At the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland in 1948, the last military patrol competition was held as a demonstration sport.
This was in part due to the aftermath of World War II, which decimated Europe.
This sport would be superseded by the biathlon competition which debuted at the 1960 Winter Olympics.
The cross-country ski run was not prepared and was made by the leading Swiss team.
The Czechoslovak participant Karel Dvořák described the weather of the day as extremely mild with temperatures of about 0 °C (32 °F) at the starting point at the upper cableway station (2,486 metres (8,156 ft)) on top of the Corviglia in the morning.