There is a ‘cautious chance’ that the famous Frisian 11-city skating race or Elfstedentocht will be held in the current cold snap, Wiebe Wieling, chairman of the race association, told a news conference on Monday morning.

The ice in the north of the province is ‘fantastic’ but still not good enough in the south, Wieling said. ‘That gives us cause for concern,’ Wieling said. In particular, the ice is not strong enough on the Sltoermeer and is weak at Stavoren and Luts.
The association is now looking at possible alternative routes. ‘But at the moment we are far from the necessary 15 cm of ice. In some places it is far too thin,’ Wieling is reported as saying by news agency ANP.

Prospects
The 22 local ice association chiefs met on Sunday evening to discuss the prospects. There have been 15 of the grueling 200 kilometre races since the event first took place in 1909.
Leeuwarden is both start and finish of the event, which takes in the 11 ‘cities’ of Friesland: Sneek, IJlst, Sloten, Stavoren, Hindeloopen, Workum, Bolsward, Harlingen, Franeker and Dokkum.
The cold snap, with temperatures as low as -15 Celsius at night, is set to continue for the rest of the week.
If the race goes ahead, thousands of people will take part in an event that was last held in 1997. However, to join in, participants must be a member of the Elfstedentocht association.