The Real Winter Classic

Twice now the NHL has staged a regular season game that was held outdoors. Dubbed the Winter Classic, this far these games have been very successful despite the threatening role Mother Nature plays each time. Perhaps looking to out-do the NHL, the IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) staged their own Winter Classic in Switzerland.

In the Alps.

In a glacier.

Inside a fucking glacier!!

From the IIHF web site:

“We wanted to stage a unique event and were thus looking for a game at an enormous altitude,” said Sébastien Pico, the manager of the Swiss second-tier club EHC Visp. The plan succeeded. On Monday, the club aimed for the sky by playing EV Zug at an altitude of 3,883 metres (12,740 ft).

It was not an Olympic-sized rink the teams played on, but the organisers nevertheless brought out the best of the glacier palace, a natural crevasse, creating an 18-metre long rink that was between 4 and 12 metres wide. The temperature was -2°C but coolers brought the ice to -7°C. Guests kept warm by mulled wine and tea. Plexi-glass protected the glacier palace from shots.

Hmmmm… I love what they were going for here but I have to say nice try but no. The concept is great but only in a hammered college varsity team / “Dude, we should totally play some four-on-four up in that glacier, maaan” kind of way. In fact, it would’ve been great if that’s all it had been. It all falls apart when you see the photo in the link - It looks like they’re skating around the Batcave, which makes me think that Arnold Schwarzenegger is standing just off-camera making a horrible cold pun while George Clooney wonders if ER will take him back.

Here’s a long shot of the whole set-up…. I think my bathroom is bigger…