COURCHEVEL, all in on ski mountaineering.
Courchevel, the first resort to have created a dedicated ski touring track.
In Courchevel, skiers have their slalom stadium, snowboarders have their boardercross, cross-country skiers have their cross-country trails, jumpers have their ski jumps, and today ski mountaineers have their track!
For 2 years, ski mountaineering has been much talked about in Courchevel thanks to the association “Courchevel Sports Alpinisme”, which with the Dynafit Ski Touring Courchevel (DSTC) has found a highly original ski mountaineering competition concept that delights all participants whatever their level, as well as the media, who follow this extraordinary event assiduously.
It must be said that with 1,082 starts and 620 competitors ranked last year, with all the best specialists of the discipline at the top of the standings, this ski mountaineering competition, held as a time trial every Wednesday evening of the winter on a 3.2 km course with 500 m of elevation gain linking Le Praz to Courchevel 1850, has become the race bringing together the most participants in France.
First French ski resort to have a marked ski mountaineering course.
Faced with this effervescence, the municipality of Courchevel and the Société des 3 Vallées (S3V), aware of the interest and stakes arising from this fast-growing sport, enabled Courchevel to become the first French ski resort to have a permanent course for the practice of ski mountaineering.
To this end, since last spring work has been undertaken to widen part of the DSTC route over 400 metres to allow a small tracked vehicle to pass and to make some sections easier for skiers. The course has been marked with marker-post-shaped signs showing the distance remaining every 100 m to the finish, and this will also appear on the piste map.
From Wednesday 12 December, participants in the 3rd season of the DSTC will be able to appreciate the improvements made to the course. Another opportunity will be given at the Vertical Race event of the French Championships, which will take place on 2 February on the same track. Note that on the occasion of the French Championship, with the support of the French Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (FFME), the route will be officially certified “World Cup” by the International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF).
This marked course remains usable outside the organised climbs for all skin enthusiasts throughout the week and the season during the opening hours of the ski area. They will be able to enjoy an accessible spot while taking care of the alpine skiers who will use the same route in the opposite direction in places.
