When the last skiers are making their turns on the Nordkette in mid-April, the first mountain bikers are already enjoying the trails. Next Saturday, April 20, 2013, winter and summer sports enthusiasts will unite and start together for the "VOWA Nordkette Quartett" in Innsbruck, Austria.

A maximum of 100 teams of four, consisting of mountain bikers, ski tour racers, freeskiers and downhill riders, will take part in this relay competition on Innsbruck's Nordkette mountain range.
The starting shot is fired above Innsbruck at the Hungerburg mountain station. From there, the mountain bikers have to conquer 800 meters of altitude until they reach the first transition zone to send the ski tour racer into the race. The latter has to fight his way up 600 vertical meters to the Hafelekar. Then the technicians come into play. The freeskier will have to shoulder his poles until the descent before he can plunge into the third transition zone. Once there, the downhill rider tackles the infamous Nordkette downhill, which has been defused for this race. After the 800-metre descent, he is the last team member to reach the finish line at the Hungerburg parking lot.

The Nordkette Quartett is certainly an exciting event for every relay and mountain sports fan. No teams from Switzerland have yet registered for this year's event. It is quite possible that perhaps some Swiss will find their way to Innsbruck in 2014.www.nordkette-quartett.at