LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE SWISSALPINE

Contributed by John Fisher, AURA member

Swissalpine 68km, Davos (Switzerland), 27 July 2019

My eyes misted up when I crossed the finish line at the 2019 Swissalpine in Davos, Switzerland. I was close to tears. It was a three year plan that became a four year plan – well, four years and 19 hours 8 mins 35.9 secs. 

My Garmin said 91.47kms with 3903m elevation.

The race map said 85kms.

My wife Melinda was at the line. It was dark. I was intoxicated with a cocktail of relief and fatigue. I had run across the Swiss Alps from St Mauritz to Davos.

Four years before I realised I needed a goal to fill a big life change scheduled for 2018. So I targeted an ultra. Naturally I looked at Comrades in South Africa but research showed me great races in Europe and the goal developed to a European holiday around the Swissalpine. My non-running wife Melinda committed to the 10kms, and we did it.

What did we learn that could help you?

Three things hit me hard as a West Australian runner:

• Mountain climbs
• Altitude sickness
• Weather changes

Mountain Climbs

My research told me I had five mountain climbs in the race. My running buddy Bob Colligan suggested I get out on the Kokoda Steps (a natural climb of 150 steep steps with a vertical rise of 62m) and Jacobs Ladder (242-step concrete staircase) in Kings Park. Good advice but nothing around Perth prepared me for the alpine climbs.

One climb was equal to 6km of Jacobs Ladder. Many of the locals used poles and I could see the value of spreading the load to the upper body. The value of my recon runs and route research paid off in so far as I made a plan: I was walking the five big climbs!

Altitude Sickness

I saw three runners go down with altitude sickness. One was vomiting as we approached the fourth climb. I ran the final 18kms after the fifth climb with this English runner. He had to keep stopping to wretch.

On the fourth peak at Kerschhutte I sheltered from the wind chill with three others in a hut under a ski lift. We had formed a running buddy group. After our snack and re-set we set out to the crest and our journey to the fifth and final peak.

Our young German friend Fatih did not emerge. Waiting in the wind chill I sent the two others onward into the lee and went back to check him. He gave me the thousand yard stare. He was transfixed. He was unable to put on his rain jacket. I fetched one of the mountain rescue team from the soup station then set off on the downhill to catch my two running buddies. The mountain rescue team worked their magic and this young German overtook me in the last 15kms. He waited for me at the finish and introduced me to his mum, dad and girlfriend. They had come from the Baltic coast to see him run. His father thanked me and commented that I was older than he was. I smiled and we had a pre-Covid hug. Two proud fathers.

So what’s the lesson here? All the research said you must sleep a minimum of three nights above 1500m to acclimatise. Melinda and I did a week pre-race in Davos. Each day I ran part of the course. On the first day I did a recon run/walk/bus 36kms out and back on the final leg from the fifth peak known as Sertigpass to the finish line at Davos. This was the stretch I would run in the dark.

Well did I get a lesson in altitude sickness. The final 1kms climb to Sertigpass took me longer than my parkrun time. I could not breathe. I was sweating. I developed a headache. I forced my way to the summit through patches of snow. I lay down flat on the pass with a group of mountain bikers and sucked in the thin air. I wanted to lay and recover but realised I was going to get massive sunburn.

I staggered downhill and walked to a point where the air could be drunk as oxygen soup. I could jog again. Lesson learned.

I relayed this story to locals over dinner. They explained to me that as the snow melts and the trekking, biking and running season starts the local speedsters drive up and sleep in their cars in the parking lot at the ski stations to acclimatise for the first race.

Weather changes

In WA the ultra running risk is all about hydration and heat exhaustion. Above the snow line the weather changes fast. The wind chill on the mountain peak at Kerschhutte has already been mentioned.

One lesson here for me was that a hat and gloves were not mandated. I ummed and ahhed about the extra weight. I considered putting the hat and gloves into the drop bag ready for the hours of darkness. On reflection I would have been very uncomfortable on the final two mountains up near the glacier.

The rain hit on the second climb. This was a vertical ‘goat track’ with all the pole users at a clear advantage. By this time I had paired with a 42-year-old Swedish mother of two named Paula with whom I ran-walked the final 60kms to the line.

We consulted as the rain struck. Those around us were de-rigging and pulling out their compulsory rain jackets. We were two-thirds up the climb and there was a mountain rescue hut at the top. We force marched on and clothed up with a savoury biscuit and a disposable cup of hot soup heated by a solitary mountain guide and a gas ring. We needed those coats for about 3kms until bright sunshine put them back in our rigs and us back onto the set of The Sound of Music.

Those are my three lessons for West Australians for the Swissalpine. All the other lessons are the same ones that our great WA trail running scene hammers home: do your research, learn the route, have a plan, work out your splits, jog the finish and so on.

Good running to you, whatever your pace.

Pictured: John Fisher at the 2019 Swissalpine. Photograph – Muottas Muragl/Supplied.