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The Vendée Globe: Why Sailing's Solo Circumnavigation Became the Sport's Definitive Test
Every four years, around 30 sailors leave Les Sables-d'Olonne alone on 60-foot monohulls and attempt to sail around the world without stopping or receiving outside assistance. The Vendée Globe is sailing's most demanding race. Understanding why it occupies that position requires understanding what solo non-stop circumnavigation actually involves.
Patrouille des Glaciers: The Military Ski Race That Became Skimo's Oldest Living Tradition
In 1943 the Swiss Armed Forces organized a ski race across high-Alpine glaciers to assess soldier readiness for mountain warfare. More than 80 years later the Patrouille des Glaciers runs biennially over the same terrain, still organized by the military, still requiring a team of three on a rope. It has become one of the largest ski mountaineering events in the world by participant count — and one of the few that exists entirely outside the competitive racing circuit.
The Vendée Globe's Strange Logic: Why Solo Non-Stop Round the World Works as a Sport
The Vendée Globe is a sailing race in the same way the Badwater Ultramarathon is a running race — technically accurate and fundamentally inadequate. Solo, non-stop, unassisted circumnavigation of the world in a 60-foot foiling monohull. It has run every four years since 1989 and is the most watched sailing event on earth.