ROUND 12 - MILLET SKI TOURING COURCHEVEL - Wednesday 8 March 2017

New 2017 record for Corinne Favre at the 12th Millet Ski Touring Courchevel.

This Wednesday 8 March, declared “Women’s Day”, women were in the spotlight at this 12th round of the Millet Ski Touring Courchevel 2017. All the female ski mountaineers were rewarded at the finish after covering the 3.2 km and 500 m of elevation of this Vertical Race course. 105 participants were at the start.

Invited as part of the 2017 ESF challenge, instructors were in the spotlight this evening. ESF Courchevel 1550 stood out with many participants and shone with Hugo Dietlin (28min02s) and Aurélia Lanoé (32min52s), who won.

7th win of the season for Corinne Favre and a new women’s record in 28min26s. Véronique Lathuraz could not compete, taking second place in 31min04s ahead of Stéphanie Pommat (31min48s). Among the men, Yoann Caillot won in 24min54s ahead of Florent Besses (25min50s) and Sébastien Figliolini , manager of the partner shop Le Camp De Base (25min53s). Note that Sébastien , 1998 Pierra Menta winner, accompanied by Nicolas Mater , currently racing in the Pierra Menta 2017, Ambrose Manus and Tony Portanier , will set off in early May to take on 3 summits of over 3,000 m altitude (the Bellecôte, the Grand Bec and the Grande Casse) by bike, trail running and ski mountaineering, starting from Courchevel and all in under 24 hours. This challenge, named the “Triple Hight Mountain Challenge Courchevel”, will be in aid of the association “Pas à pas avec Alexia”.

Next week, the top names in the discipline who are currently at the Pierra Menta should be present for the 13th and penultimate round of the season, which will take place next Wednesday 15 March. For the occasion, a gift will be given to all participants and registration will be free for everyone who has registered for the final on Thursday 23 March. For this final climb, fancy dress will be compulsory for participants and plenty of surprises will enliven the evening. The festivities will begin with the official prize-givings of the 4 Grand Slams, the Plum KV Courchevel 2017 and the MSTC 2017, and continue with the king of the party Patrick Sébastien , who, from 9 pm, will turn the L’Envolée gymnasium into an immense “Sardines” nightclub in a crazy atmosphere amid glitter and confetti. The concert is open to all, participants and spectators.

Next week: Plum KV Courchevel final, last chance to enter the X2 and X3 KV Courchevel challenges and the 4th Grand Slam…

The 4th and last Vertical Kilometre (KV) round of the Plum KV Courchevel (PKVC) will be held on Friday 17 March. The 2017 French KV records will be awarded at the end of this final round, after the 4 rounds offered this season on this 5 km course with 1,000 m of elevation gain, homologated by the Fédération Française de la Montagne et de l’Escalade (FFME). The best provisional PKVC 2017 times are currently held by Xavier Gachet in 39min57s and Corinne Favre in 51min59s.

It will also be the last chance to enter the X2 and X3 KV Courchevel Challenges 2017 for those ranked in the Plum KV Courchevel in trail running or the Dynastar KV Courchevel by bike last summer.

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 “4th Grand Slam” of the season will take into account the combined times of the MSTC on Wednesday 15 March and the PKVC on Friday 17 March. The 2017 “Grand Slam” records are currently held by Arnaud Mazet in 1h09min24s and Corinne Favre in 1h20min47s.