The title
of this blog is one of the most appreciated, but rare slogans in the
Netherlands. When it is used, usually by radio or television, it means that it
has frozen in the Netherlands; not just a little for a short time, but really
hard and for a long time. The slogan announces the Eleven City Tour, one of the
most heroic skating events. The winner receives a medal of 8 grams of alloy and
eternal fame.
route of the 11 city tour of 1997
Professional
skaters and amateurs skate for 200 kilometres on natural ice through the provence of Fryslân and have to collect stamps on the
road to their much-sought-after medal. The Eleven City Tour is a nostalgic
event. The last one was held in the last century, in 1997; as a compensation a
similar tour is being organised abroad in Finland or Austria.
Despite the global warming the Eleven City Tour is on again, but now in cross media. The social media already starts about this heroic tour and soon it will be subject on radio, television and internet. The launch of the tour itself needs more nights of low temperatures for at least a week If you got curious now about this special event in the North of the Netherlands. The movie theatre reports and television broadcasts since 1929 have been brought online.
Post to get stamps
The project
is a cultural heritage project of the Eleven City Tour association, the Skating
museum, the skating sports association, , the institute of Image and Sound,
produced by the national broadcast companies NPS and VPRO. The project intends
to show what has been preserved, but it also aims at user generated content
such as photographs and movies.
Memories
from participants can be recorded in sound, image or text. 
Only the ones that make will get a cross medal
Pinning a
date for a coming tour is not that easy as we do not have any influence on the
weather. But it just started freezing it will be on the earliest the second
week of February I guess. To me it is almost tempting fate, as the Eleven City
Tour needs harsh winter weather. The real thing is not like any other skating
event it needs a hell lot of people to make sure no one gets hurt or whatever
is needed many Frysians will volunteer to help out. 
Happily
enough, you can now stay inside (temperatures went down to minus 17 degrees
celsius last night) with the cross media Eleven tour city and look at the most
heroic tour won by Mr Reinier Paping on 18 January 1963. I was not even born
yet but people talked about every winter again how harsh this tour has been.
They also made a movie about it called the “de hel van ’63” translated as the
hell of 63.Let us see if this marvelous event will come up this year as was not
one for the last fifteen years. The kids will be off from school to watch it
either live or in front of the television set as public transport will be
disrupted due to the event. This year might be the chance and many colourful
images will be broadcasted for the first time on media like twitter.
Getting the
ice skates out again.
The Old
Sailor,
