On the morning of the last stage, we struggle a little to get out of bed, even though the start is only scheduled for 9am. The exertion of the last few days is already in our bones and the upcoming ascent of over 1000 meters in altitude directly from the start line is giving us a slight headache.

But when the starting shot is fired at 9 a.m. sharp, we are looking forward to the last few kilometers of the race and the cool trails that we will soon be able to thunder down. The ascent to Schwarzsee, 2580 meters above sea level, starts with a pleasant incline and we soon find our footing. However, as it gets steeper and steeper towards the top, I really struggle. My sister has long since abandoned me to my fate and I'm not just struggling with cramping legs. Mentally, things have been better for me in the past.

As the riders who started later after us gradually pass me with a brisk pedal, I can hardly wait to finally set off on the redemptive descent. I can see the Perskindol arch at the highest point from afar and Anita is already waving a Winforce gel that she has ready for me. I really need this energy boost, because I want to have some fun on the descent, and it's usually not so great when you're low on sugar.

The trail that we ride down in a group with the cross-country riders offers numerous joyful and technical surprises that we can easily cope with. The men in the Epic class know us by now and are happy to let us go first downhill. They try to stay behind us for as long as possible. Pure trail fun! Although we had already studied the elevation profile of the first section, we weren't expecting any fewer climbs on the trail back to the village of Zermatt. In the meantime, we even wondered whether we had mistakenly taken the Epic route. I can no longer manage a sprint towards the finish of the first rated section and the Sunnegga cable car - "bottle empty".

"Girls are slower than men anyway" - really?

On arriving at the top of Sunnegga, we immediately head for the mountain station restaurant before the final descent. A warming punch gives us some sugar and morale to give it one last go. However, the mood at the start is spoiled by "French negligence": a group of Frenchmen cheekily sneak through the start gate in front of us. We are not at all happy about this, especially as we see them getting stuck in the brakes on the first slope. The men must have thought to themselves, "these women can't ride anyway, so we have to get them on the trail." We give them a good head start, but after just a few minutes of riding, we catch up with the three men, who barely want to give us any space and are unfriendly to boot.

Shortly afterwards, as we climb the mountain again for several hundred meters, Anita really puts the pressure on. I know her too well to know that she just wants to make absolutely sure that these guys don't overtake us again. Luckily I can keep up this time and we make it to the descent before my tank is completely empty. We enjoy the last descent to the full and really let it rip. So much so that we have to choose a few freeride lines to avoid individual "traffic jam cells" in front of us. In between, we practise "living at the limit", and a few times we can only stay on the bikes thanks to our rodeo skills.

Finally at the finish, finally raclette and a big thank you

On the village road in Zermatt, I set off on the final sprint, Anita has tortured me enough on the climbs, now she can bite the bullet for me. We cross the finish line slightly over-acidified and we are pretty happy to have survived the week. Despite the strenuous elevation profile, the last day offers plenty of trail fun and Zermatt shows its best side - despite cold temperatures and even light snowfall at the end. It's also the ideal weather to lift your spirits with a good portion of raclette.

In conclusion, we would like to say that we have rarely taken part in such a perfectly organized event and would therefore like to thank the Swiss Epic staff and all the helpers for a fantastic week! Personally, I'm not very fond of uphill racing and prefer to stay loyal to gravity events, but this week was definitely epic!