ROUND 11 - MILLET SKI TOURING COURCHEVEL - Wednesday 7 March 2018

Gédéon Pochat and Lorna Bonnel win the 11th round of the Millet Ski Touring Courchevel 2018.

Rocked between sunny spells and snow showers, this 11th round of the Millet Ski Touring Courchevel (MSTC) brought together 111 ski mountaineers this Wednesday 11 March 2018. With the grand final on Wednesday 21 March approaching, the sprint is on, with high hopes for every competitor, whether to write their name on the roll of honour of this 8th edition or, more modestly, to reach their personal goal. In a busy calendar of national and international competitions at this time of year, it is rare to find competitions where amateurs rub shoulders with the discipline’s champions and can thus improve their performances. The “Millet” is one of those exceptions. Proof of this is this 11th stage enlivened by 2 members of the French team: Gédéon Pochat and Lorna Bonnel.

Gédéon Pochat sets the best time of the evening in 23min25s ahead of Arthur Blanc of the ESF Arêches (24min21s) and Yoann Caillot (25min46s). In the women’s race, Lorna Bonnel of the ESF La Toussuire wins, improving her reference time to 28min18s. Corinne Favre in 28min40s and Mélanie Rousset 30min48s complete the podium.

Note the fine performances of our Courchevel Sports Outdoor representatives who will line up next week at the Pierra Menta. Sébastien Figliolini takes 6th place in 26min26s, Nicolas Mater 15th in 29min34s and Alice Niemaz 14th woman in 37min42s. For this legendary race, they will be joined by other members of the club: William Perrier, Jean-Baptiste Curtet, Frédéric Bouchage, Will and Swann Juillaguet.

With 2 rounds to go until the moment of truth, this 11th round recorded excellent performances. In the men’s race, Gédéon Pochat takes 5th place in the provisional overall standings, 15 seconds off the podium and less than a minute from the 1st step held by Xavier Gachet. Arthur Blanc takes second place in the ESF standings and is hot on the heels of Joris Périllat-Pessey. In the women’s race, Lorna Bonnel consolidates her positions (3rd overall and 1st in the ESF standings). Corinne Favre, on her 1st climb of the season, grabs 4th place overall. The last 2 rounds are going to be lively, especially as the specialists are announced for the final after battling it out at the Pierra Menta.

Next week, the 12th and penultimate MSTC round will certainly be an opportunity for amateurs to take the top podium places in the absence of the discipline’s top names, because of the Pierra Menta. For this 8th edition of the “Millet”, the suspense will remain intact until the epilogue of the grand final on 21 March, in an attempt to win the €8,000 of prize money and €4,800 of vouchers at stake. At this great ski mountaineering celebration, costumes will be compulsory for participants, with many surprises to enliven the evening. The festivities will begin at 8 pm with the official prize-givings presented by the patron of this competition, Nelson Monfort. They will continue with the kings of the 1980s Emile et Images, who from 9 pm will set the place on fire amid glitter and confetti. The concert is open to all, participants and spectators.

This week: Plum KV Courchevel final, the last chance to play for the X2 and X3 KV Courchevel challenges and the 3rd Grand Slam…

The 3rd and final round of the Vertical Kilometre (KV) of the Plum KV Courchevel (PKVC) will take place this Friday 9 March. The 2018 French KV records will be awarded at the end of this final round, after the 3 rounds held this season on the 5 km course with 1,000 m of elevation gain approved by the Fédération Française de la Montagne et de l’Escalade (FFME). The best provisional PKVC 2018 times are currently held by Axelle Mollaret (46min36s) and Xavier Gachet (40min32s).

It will also be the last chance to take part in the X2 and X3 KV Courchevel Challenges 2018 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).

The season’s “3rd Grand Slam” will take into account the cumulative times of the MSTC on Wednesday 7 March and those of the PKVC on Friday 9 March. The 2018 “Grand Slam” records are currently held by Yoann Sert in 1h07min05s and Géraldine Bau in 1h30min08s.