In the middle of the Carnic Alps, the most legendary ski tour event in Carinthia will take place on Saturday, April 29th, to which all ski tourers are invited to Kötschach-Mauthen.
The Valentin Glacier Run in the Gailtal is legendary, has long enjoyed cult status and fascinates ski tour enthusiasts, who have been drawn to Kötschach-Mauthen for decades to end the season. “This year the Valentin Glacier Run will take place on Saturday, April 29th,” says mountain rescuer Alexander Seiwald. Because the Kötschach-Mauthen mountain rescue team is the organiser, and this for the 51st time. There is naturally enough snow in the Valentin Valley after the last downpours, as the ski touring paradise in the shadow of the Hohe Warte and Kellerwand is considered a snow hole. Austria’s southernmost glacier is also located here, the Eiskar. But contrary to what the name might suggest, the glacier run is no longer on the perpetual ice. “The area of ice, which extended from the Valentintörl down to the Obere Valentinalm until the 1960s, has long since melted,” says the local manager: “FIS ski races took place here in the 1920s and 1930s – and the Plöcken-Helden memorial race was held.” In commemoration of this Plöcken race, it was mountain rescuers around Sepp Lederer who brought the Valentin Glacier Run to life in 1971. The glacier run used to be a competition for mountain rescuers, but today the glacier run is a ski touring event for everyone . “The passion for mountains and ski tours is paramount,” says Alexander. However, time is stopped. “Only on the ski run; and teams of three start at the 2,138 meter high Valentintörl”, explains Alexander the rules: “However, the fastest team did not win. In order to win, a portion of luck is necessary, because it is the average time that counts. Afterwards there will be a celebration in the excursion inn Untere Valentinalm, where tenant Bruno Neumayr will spoil us with culinary delights for the last time, because a new tenant is being sought for the inn.
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