Round 1 / SKI MOUNTAINEERING - PLUM KV COURCHEVEL - Friday 2 January 2015

Opening of the Plum KV Courchevel: wins for François Xavier Girardo and Véronique Lathuraz.

After the cancellation of 22 November because of a lack of snow, the first stage of the Plum KV Courchevel took place on Friday 2 January. For the occasion, the inauguration of this permanent 5 km course with 1,000 m of elevation gain was made official with the cutting of the tricolour ribbon at the start of the race by the Mayor of Courchevel, Philippe Mugnier, and a cocktail offered by the municipality was served to all participants at the prize-giving.

The municipality of Courchevel and the Société des 3 Vallées (S3V), aware of the interest and stakes of this booming sport, have enabled Courchevel to become the first French ski resort to have a permanent course for ski mountaineering.

To that end, since spring 2012 work has been undertaken to modify and widen part of the Millet Ski Touring Courchevel route to allow a small tracked vehicle to pass and make some access easier for skiers. The course is marked by post-shaped signs showing the distance remaining every 100 m up to the finish, which is also shown on the piste map.

Faced with the growing success of this discipline, last spring the municipality decided to extend this course to the top of the Loze so as to offer a route of 1,000 m of elevation gain over 5 km reserved for ski tourers. This course is groomed, secured and marked with posts showing the elevation gain completed every 100 m.

To promote this new course, the association “Courchevel Sports Alpinisme” decided to create a Vertical Kilometre competition called “Plum KV Courchevel”, held 4 times in winter as ski mountaineering and 4 times in summer as trail running.

In winter, the best specialists can come and fight for the French ski mountaineering record on this vertical kilometre course approved by the Fédération Française de Montagne et Escalade (FFME) and try to take the season record.

In summer, the most accomplished trail runners / Skyrunners can compete for the “Region Series Alpes 2015” title and try to take the “Skyrunner France Series KV” in the event of 24 July.

These marked courses remain open outside the competitions to all skinning enthusiasts throughout the week and the season, during the opening hours of the ski area. They can enjoy an accessible site, while still watching out for alpine skiers who will use the same route in the opposite direction in places.

A resounding success for this first stage of the Plum KV Courchevel, with 70 participants on the start line. Kilian Jornet, patron of this Vertical Kilometre, was unable to come, which allowed François Xavier Girardo to set the first reference time on this course by winning the race in 50min36s. Next came Thibaud Le Coguic of CSA 27°BCA in 53min12s and Benjamin Bade of the ESF in Courchevel 1550 in 53min35s.

Among the women, Véronique Lathuraz came out victorious in 1h04min51s ahead of Stéphanie Pommat (1h17min26s) and Melanie Batchelor (1h18min24s).

Benjamin Bade and Véronique Lathuraz win the 1st Grand Slam.

During the weeks when the MILLET SKI TOURING COURCHEVEL (MSTC) and the PLUM KV COURCHEVEL (PKVC) are held, a ranking will be compiled for those who complete the “Grand Slam” (taking part in both events in the same week).

This week, the “Grand Slam” took into account the MSTC times of Thursday 1 January added to the PKVC times of Friday 2 January. 28 competitors completed both races this time, and it was Benjamin Bade who won this first stage in 1h22min31s and Véronique Lathuraz who prevailed among the women in 1h39min58s.

Given the success of this first Plum KV Courchevel, the event partner Albert Félisaz, director of the Plum binding brand, and Guillaume Prin, president of the Courchevel Sports Alpinisme club that organises the event, and his whole team decided to postpone the 22 November event to Friday 30 January.