Act 7 - MILLET SKI TOURING COURCHEVEL - Wednesday 27 January 2016

Participant numbers explode in the 7th round of the 2016 Millet Ski Touring Courchevel.

Next week, half of the rounds of this 2015-2016 season’s Millet Ski Touring Courchevel (MSTC) will have been run. Since 16 December, 7 of the 15 ski mountaineering climbs have taken place, 4 of them on the official 3.2 km course with 500 m of elevation gain between Le Praz and Courchevel 1850. From now on the Wednesdays are numbered until the final on 23 March, which will be the occasion to celebrate the 100th climb with 1,200 people expected. The famous group " La Compagnie Créole" will brighten the evening by performing its biggest hits: "Le bal masqué", "Ça fait rire les oiseaux", "Ba moin en Ti Bo", "C’est bon pour le moral"…

As this great party approaches, the number of competitors will increase considerably as the Wednesdays go by. This 7th round of the MSTC on Wednesday 27 January is proof, with a glaring rise in participation: 156 competitors at the start.

Tony Portanier pulls out all the stops for his birthday and Corinne Favre dominates!

For his 25th birthday, a member of the organising club "Courchevel Sports Alpinisme", Tony Portanier of ESF Courchevel 1550, immortalised the day by winning this 7th stage in 24min40s. He thus took second place in the provisional overall standings behind Florent Perrier (23min57min) and moved to the top of the ESF challenge ranking. Arnaud Mazet stayed on the second step of the podium as last week, improving his time by 2 seconds (24min42s). Gédéon Pochet completed the podium in 24min52s.

Among the women, Corinne Favre, holder of the provisional women’s record (28min10s), confirmed with a second victory (28min43s). Géraldine Bau, a devotee of second place for two weeks, repeated her result in 32min06s. Véronique Lathuraz returned to the front with a fine third place. In the ESF challenge, Séverine Doix of ESF Courchevel 1850 won in 37min23s.

At this mid-season point, seconds are harder and harder to scrape off and the vice is tightening at the top. Places on the final podium are dearly sought. It must be said that with the substantial prizes planned for the top finishers of the 2016 overall standings, 8,000 euros of prize money and 4,800 euros of shopping vouchers, the race for records is not over.

2nd Grand Slam next week…

The second round of the Vertical Kilometre (VK) of the Plum KV Courchevel (PKVC) will take place on Friday 5 February. The 2016 French VK records will be awarded at the end of the 4 rounds offered this season on this 5 km course with 1,000 m of elevation gain, approved by the French Mountain and Climbing Federation (FFME). The provisional best times of the 2016 PKVC are for the moment held by Mathéo Jacquemoud in 40min05s and Corinne Favre in 51min09s.

In the weeks when the MSTC and the PKVC are organised, a ranking is drawn up for those who complete the “Grand Slam” (taking part in the 2 events in the same week).

Next week, the "2nd Grand Slam" of the season will take into account the combined times of the MSTC on Wednesday 3 February and those of the PKVC on Friday 5 February. The 2016 "Grand Slam" records are for the moment held by Arnaud Mazet in 1h09min22s and Elsa Nodet in 1h28min03s.