Adelboden’s snow ribbon

The Adelboden Giant Slalom that took place yesterday is among the classic Alpine ski races no ski racing enthusiast want to miss. 

For many years, my imagination was telling me that, like racers dancing on its famous GS run, the name came from Adele’s dance floor (which could be “boden” in German). 

Yet, I was wrong, Adelboden has a rich and long history and was first mentioned 614 years ago in 1409 as “valle Adelboden” in which the first part of the name comes from the plant name “Adelgras” that is an Alpine meadow grass and was combined with the generic name “boden” that suggested a lower-lying, flat mountain meadow. 

So sorry, no dancing ski racers, just dancing cows in the summer! 

More seriously, the lack of snow has made this year’s giant slalom a challenge and a highly uncertain event with a thin snow ribbon, high temperatures and soft snow.

Still, the very best were present at the finish line and on the podium with Odermatt winning at home before Kristofferson who really is on a roll this winter and his countrymate Meillard! Hopefully, next year will be better and skiers will be dancing on better snow, instead of just letting the Adelbodenese cows do it in summer!