Act 2 - MILLET SKI TOURING COURCHEVEL - Wednesday 23 December 2015

Géraldine Bau and Gary Ozeray take the 2nd round of the Millet Ski Touring Courchevel.

The lack of snow currently makes the official Millet Ski Touring Courchevel (MSTC) course impassable for ski mountaineering. This second round of the MSTC on Wednesday 23 December again had to be run on the fallback course in the upper part of the resort, starting from Courchevel 1850. The finish of this 2.4 km Vertical Race course with 500 m of elevation gain was identical to the official finish of the "Plum KV Courchevel", located at the top of the Loze relay.

114 competitors were at the start of this time trial run under a magnificent moonlight. Among the participants, a few had come in Christmas outfits, such as Mireille Bartniki of CAF Albertville dressed as Mrs Claus, who finished in 35min07s.

Gary Ozeray of ESF Peisey Vallandry asserted himself in 21min00s. William Perrier of the club Courchevel Sports Alpinisme (21min40s) took second place and Clément Ripoll of Team Alpi Mercantour completed the podium (21min51s). Jean-Christophe Bette, the most decorated rower in French rowing, with an Olympic gold medal from the Sydney Games and five world titles to his name, finished fourth in 22min16s.

Among the women, Géraldine Bau of Méribel Sport Montagne again stepped onto the top step of the podium with a time of 29min03s. Next came Clarisse Monnet of Team Yogi Tea in 29min29s and Annabelle Cadoux of CAF Aravis in 30min46s.

In the ESF challenge, Gary Ozeray of ESF Peisey Vallandry won among the men instructors in 21min and Pascale Gachet Mauroz of ESF Courchevel 1550 won among the women instructors in 36min19.

The Mayor of Saint-Bon Courchevel, Philippe Mugnier, and 2 municipal councillors, Laurette Coste and Laurence Chevallier, finished in 47min20s, 54min05s and 54min20s respectively. Coming with his family, Pascal De Thiersant, chairman of the management board of the Société des 3 Vallées, placed in 35min03s followed by Jean-Pierre Millet in 36min10.

A little more patience for the "Plum KV Courchevel".

We will have to wait until Friday 22 January for the first round of the "Plum KV Courchevel" in ski mountaineering. Given the low snow cover on the official "Plum KV Courchevel" course, the race of 1 January has been moved to Friday 5 February. The 4 winter dates of the Plum KV Courchevel are Fridays 22 January, 5 and 19 February, and 18 March.

Next date: Wednesday 30 December for the 3rd round of the Millet Ski Touring Courchevel on the fallback course with Mathéo Jacquemoud, the new French Vertical Race champion, who will come to do his last race of the year with his family.