The Patrouille des Glaciers is the most renowned and difficult high mountain race of them all. The teams (3 participants per team) race through the night, from Zermatt across the Swiss Alps to Verbier, over a distance of 55 km and an accumulated altitude variation of approximately 4000m. The best teams complete the course in less than 8 hours for a measured 110 km effort!
The Swiss Army organizes this most extreme and certainly unique high mountain race. All civil and military mountain sportsmen are allowed to participate, however, due to security reasons, the number of teams is limited to approx. 1,200, with an average of 3,600 athletes at the start.
