Bare mountain

The snow disappeared off Canigou some weeks ago but there will be one or two pockets of ice up there in north facing crevices. Next Sunday the Canigou race will take place. At the beginning of the twentieth century, before the introduction of fridges and freezers into the region, inhabitants of Vernet les Bains used to climb high into the mountain, and cut blocks of ice from the hillside which they loaded onto their backs in order to run back down to the village and sell to the rich patrons of the posh hotels (most of which were swept away in a the flood of 1940). The fastest runners had the greatest chance of selling their ice. In 1905, a race was proposed by the local branch of the Alpine Club of France to honour the intrepid ice carriers. This race was to be from Vernet to the summit of the Canigou and back and competitors would have to carry a load on their back.
In 1980, this mountain race was revived, and each year since then, the event has been held on the first Sunday of August. The race has become an international athletic event, 34km to the summit of Canigou and back, a climb of 2180 metres! The winner usually finishes in around three hours but with temperatures predicted to be very high, it will be particularly gruelling this year.