At the 1928 Winter Olympics, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, a military patrol competition was held. Because of a snowstorm the night before the competition, the start of the event was delayed 45 minutes to the cleaning up of the track. The competition was contested over a distance with an elevation difference of . The starting point was on a height of , the highest point at , and the goal in the valley at . Nine countries with 36 military patrol runners participated in this event.
The event was held on Sunday, February 12, 1928. It was originally to be a full Olympic event, but its status was downgraded to that of demonstration sport.