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STORIES
SWITZERLAND’S CRESTA
RUN — WHAT’S CHANGED?
The legendary Cresta Run has now opened up to women, but what’s the
experience actually like for a female skier? Words: Abigail Butcher
WHAT’S ONLINE
I’m digging my toes into the ground harder
than ever before; my body doing a desperate
‘plank’ for all its worth. I’m straining to look
ahead, yet part of me doesn’t want to: the ice
tunnel looms menacingly, the walls passing
fast, and with every drop in altitude, I’m
picking up speed; the metal teeth attached to
my boots doing little to slow my plunge.
Through Rise, Battledore and Shuttlecock
I fly, wondering when this torture will end;
ricocheting off one ice wall, sending me
drifting uncontrollably into the other side,
bashing my wrist and hips in the process.
Finally, after a death-defying race down the
Bledisloe Straight, under Railway Bridge and
through Cresta Leap, I spy three blue lines in
the ice that signify The End. Not a moment
too soon. As my toboggan slows, I realise I’veheld my breath for what seems like the whole
88 seconds of my first ‘dart’ down the famous
Cresta Run in the ski resort of St Moritz in
Switzerland. But I’m alive.
I make my way up to a warm portacabin
where others await — my 40kg metal
toboggan removed on a meat hook by an
‘arbiter’ (course helper), one of many strange
terms I’m learning in this world of Cresta
craziness. I sit down, wondering how I’ll
manage to ride the run again. I’m usually
fearless, yet I admit to myself that over the
past minute and a half, I’ve been absolutely
terrified. The ‘death talk’ (aka, safety video) we
had an hour before the run did little to explain
exactly what riding the Cresta Run was like.
Soon, my fellow beginner riders Sean and
Mark appear in the cabin, both in much thesame state as me, which emboldens me to ride
again. You see, as a woman I’m in a privileged
position. Until December 2018, women were
only permitted to ride the Cresta Run for one
day a year —the last day of every season. A
98-year rule prohibiting them from practising
and competing was finally overturned in a
narrow vote at the 2018 AGM.
The iconic run has been the preserve of
men for so long that a sign on the changing
room door proclaims ladies are strictly
prohibited from entering. But now they can,
thanks to the British military, which told
the St Moritz Toboggan Club that it could
no longer justify holding its Inter-Services
Championship here unless the sport became
more inclusive. READ MORE ONLINE NOW AT
NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.CO.UK/TRAVEL36 36 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel
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