“The Hell of 1963”, that’s what the grueling Elfstedentocht that Reinier Paping made immortal in the skating world is called.
At the start it was 18 degrees below zero, with an ice cold easterly wind. Paping, who previously hardly belonged to the list of contenders, would later say that he had never experienced anything like it.
As the ride progressed, the ice deteriorated and the snow obscured the view of the participants. Several times Paping asked a spectator how far it was. “Sometimes it was still 6 kilometers, then suddenly 8”, he said later.
Paping completed his journey after 10 hours 59 minutes in Leeuwarden, 22 minutes ahead of his first pursuer Jan Uitham.
“The best memory is that after crossing the finish line I fell into the arms of my wife, my father and my three brothers. I don’t remember much about the final kilometres,” Paping told Max Magazine years later about his win in the Elfstedentocht .
Paping did not get rich from his triumph. According to tradition, he received two annual tickets for the ice rink in Deventer and a silver cigarette box.
–
