Jizera 50 cross-country ski race
The Patria Direct Jizerská 50 race is an important Czech winter sports event, taking place for the forty-third time this year. This cross-country ski race starts, as it does every year, from the ski stadium in Bedřichov (map) in the Jizera Mountains (map) and is divided into two routes, one of which is 50 kilometres long and the other is 25 kilometres long. The race is intended for all enthusiasts and lovers of this winter sport, there are no performance limits, only a capacity limit of 5,000 competitors. The representatives of the protected landscape area set this limit for the organisers. The competition rules are also followed very strictly during the race, particularly with regard to nature protection; for instance it is forbidden to move off the route, throw rubbish away, etc. In the event that a competitor violates these rules he/she is immediately disqualified.
One problem that the competition encounters every year is the changeable weather, frequently resulting in insufficient snow, which resulted in the event being cancelled in some years – specifically 1988, 1990, 1998 and 2007. In the event that the weather is favourable and the temperature is below freezing, the organisers produce artificial snow for the route, creating ideal conditions for cross-country skiers.
In recent years the race routes have also changed and this has contributed towards an increase in the sporting value of this competition. The Jizera Fifty has been rated a very well-organised race for many years – and thanks to this it was included in the European Long-distance Cross-country Skiing Cup (Euroloppet) in 1995. In 1999 the Jizera Fifty became part of the world long-distance cross-country skiing races league (Worldloppet – the international sports federation of cross-country skiing marathons). In 2003 it took place as part of the FIS Marathon Cup for the first time.
This year the race took place on 10/1/2010 and a total of 5,023 competitors entered, with 3,373 competing on the 50-kilometre route and 889 on the 25-kilometre route. Oskar Svärd from Sweden was first and the women’s winner was Sandra Hanssonová on the fifty-kilometre route and Jiří Ročárek and Karolína Bícová won the twenty-five-kilometre race.
A brief history
The beginnings of this race date from 1969, precisely 20 January 1969, when a small group of mountaineers set out on cross-country skis from Bedřichov to the Jizera Mountain ridges. However, the race only became better known following a tragic accident that befell members of the Peru Expedition 1970, who took part in the third year of the Jizera Fifty and who were buried under a stone avalanche below Huascar four months later. The following year was held as the Expedition Peru 1970 Memorial and the race subsequently became more popular. A record 7,836 competitors took part in the tenth year of the race.
Information about the race:
http://bezky.jiz50.cz/?switch_lang=en Contact information for the organisers:
SKI KLUB Jizerská padesátka Jablonecká 21 460 01 Liberectelefon: +420 485 100 194 +420 485 100 194 fax: +420 482 710 052 e-mail: info@jiz50.cz internet:
http://www.jiz50.cz