There is a scenario where the race will return but it won't necessarily be because we have solved global warming. Some climatologist suggest that if there is continued melting of glaciers in Greenland the influx of cold water into the north Atlantic could interrupt the gulf stream. If you look at a map of the world you will notice that northern Europe is approximately ate the same latitude as southern Canada. Europe is only as warm as it is, or was (now warmer) because the gulf stream carries warm water north from the Caribbean. If the prediction with regard to the gulf stream comes true Europe will become considerably colder, even as global averages rise. It will be significantly disruptive of many industries including agriculture.
https://phys.org/news/2015-06-gulf-stream-large-cooling-europe.html
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No conceited multi million dollar stars hogging the media spot light. Just people of all abilities participating purely for the love of the sport. How refreshing.
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A New York Times tradition: daily, tilting a story so that climate change is the focus. It had been three whole days since this complicated theory was featured. Some were beginning to wonder if the paper was beginning to learn that climate change theory is VERY DIFFICULT to attribute to localized events.
OMG....the planet is changing.......what shall we do?
The dutch have to fixit(really?).
When did this horrible process start...with the advent of the combustion engine?
Actually....... momma earth has been changing ever since the beginning of time.....we're just now catching on....scary isn't it?
....oh and btw.....LOL with fixing.
....try adapting instead....its what the animals do
What a wonderful event! I do hope the race is held in Holland again soon, though it's hard to be optimistic. As someone who loves being outdoors in the winter (dog sledding, cross country skiing, snowshoeing), I grow sadder with each year.
As for traveling to events, should we abandon doing what we love? Who decides which airplane trips are worthy and which ones are petty? Our politicians and business people fly constantly yet we'll cast scorn upon the athlete for an annual trip?
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Great concept. I do hope the race can be held in Holland soon.
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Wat een geweldig artikel! What a great story. I am reading this with tears in my eyes, feeling home sick, while sitting on my couch in New Orleans, a city most likely to be affected by the catastrophic effects of climate change ....
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Notice in the picture of the skater warming her hands that she has cross country ski boots on. Many people mount a nordic ski binding on a pair of clapper (not connected at the heel) skates for long distance events, allowing the skates' removal without taking boots off (brrr--cold). Plus, one pair of high performance boots for two activities.
My wife taught me to skate on Walden Pond (that one) one winter before we were married. The ice was smooth and invisible under an inch of powder snow that streamed out behind her feet.
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Stil a fond memory, the 12 hour effort of the 1997 version. The dive into the dark of night for the last stretch, my sister who managed to spot me in the dark when passing by. Then the lights of Dokkum for the turnaround and the final strecht with the strong wind in the back.
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As a dutch woman remembering seeing the Elfstedentocht on TV (from 1963 on) I thank you for this great article and the beautiful photos.
Yesterday lots of children protested our administration and lawmakers for not doing enough and in a timely way to save our planet. They took a day off from school to emphasize that it is actually their planet we all have to protect.
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Fabulous photography. Kudos to Pete Kiehart. The photo of the lake race in Austria is sublime.
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I was born and raised in Friesland. There are many reasons why they dont have the Elfstedentocht every year. One important one is that they increase the minimum thickness of the ice because there are so many participants, either skaters or spectators.
There is no denying the climate change, but it also has positive aspects. It is silly to think that one country can solve this for the rest of the world and that its citizens should bear the high costs.I for one do not like cold winters and messy snow.
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Sadly this must be happening everywhere.
Five years ago, a friend taught me how to skate and it's truly special to be outside, with not much more preparation than what nature already does. I'm not at all an athletic person but I got hooked and I went every weekend that winter and the next.
Since then, the city's outdoor rinks haven't been freezing reliably enough to do that regularly.
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Wonderful article and love the picture of the early morning skaters with their headlamps. As an avid Nordic skier I think outdoor winter sports are really special. Sadly the season is short and they’re getting shorter.
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@Bello I agree with you as another Nordie and winter sport participant. Make the magic when the surface is winterized!!!
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@Todd Eastman
Hey Todd!
I joined the society for the 11-cities tour/race "Vereniging De Friesche Elf Steden" in 1998 after watching the race in 1997. Joining the society is the only way one can participate and get a "starting card". I am still waiting for this great event to happen in Friesland.....I agree it may never occur because of what humans are doing to our planet.
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@Samuel - like traveling by air all the way from Seattle to Leeuwarden, and back ...?
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@Jeroen my extended family is from Nordhorn. Not sure what your point is.
"Daddy, what was 'winter'?"
Childs' question in 2050.
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I wonder if any of them think about their worries of carbon emissions and climate change and how much energy they use for such a frivolous entertainment as traveling to Austria and putting on this event.
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You make a good point which I'm ashamed to say didn't occur to me while reading this. But at the same time, I can't help reflecting on the beauty of a sport that developed and flourished over the centuries in a country that was flat, had lots of water, and used to have real winters. Those of us who grew up skating solely in ice rinks (or not at all) do not truly understand the experience of skating in natural ice, using fairly simple equipment (in the olden times, people strapped a piece of metal- or before that, bone- to their boot to form a skate), powered by one's own might rather than by an engine, and participating in a winter activity that was relatively accessible across a wide range of social classes. The ability to enjoy the freezing cold and stay active outdoors is a gift in itself- utterly different from huddling around the heater with a cup of hot tea.
Not to mention the skill and stamina that it takes to complete such a long journey- this expertise has developed over years of training and is nurtured by the nation's love of skating. These are the reasons why I respect this tradition and am willing (for now) to accept it in the same way that I accept that world-class athletes take the plane to travel to the Olympics.
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@Pete- it's the same for most (mainly mountainous) winter sports here in Europe - much ado and effort, for some short while of distant revelry and fun at altitude
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@pere I don't believe that any of these Dutch skaters believe it to be frivolous entertainment to do what they love and are willing to travel for that sublime experience. Perhaps, some time soon, we can also share that fervor in attaining the goal of reducing the threat of global warning.
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Hans Brinker, RiP
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@Eric Blare As a child (I'll be 80 in July), I read "Hans Brinker & the Silver Skates"!
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Being Dutch, I long for another Elfstedentocht to take place in Friesland province. It's such a special event. Not only for the skaters, but for all the country, including our current king Willem Alexander, who as a young crown prince participated in 1986.
The Elfstedentocht brings us all together. Friesland is the center of the world for one day.
I hope mankind will manage to turn global heating around.
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@Milly Zwezereijn, agreed. Perhaps the Frisians who blocked the road to defend Zwarte Piet could refocus their anger on the real cultural threat of climate change.
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I spent a month in Amsterdam just before Christmas in 1996 and got to put on those clunky (for me) long-bladed skates and cruise the canal along Marnixstraat. Everyone had the joy of children for this time that the ice returned to the city for the first time in years. The Elfstedentocht was still taking place, but already folks were talking about the warming world.
Things have changed for all of us since then. That was the last time I flew anywhere internationally. And, as Dave W says so eloquently in his comment, many of us have started to consider the "one precious thing" and adapting in our own sweet, often misguided, human ways.
Since then, I've begun to: buy less stuff; stay close to home; mindfully lessen my footprint; and practice voluntary poverty. I know that it is not enough. It's not all I can do. But I can only do what I can do.
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A wonderful article! Please have more like this one. It shows that these Dutch skaters have a rare commitment to their love of the sport and will travel to Austria to accomplish their goal. This also ties in with the concern of global warming evident in the Netherlands and where the ice is no longer thick enough to skate safely for the Elfstedentocht.
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What do you love about the world? What will you lose? What will your kids miss out on?
Michael Che said it’s all too much, to think about everything we will lose. It makes you think it’s too hopeless and give up. Maybe we just need to think about one thing, one precious thing, one thing most important to you, that you will lose, and then people will fight, people will sacrifice their status quo comfort zone fed by our use of fossil fuels.
These skaters are adapting. For ten years, they are adapting. Then what?
Adaptation is fine and necessary, but if we don’t stop carbon emissions, all the money we spend on adaptation will be for naught.
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