Thank you to everyone who participated in the
2nd Winter Pentathlon
10th February, 2024 · St Moritz, Switzerland
We look forward to welcoming you back in 2025. In the mean time, please subscribe for updates and follow us on Instagram.
Welcome to the 2nd Winter Pentathlon!
10th February, 2024 ·
St Moritz, Switzerland
After a successful inaugural event in 2023, we are excited to convene another rendition of the Winter Pentathlon in 2024
“The most fun one can have in a single day in St Moritz!”
The Winter Pentathlon: an unparalleled winter sporting extravaganza, testing amateur athletes’ athletic and mental endurance across five Olympic disciplines.
The 2024 Winter Pentathlon is now over, but sign up to stay up-to-date with the latest images, videos and information about next year’s registration.
This year’s event saw athletes compete in ski mountaineering, giant slalom, ice dash*, cross-country skiing and monobob starts*.
* The warm temperatures meant that the frozen lake of St. Moritz and the all-natural Olympia Bob Run had to close on the day of the Winter Pentathlon. Ice dash - a 100m sprint across the lake in ski boots - and monobob starts replaced speed skating and monobob respectively.
“This was pretty much THE perfect weekend.”
Disciplines & Route of the Winter Pentathlon
#1 Ski Mountaineering.
The Winter Pentathlon kicks off with an ascent of 796m on skis and skins from the hamlet of Ruinatsch up to the mountain of Corviglia. The route takes you up the original downhill piste used for the 1928 Olympics and through various forests before plateauing at around 2400m above sea level. The course will require you to overcome various obstacles and navigate different terrains, as is the case in “SkiMo”, one of the newest Olympic winter disciplines.
#2 Giant Slalom.
After the SkiMo ascent to Corviglia, you will tackle a 28-gate Giant Slalom course. Giant Slalom is one of the most popular alpine ski racing disciplines and requires you to ski between a set of gates. This course will take you down the black piste, Muntanella, before ending up on the frozen lake of St Moritz.
#3 Speed Skating.
The third discipline of the Winter Pentathlon requires you to speed skate 800m on the natural speed skating track located on the frozen lake of St Moritz. Here you will swap your skis and boots for speed skates and complete 2 laps of the rink. This track recently hosted the Swiss speed skating championships.
#4 Cross-Country Skiing.
Traverse 6.9km from the frozen lake of St Moritz to Celerina on cross-country skis. This route starts right next to the natural speed skating rink, takes you up via the picturesque Lej da Staz and finishes next to the historic 15th century church, San Gian. You will tackle one incline (98m) and be required to descend portions of the track on your cross-country skis.
#5 Monobob.
Upon completing the cross-country skiing, you will walk up to the start of the world’s only all-natural bobsleigh course: the Olympia Bob Run. This is the birthplace of the monobob and the bobsleigh. Nineteen gravity-defying turns across 1722m in a monobob take you from St Moritz to Celerina.
For those who are new to monobob, there is a shortened course which starts at the half-way point (Monti’s Bolt). This shortened track is regularly used for corporate team building events. Alternatively, beginners are welcome to participate in a monobob school before the Winter Pentathlon and ride the full length of the track.
“A fantastic experience: a unique event in some of the most beautiful surroundings, with a high level of participant engagement both on and off the course.”
Sponsors & Partners
Thank you to the Sponsors and Partners of the 2024 Winter Pentathlon. Their support and encouragement has allowed the event to be turned from idea into reality. Should you wish to become a Sponsor or Partner of the 2025 Winter Pentathlon, please contact us.
5
Number of disciplines Athletes complete in the Winter Pentathlon
796m
Total vertical ascent Athletes need to cover
22.4km
Horizontal distance covered in the Winter Pentathlon
19
Number of turns on the 1722m long Olympia Bob Run with forces of up to 5G
10
Countries represented at the 2023 Winter Pentathlon
70
Athletes and Supporters who took part in the 2023 inaugural Winter Pentathlon
Values & Guiding Principles
Move Mountains: the Winter Pentathlon was conceived to allow passionate Athletes of all generations to challenge themselves both physically and mentally. Completing this high-altitude, five-part sporting challenge will require training, commitment and the pursuit of excellence.
Nature & Environment: Athletes will ascend and descend mountains in the Engadin valley without the use of machines. This serves both to increase the physical challenge of the competition, while also underscoring the importance of reducing our carbon footprint in order to preserve the fragile alpine ecosystem for future generations. These values are embedded within the winner’s trophy.
Tradition & Innovation: on the one hand the five disciplines in the Winter Pentathlon celebrate the sporting heritage of the region: many of the sports were invented or popularised in the Engadin. At the same time we have developed these into a unique event which appeals to an increasingly active, outdoor and health-conscious population.
Embrace the Outlandish: the concept of the Winter Pentathlon is crazy and has been driven forward by people who are excited at the prospect of engaging in activities off-the-beaten track. We are excited to be bringing together a community of Athletes and Supporters who share this same adventurous philosophy.
The Winner’s Trophy
The trophy for the event is a rendition of the Engadin landscape which plays host to the Winter Pentathlon. Carved into a single piece of locally-sourced Swiss pine wood mounted on top of a piece of locally-sourced larch, the sculpture is made in close collaboration with Tom Aylwin, an independent artist who has spent a lot of time in the Swiss alps.
The top of the mountainous landscape is gilded in a fine layer of silver. This mimics the reflective, brilliant aspect of this wondrous winter landscape; at the same time, this thin coat of silver serves as a reminder of the fragility of the ecosystem, whose balance can be destroyed if we are not careful with it.
Koenig, an artisanal jeweler located in the heart of St Moritz with its own workshop located in the nearby village of Celerina, adorned the wooden sculpture with five miniature representations of the different disciplines.
