The 81st International Inferno Race, the world’s oldest and longest downhill race, took place in Mürren, Switzerland, this weekend.
1,850 racers tackled the devilish course, this is normally 10 miles (or 14.9 km) long and drops 1990 vertical metres amidst the breathtaking mountain scenery of the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau, high above the Lauterbrunnen Valley in the Bernese Oberland. However’s this year’s course was about a mile shorter due to construction work temporarily closing the higher section.
(Workers on the new Schilthorn lift, due to open in March)
A Bernese Oberland triple victory was thwarted in both the men’s and women’s downhill races, in the latter by Britain’s Amy Donnellon.
“The race was clearly dominated by the warm temperatures, which simply made it impossible to win with a high start number,” a Mürren spokesperson said, adding, “A warm breeze was already blowing early in the morning as the first racers made their way to the start of the race above the Engetal. Although the racetrack firmed up a little during the night, the warm temperatures remained the dominators of the race, meaning that victory was already decided among the first racers.”
While an Italian thwarted a Bernese Oberland triple victory in the men’s race, it was a British woman in the women’s race: Amy Donnellon from the Kandahar Ski Club placed herself between the winner Tanja Brawand from Grindelwald and third-placed Corinne Rohrer from Frutigen.
Despite the increasingly soft race track and numerous falls, there have been no notable incidents. This is not least thanks to the 250-300 helpers who put their heart and soul into ensuring that everything runs smoothly and safely every year.
Inferno Centenary Three Years Away
At 8.5 kilometres, this year’s Inferno downhill race with a start above Seewlifuren at the entrance to Engetal and a finish at Winteregg was around 1 kilometre shorter than when raced from the usual start on the Kleine Schilthorn.
For the 82nd edition next year the Inferno Race, the new aerial cableway to Schilthorn will be in operation, allowing the usual start again.
Race organisers are already looking ahead to the 2028 edition when the Inferno descent celebrates its 100th anniversary. That centenary dates back to 29 January 1928, when five ski-mad Brits skied the very first Inferno Cup – making their own way up to the Schilthorn first without any lift to assist them.
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