The story
Patrouille des Glaciers in Zermatt/Arolla/Verbier
Organized by the Swiss Army since 1943, with a four-decade gap following a fatal 1944 avalanche, the Patrouille des Glaciers sends three-person patrols across glaciated Alpine terrain from Zermatt or Arolla to a shared finish in Verbier. Run every two years, the race combines military training origins with strict safety protocols for racing across high-altitude glaciers.
The Patrouille des Glaciers is a ski mountaineering race organized by the Swiss Army, run by three-person military and civilian patrols across the glaciated terrain of the Pennine Alps, either on the long course from Zermatt to Verbier, roughly fifty-three kilometers with more than four thousand meters of elevation gain, or the shorter route starting at Arolla.