Snow Epic: First strike - next to come?

Creating, planning, organizing and implementing successful sporting events is not as easy as it looks from the outside. Even successful event organizers can't guarantee success. The idea for the new fatbike stage race in the snow sounds great, but the implementation still needs to be improved.

by Rolf Fleckenstein

None other than Kevin Vermaak, the founder and organizer of the world-famous mountain bike marathon stage race "Cape Epic" in South Africa, set out to create a special class fatbike event. In reference to his Cape Epic, he named the fatbike stage race "Snow Epic", which he wanted to hold in Engelberg. The idea came to him during a skiing vacation in Engelberg. This winter the time had come, the sponsors had been found and registrations from riders from all over the world fluttered into the house. Kevin Vermaak knows how to market his baby - the Cape Epic - with excellent pictures, and from the outside it feels as if you are on a beautiful safari at the Cape Epic rather than at an exhausting race. I wonder if the Snow Epic would do the same. The pictures before the race were just as seductive as at the Cape Epic. Now actually only the day X had to come, on which the stubborn idea could be converted into the act.

Stage 1 - Fürenalp
On Thursday, January 15, 2015, the time had come: a total of 112 male and 10 female riders from all over the world, including riders from South Africa, the USA, Germany, Spain, the Czech Republic, Austria, other countries and Switzerland, whereby the Swiss riders were clearly in the minority in terms of numbers, had gathered in Engelberg and were eagerly waiting for the starting signal. Helicopters circled overhead and the excitement of the organizers and riders was palpable until the first Snow Epic finally got underway at 9:30 am. Cowbells and bells were eagerly waved by the spectators in attendance, their ponderous ringing echoing through the valley, and the pack began to move. On the first day of racing, the race to Furenalp was on the agenda, which meant around ....

You can find the whole article in the current issue
Simply send orders by email to [email protected].
[frame src="https://www.sportguide.ch/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Sportguide_Cover_Bike_1-2015-web.jpg" link="http://issuu.com/rfmedia/docs/sportguide_bike_1-2015-issuu" target="_blank" width="210″ height="280″ alt="Premium Wordpress Themes" align="left" prettyphoto="false"]