Ultra Ski Touring Courchevel 2021: the first Millet Everest challenge

ROUND 12 - MILLET SKI TOURING COURCHEVEL - Wednesday 17 and Sunday 21 March 2021

A soaring final for the 2021 Millet Ski Touring Courchevel! 

The conclusion of this 11th season will stay etched in memory. Putting on a ski touring event while evoking Everest and Tahiti, you had to think of it. A bet won for the whole Courchevel Sports Outdoor club team at the end of this very particular season. This slightly crazy idea sprang up at the beginning of February when the Government decided not to reimpose lockdown and the concert originally planned to conclude this winter with Keen’V could not be held normally. The original organisation of the race had to adapt to comply with the health protocol by changing the schedule of the traditional weekly Wednesday-evening 6 pm events and reprogramming them over 2 days (Wednesdays and Saturdays from 10 am to 3 pm). During these 5 hours of presence, the original idea of doing as many climbs as possible in that time was suggested to the organisers by Jonathan Lamy, an accomplished sportsman and member of the organising club who will set off to climb Everest on 4 April. Enthusiasm was there from the launch of this new challenge. After this first experience, the staff quickly understood that it would be difficult to do more than 6 climbs in the allotted time on the 3.2 km Vertical Race course with 500 m of elevation gain, hence the idea of creating a new challenge: the Millet 3000 Challenge. This event consists of doing 6 climbs in under 5 hours as fast as possible (only the climbs are timed). In addition, it is the qualification basis for the Millet Everest challenge of 20 and 21 March. 

The first Ultra in ski mountaineering in Courchevel: the Millet Everest challenge 

An innovator in the discipline of ski touring for the past 11 years with the creation of the first marked and secured permanent course, creator of original registered concepts, Courchevel becomes the first resort to organise an Ultra in ski mountaineering: the Millet Everest challenge. A race of 9,000 m of elevation gain was born, on ski touring equipment (we talk more in terms of elevation and less of kilometres covered). This event, mainly reserved for ultra-endurance experts, saw 39 selected competitors face off in this first edition with a high-calibre field. Among them, it is worth noting the presence of a host of national and international champions in ski mountaineering, trail running, triathlon, mountain biking and Xterra, such as Cédric Fleureton, David Poncet, Nicolas Lebrun, Corinne Favre, René Rovera, Maud Gobert, Alexandre Pellicier to name just a few. 2 days of competition to climb 9,000 m of elevation gain on the Millet Ski Touring course (3.2 km / 500 m of elevation gain), i.e. 18 climbs (57.6 km / 9,000 m of elevation gain), to reach the altitude of the summit of Everest (8,849 m) starting from sea level, as fast as possible (only the climbs are timed within the allotted time). 5,000 m of elevation gain had to be completed on Saturday 20 March between 7 am and 5 pm before spending the night in tents (-10°) at base camp (the Courchevel snow front, set up for the occasion), then setting off again the next day from 7.30 am to complete the last 4,000 m of elevation gain before 3.30 pm. 

Everest for Corinne Favre and Alexandre Pellicier

At the end of this first ultra, where managing rest times and aid stations was essential to reach the goal in the shortest possible time, Alexandre Pellicier, 2008 world team ski mountaineering champion, 2007 European team runner-up and 3rd in the Pierra Menta in 2007, won in 8h43min44s, ahead of Jocelyn Verdenal, a road cycling specialist (2nd in the Tour du Mont Blanc in 2019) in 8h47min58s, and mountain biker Jonas Buchot (2019 winner of the Raid de la Meije and the Raid des Monts d’Ardèche, with a fine 8th place in the marathon World Cup in Bouillon, Belgium), a deserving 3rd in 53min36s. The winner of the last edition of the Diagonale des Fous, Grégoire Curmer , missed the podium in 9h03min44s ahead of master ski mountaineering world champion David Poncet , 5th in 9h18min26s. The rest of the standings shows the intrinsic quality of the field: 6th in 9h21min04, Nicolas Lebrun (2005 XTerra world champion), 7th in 9h22min48s, Dorian Colliard (10th at the French U23 Vertical Race ski mountaineering championships), 8th in 9h34min12s, triathlete René Rovera (winner of the 2004 Ironman Lanzarote with around ten appearances at the world finals in Hawaii between 1996 and 2007), 9th in 9h50min37s, Jonathan Lamy , in full preparation for his ascent to the roof of the world, 10th in 9h56min05s, François Lesca, high-mountain guide, cross-country ski and climbing instructor. In 11th place and last to finish under the 10-hour mark (9h59min43s), Cédric Fleureton, 2005 and 2006 European triathlon runner-up, three-time French trail champion (2014, 2015 and 2016), 3rd at the 2017 Trail World Championships, 7th at the 2017 Swimrun World Championships, 5th at the Xterra World Championships in 2017 and 2019, completes this exceptional picture.

Among the women, ski mountaineering world champion Corinne Favre won in 10h32min52s ahead of the 9th in the 2021 Millet Ski Touring Courchevel, Véronique Lathuraz , in 11h10min25s. Back in competition, 2011 trail world champion Maud Gobert took 3rd place in 12h11min04s. Special mention to Pascale Gachet-Mauroz of ESF Courchevel Village, who, having taken part in every MSTC for several years, completed 9 climbs before being stopped by the cut-off times. Patron of this competition, Dawa Sherpa, the legend of Nepalese sport, did not fail to warmly congratulate the 34 competitors who reached the end of this crazy challenge. 

Off to Tahiti for the crowning of Axelle Gachet-Mollaret and Thibault Anselmet, 2021 Millet Ski Touring Courchevel winners 

The singer Keen’V, captain of this special flight to Papeete, Tahiti, for the final of the Millet Ski Touring Courchevel, was at the controls of the event. 160 passengers boarded this ultra-festive flight, all adorned with a flower garland given out at the start. Beginning on Wednesday 17 March, a first stopover of this final race saw the participation of the 1998 Pierra Menta winner Sébastien Figliolini, director of the partner shop “le Camp de Base” and 2003 Everest summiteer, accompanied by his son Gaspard (10 years old), who finished in 42min30s. A first day marked by the huge performance of Slovakia’s Marianna Jagercikova, world sprint runner-up and bronze medallist in the overall standings of the 2021 ski mountaineering world championships, who had propelled herself to second place overall in 27min05s. Unfortunately for her, Jessica Pardin, highly motivated, smashed the performance of the weekend on Sunday in 26min53s, meaning victory for this round 12 and second place in the overall scratch. Three-time ski mountaineering world champion and two-time Pierra Menta winner Valérie Ducognon took third place in this final round. In the final overall standings, although pressed to the very end, Axelle Gachet-Mollaret won for the 5th consecutive year in 25min58s

Among the men, big performances for the first 3, who thereby enter the final Top 10. Samuel Equy, bronze medallist in the vertical event at the 2021 French Ski Mountaineering Championships, won in 22min34s. He finished ahead of Julien Bernaz , credited with 23min25s, a time that gives him victory in the U23 category. On the 3rd step, master world champion Yoann Caillot consolidated his position as O40 leader in 23min43.

For the final overall standings, the all-categories French champion Thibault Amselmet succeeds Switzerland’s Rémi Bonnet in an excellent time of 21min48s. He finished ahead of the 2021 French Vertical Race runner-up Gédéon Pochat in 21min50s and the 2021 long-distance world champion, Italy’s Michele Boscacci (22min11s). 

The grand finale with Keen’V….

For this last flight towards paradise after Wednesday’s stopover, many travellers had dressed up to be as Tahitian as possible. It was once again very difficult for the jury to pick the best costume among all the participants shortlisted. In the end, a prize draw for the “Deguisetoi.fr” best costume prize picked Joseph Samson, with the reward handed over by Keen V.

The grand finale of this sunny weekend, marked by the arrival of spring and this 11th edition of the Millet Ski Touring Courchevel, took place behind closed doors in the Gilles de La Rocque performance hall. The ceremony ended in the presence of Jean-Yves Pachod, mayor of the resort, who came to present the 2021 “René and Raymond Millet” Crystal Trophies, named after the founders of our partner brand Millet, to the big 2021 winners Axelle Gachet-Mollaret and Thibault Anselmet.

A fine show that brought together all the winners as well as the 4 competitors who ran all 12 rounds of the season: Mireille Franchino, Pascale Gachet-Mauroz, Jonathan Lamy and Philippe Mottier. An end to the day hosted by Ludovic Collet and Keen’V and set to the beat of the hit of summer 2020, gold record after only 9 months: TAHITI!

A superb ceremony streamed on Facebook Live on the Courchevel Sports Outdoor page

See you in December 2021 for the 12th edition of the Millet Ski Touring, with conditions, we hope, back to normal.

2021 winners by category:

U16: Amandine Perrier : 37min03s / Edgar Cognaud : 31min01s
U18: Louna Broche : 32min12s / Maxime David : 26min42s
U20: Grace Staberg : 27min59s / Anselme Damevin : 24min07s
U23: Clémence David : 32min25s / Julien Bernaz : 23min25s
O24: Axelle Gachet-Mollaret : 25min58s / Thibault Anselmet : 21min48s
O40: Corinne Favre : 29min28s / Yoann Caillot : 23min43s
O60: Pascale Gachet-Mauroz : 36min34s / Joseph Chedal : 29min37s 

Next season: every Wednesday from 22 December 2021 to 23 March 2022, with plenty of surprises up to the great fancy-dress final and the closing concert with Louis Bertignac!