Rumor has it there may be Elfstedentocht in the Netherlands this year? Any word from the locals?
It might be, but the weather ain't looking good, and each computer model later makes it higher unlikely.
Currently it MUST be held on Sunday, else it's impossible.
Too many places are not frozen enough.
The routes in the north are nearly ready. From Bolsward to Harlingen to Dokkum to Leeuwarden is nearly ready. Just at harlingen there are some problems...
From Leeuwarden to Sneek and IJlst seems fine.
Than from IJlst to Sloten we have the Slotermeer. This part of the lake is reasonable.
From Sloten to Stavoren usually is done by passing the lake on the southwest side, but this part is very very bad. Just 4cm of ice and snow on top! Also the river following this lake is in bad condition. There's already a bypass for this, by following the same course back to IJlst, but than go onto an other lake (Fluessen) towards Stavoren. This lake seems okay.
From Stavoren to Hindeloopen may become a little different than usual, by using the lakes instead of the normal routes.
From Hindeloopen to Workum can be done over the IJsselmeer or some narrower route than usual, both options seem to be reasonable.
From Workum to Bolsward it's the nature, but it's not the worst part of the route..
So, IF it's going through the route may become longer than usual, but at least it's going on..
And IF it's going, than it will happen on Sunday, looking at the weather models.
Some pics made today by several people:
Dokkum:
Harlingen (Ice transplantation)
people trying to make the river (which was a problem in the story above) as good as possible for freezing: