Round 10 - DYNAFIT SKI TOURING COURCHEVEL - 6 February 2013

The 10th Dynafit Ski Touring Courchevel goes to Danièle Bonnevie and Yoann Sert.

After their feats last Saturday in the 9th round of the Dynafit Ski Touring Courchevel (DSTC), held on the occasion of the Vertical Race event of the French ski mountaineering championships with two new records, Spaniard Kilian Jornet Burgada and Swede Emelie Forsberg had announced their participation this Wednesday 6 February for the 10th. In view of the heavy snowfall recorded throughout the day, they preferred not to take risks on the road a few days before the world championships.

There is no doubt we will see them again after the worlds with the French team, but in the meantime it was Yoann Sert and Daniéle Bonnevie who won this 10th round of the DSTC in rather difficult conditions. The repeated grooming of the track by the volunteers of the association “Courchevel Sports Alpinisme” throughout the day was not enough to have a perfectly prepared track because of the heavy accumulation of snow over the hours. The 5 centimetres of fresh snow on the track at the start did not, however, prevent Yoann Sert of the Arêches Beaufort multisport club from arriving first on this 3.2 km course with 500 m of elevation gain in 25min19s. Samuel Equy of Team Isère Montagne took second place in 27min14s ahead of Eric David of CAF Albertville in 27min21s.

Among the girls, Danièle Bonnevie of the Camos du Roignais club and Vanoise National Park ranger won the climb in 35min30s ahead of Claude Chenal in 36min47s and Christine Gachet of CAF Vanoise in 36min48s.

Of note, among the 45 competitors entered, was the participation of Pierre Gruneberg, ski instructor at ESF Courchevel, who at 82 set a nice time of 1h04min08s, telling us at the finish: “This year, my goal is to go under the one-hour mark.”

At this mid-season point, Guillaume Prin, chairman of the organising association “Courchevel Sports Alpinisme”, presents a first positive review with 480 different people ranked, 753 starts given, the provisional men’s record for Kilian Jornet Burgada in 22min48s ahead of William Bon Mardion (23min02s), Mathéo Jacquemoud (23min03s), Alexis Sévennec (23min13s) and Pierre-François Gachet (23min30s), and the provisional women’s record for Emelie Forsberg in 27min14s ahead of Axelle Mollaret (27min53s), Valentine Favre (29min26s), Melanie Bernier (29min26s) and Catherine Juillaguet (29min53s).