Amsterdam - As temperatures plunge across Europe, many are cursing the cold. But not in the Netherlands. There, many are hoping for further frigid conditions.

It's been more than 10 years since the last Elfstedentocht, an ice-skating race across 11 cities in Friesland in northwestern Netherlands.

According to Harry Geurts of the Dutch Meteorological Institute KNMI, temperatures need to be at least minus 10 degrees Celsius at night "for several weeks" before the entire 200-kilometre-track will be sufficiently frozen to hold the race's 16,000 skaters.

Early on Tuesday the temperature dropped to minus 18 degrees Celsius in some parts of the Netherlands, marking the second week of extreme frost in the country.

But that still isn't quite cold enough. "The most extreme temperatures have been measured predominantly in the south and east, much less so in the north-west," Geurts told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Indeed winters with extreme frost are rare in the Netherlands. The tour has only been held 15 times in the tour's 100-year-long existence.

But, since this is the 100th year since the first tour and since temperatures are so low these days, hopes are high that Dutch skaters might get a chance to participate in the Elfstedentocht.

Dutch meteorologists, ice skaters and sports fans alike are holding their breath anxiously. As the frost persists, the tour's ice experts routinely check ice levels to see if the
200 kilometres of the track's path are thickening adequately.

Originally established as a local ice-skating match between the eleven towns of this northwestern rural province, the tour has become one of the Netherlands' most sought-after winter sports events.

Undoubtedly, much of the tour's fame springs from the long spells between races. The snow and strong, freezing northeast winds in which the race is conducted only adds to the thrill.

A lottery determines which 16,000 of the 30,000 members of the tour association get to participate in the race.

The remaining 14,000 members must wait until a new winter comes, bringing a new opportunity to win the tour lottery and participate in the famous skating event.

The winner of the last tour of 1997, Henk Angenent, completed the race in 6 hours and 49 minutes - just below the absolute record- holder Evert van Benthem, who needed 6 hours and 47 minutes to finish in 1985.

The 1986 tour became known for the participation of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, skating under a pseudonym among the thousands of leisure skaters.

Geurts said his institute was providing weather data to the Friesland skating association on a daily basis.

"We give them weather updates continuously," says Geurts, who adds the KNMI also developed special computer models for the association to measure the ice's thickness along the tour's entire track.

"Those models calculate the expected ice increase per day," Geurts explains, adding the latest predictions are not good.

Each day the frost persists, the statistical chances increase slightly that the remainder of the winter will be cold. So, even if the tour does not take place in January, it may still take place in February.

Geurts however remains cautious.

"The 1997 tour took place on January 4, following an extreme frost during Christmas and New Year's. But the remainder of the winter turned out exceptionally warm. So you never know." (dpa)