starting pistol fires, a deathly quiet reigns. Nobody moves. The only sound is the icy wind swirling around us and the thumping of my own heart. The atmosphere is electric as we wait for the moment. The Mischabel chain looms overhead, the course we are about to descend veering round to the right beneath her. A mixture of fear, excitement and anticipation hangs in the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then the gunshot rings out and everything changes in an instant. The charge to our bikes begins, every one of us howling and shouting like warriors entering the fray. But the chaos around me fades into the background. I\u2019m in race-mode, it\u2019s just me and the bike. Within seconds of the start, one rider is catapulted over his handlebars right in front of me. In my periphery, I can see dozens of crashes and I\u2019m thinking: \u201cIf so many riders are crashing at this point, what about further down? What about when we\u2019re charging down the red run at upwards of a hundred kilometres an hour on ice and snow?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Spectacular scenes and sporting excellence are on the menu at the Glacier Bike Downhill.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

My first Glacier Bike Downhill experience<\/strong>
Kyle Harris, 27, took part in the race for the first time two years ago. He\u2019s been riding mountain bikes since he was just eight years old and has been racing for the past six. But a downhill race on snow and ice was a totally different prospect. In the Glacier Bike Downhill, participants race over glaciers and snow from Mittelallalin at 3,500 metres down to Saas-Fee, reaching speeds up to 140 kilometres per hour. The record time for completing the 8.4-kilometre-long downhill is an impressive 7.1 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the riders start the race simultaneously but in three waves, with a safe distance between them to minimize the risk of crashes. \u201cI was nervous, for sure. I love to ride fast and have a lot of experience on bikes. But I had no idea how to control one at up to 140 kilometres per hour \u2013 and on snow,\u201d says Kyle, remembering his first experience. Although the racers can do a practice run the day before the race, the real thing is never quite the same. \u201cI had certainly never ridden my bike straight down the fall line on a ski run before \u2013 practice day was my very first time. But it went ok. I\u2018m a pretty good mountain biker, I can pretty much ride anything, on normal dirt at least. I figured that with my experience I\u2019d be able to handle the snow fine,\u201d he explains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For three years now, Kyle has been a mountain bike guide in Saas-Fee. That means that in the summer, at least, he\u2019s on his bike practically daily. \u201cWith a few turns of the test run, I picked up \u2018the basics\u2018 pretty quickly, learning what you need to do to ride on snow. Turning is pretty different from normal, you have to position your body weight properly for it to work. And you can\u2019t use the front brake as much as you normally would either, else you lose control. You have to tilt your bike slightly and use your feet to drift around corners. It\u2018s not easy. And I didn\u2019t have it totally dialled down after practice either, I crashed pretty hard in the last race,\u201d laughs Kyle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mountain bike guide Kyle Harris, 27, advises newcomers to prepare well for the \nrace and to stick with a speed they are comfortable with, don\u2018t try to exceed your own riding skills. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a feeling unlike any other, a real adrenaline rush.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Riding down red runs<\/strong>
In spite of everything, he was raring to go again last year but unfortunately, the race had to be cancelled at the last minute because of heavy snowfall on race day. The Glacier Bike Downhill is dangerous, but not always, says Kyle. \u201cIf you ride fast like me, you can crash hard \u2013 it\u2019s true. I did, three times, and the last one was a big one. I was turning hard and slid out. I took out a crash barrier\u2026 with my head. Luckily I had a helmet on. After that, I was pretty slow to the finish, it was too much for me, \u201che confesses. But in spite of the big crash and last year\u2019s cancellation, he\u2019s looking forward to the next race in March. \u201cIt\u2018s just unbelievably fun, and even for experienced bikers like me it\u2018s a challenge \u2013 that\u2018s the attraction. Where else could you bike on red runs, snow, and ice? It\u2019s a feeling like none other, a real adrenaline rush.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tires and tire pressure<\/strong>
For those who want to race, but have little experience or have never ridden on snow, Kyle advises you practise on a beginner\u2018s slope or a small hill. Above all, it\u2019s crucial to learn how to brake and how to turn, because both are pretty different from normal riding. \u201cIt\u2019s also important that riders know what kind of tires they need and what tire pressure works best. And of course, to make sure you have protective gear like pads and a helmet. The key is to stick to speed you\u2019re comfortable with, and don\u2019t try to exceed your own riding skills. If you do that, you can\u2019t go wrong,\u201d says Kyle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photos: Puzzle Media<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the starting pistol sounds for the Glacier Bike Downhill, more than 200 people jump on their bicycles and tackle the ski slopes from Mittelallalin to Saas-Fee. Mountain bike guide Kyle Harris explains. \u201cBefore the starting pistol fires, a deathly quiet reigns. Nobody moves. The only sound is the icy wind swirling around us and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2946,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[288,117],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english","category-events-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saas-fee.ch\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saas-fee.ch\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saas-fee.ch\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saas-fee.ch\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saas-fee.ch\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3002"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.saas-fee.ch\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3005,"href":"https:\/\/www.saas-fee.ch\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3002\/revisions\/3005"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saas-fee.ch\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saas-fee.ch\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saas-fee.ch\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saas-fee.ch\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}