ROUND 1 - MILLET SKI TOURING COURCHEVEL - Wednesday 21 December 2016

113 participants for the opening of the 7th season of the Millet Ski Touring Courchevel!

A participation record for the launch of the 7th Millet Ski Touring Courchevel on Wednesday 21 December 2016. With 113 participants at the start, this 2017 season is looking very good, and with Christmas approaching, all the competitors were for the occasion decked out in the Santa hat given at registration. With a lack of snow at the start of the official course at Le Praz at 1,300 metres altitude, the organisers of the “Courchevel Sports Outdoor Montagne et Escalade” Club had to opt for the fallback course at the top of the resort. For 2 years now, it has been customary to use this 2.6 km fallback route with 500 m of elevation gain, from the Courchevel 1850 snow front to the top of the La Loze relay, where the official finish of the “Plum KV Courchevel” is located. 14 rounds will be held, with a grand finale on Thursday 23 March: the traditional fancy-dress climb, with the presence of Patrick Sébastien, will close this 2017 season in a festive atmosphere.

But while waiting to party, there will be some sweating, and a lot of it for those going after the season record, with the Raymond and René Millet 2017 trophy and €2,000 of prize money at stake. Even though the fallback course does not count towards the final standings, it has become a good benchmark at this early stage of the season, with Mathéo Jacquemoud, who has held the record since last year in 19min28s. In the women’s race, the reference time held by Candice Bonnel of 26min47s fell by a few seconds this Wednesday 21 December to Corinne Favre, who took the women’s record to 26min38s. She was followed by Laura Deplanche (ESF La Toussuire) in 28min18s and Géraldine Bau (Méribel Sport Montagne) in 29min13s. In the men’s race, Simon Bellabouvier of the ESF Val d’Isère and a member of the French Ski Mountaineering team, won in 21min21s. Yoann Sert, three-time winner of the Dynastar X3 Courchevel (an extraordinary triathlon combining cycling, trail running and ski mountaineering), came second in 21min24s. Rémi Berchet completed the podium in 22min39s.

Next week, if conditions allow, the 1st Grand Slam of the season will take place.

The first round of the Vertical Kilometre (KV) of the Plum KV Courchevel (PKVC) will be held on Friday 30 December. 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 2017 French KV records will be awarded.

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 "1st Grand Slam" of the season will take into account the combined times of the MSTC on Wednesday 28 December and the PKVC on Friday 30 December. The 2016 "Grand Slam" records were won by Arnaud Mazet (1h09min22s) and Axelle Mollaret (1h16min46s).