The Saas Fee glacier race takes place next weekend Sunday 13th, it’s another mass start bonkers affair. 3500m of altitude, Le mans style running start, a reported 60mph top speed and all on snow and ice.

http://mpora.com/videos/MiEBvWfyU

If you want to read the press release then here it is:

Sunday, 13th April 2008. Up there at 3,500 m the atmosphere will be
electric, the suspense becomes more intense and adrenalin races
through the body. The competitors look askance at each other. On the
bike, the last screws are tightened and checked. In ten minutes the
starting signal will go off for the Saas-Fee Glacier Bike Downhill 2008.

The competing bikers are not the only ones here who will create an
atmosphere of excitement. No, even the terrain contributes to the
suspense. It’s not going to be as usual, up hill and down dale, oh no,
over snow and ice they’ll race down to Saas-Fee, the glacier village.

The glacier bike downhill begins with a mass start. The mountain bikers start at
the Mittelallalin at 3,500m. Not only does the altitude prove a challenge, though,
but also the surface. The racers head downhill on snow and ice, not on the usual
surface of rock. The action starts at 8.30 a.m.
The cyclists race down the slope at
break-neck speed. They head down the Fee glacier to the Morenia area, where
they face a new challenge: the surface changes from hard ice to soft spring
snow, conditions which less experienced racers struggle with. But everyone
struggles here, and they have only reached the half-way point of the 8km-long
course. It is at this point that things really start getting exciting and the
competitors have to race through extremely steep passages. When they have
almost reached the finish, they have to start pedalling hard again because the
last 500-meter-long section on a path has to be completed through sheer
manpower: a real test for both the racers and their equipment.

Then they finally
reach the finish at 1,800 m above sea-level: a big relief for burning hands, arms
and calves! The first over the line in the women’s and men’s categories each
wins a week in Saas-Fee including ski-pass. So don’t miss it, whether as a
spectator or a competitor: the glacier bike downhill 2008 has something for
everyone.

Absolutely sensational – the downhill test run in Saas-Fee
If you aren’t sure if you want to participate in the glacier bike downhill or if you
are looking for optimal preparation for the race, there is a test run for you to use
this year. From 7th to 12th of April cyclists can try out their skill on a section from
Felskinn at 3,000 m above sea-level via various traverses to the Fun Park.

Saas fee glacier race