Round 9 - MILLET SKI TOURING COURCHEVEL - Wednesday 10 February 2016

Florent Perrier consolidates his lead and Elsa Hugot wins the 9th Millet Ski Touring Courchevel.

Success was once again the order of the day for this 9th round of the Millet Ski Touring Courchevel (MSTC), with 142 ski mountaineers at the start of this straight uphill race. This race, open to all, suits every level of ability since there are no transitions to make during the event. After fitting the climbing skins under the skis to stop them sliding backwards on the climb and setting their boots to walk mode, competitors simply have to climb at their own pace the 3.2 km and 500 metres of elevation gain from Le Praz to Courchevel 1850. Many holidaymakers were present at this event, and beginners were able to benefit from the valuable advice of Roland Georges, president of the Courchevel guides' office, who, as every Wednesday, comes along to accompany the less experienced.

The young "Minimes" put up a good fight, with Malo Lions born in 2002, of the club "Poemeur Triathlon", finishing in 30min50s, and Zoé Raoult born in 2003 (40min28s).

The undisputed master of this 6th season of the MSTC is for the moment Florent Perrier, who has been dominating the top of the standings for several weeks. He lowered his record by 17 seconds with a time of 23min40s. Tony Portanier of ESF Courchevel 1550, who finished a minute behind in 24min40s, was unable to keep up with the pace: "Florent is very impressive, he passed me in the first bend, and his strength is that he manages to keep the same rhythm on the steep sections as on the flatter ones," he confided at the finish. William Perrier of the club Courchevel Sports Alpinisme completed the podium in 25min02s.

Jean-François Philipot, the 2015 French Vertical Kilometre trail champion, finished in 5th position in 25min10s.

Among the women, victory for Elsa Hugot in 31min37s ahead of Pauline Caillet of ESF Courchevel 1850 in 36min53s and Mireille Bartnicki of CAF Albertville in 37min24s.

Of note is the massive participation of the instructors of ESF Courchevel 1550, who came in numbers to compete for the 2016 ESF Challenge ranking in ski mountaineering, with their director Loic Lemoine finishing in 56min22s and Robert Janni, head of the "Team ESF Courchevel 1550", finishing in 39min55s.

For 6 years, the president of the club "Courchevel Sports Alpinisme", Guillaume Prin, and his whole team have been committing themselves every Wednesday to give participants the very best. To date, 94 climbs have been completed and 23 March will be the occasion to celebrate the 100th. For this event, a big party is planned to thank the participants, volunteers and partners, with the traditional fancy-dress climb. A concert by "La Compagnie Créole" will set the evening alight, together with other fine surprises, not forgetting the official prize-givings for the Plum KV Courchevel and the 2016 Millet Ski Touring Courchevel.

3rd Grand Slam next week…

The 3rd round of the Vertical Kilometre (VK) of the Plum KV Courchevel (PKVC) will take place on Friday 19 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 51min04s.

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 season’s "3rd Grand Slam" will take into account the combined times of the MSTC on Wednesday 17 February and those of the PKVC on Friday 19 February. The 2016 "Grand Slam" records are for the moment held by Arnaud Mazet in 1h09min22s and Corinne Favre in 1h19min30s.