ROUND 9 - MILLET SKI TOURING COURCHEVEL - Wednesday 24 and Saturday 27 February 2021

Fine performances from Jessica Pardin and Alexandre Pellicier in the 9th round of the Millet Ski Touring Courchevel

As the final of season 11 of the Millet Ski Touring Courchevel approaches, the times are going wild. In this 9th round, held on Wednesday 24 and Saturday 27 February in spring-like conditions, there were some lovely surprises. Jessica Pardin, last year’s vice-champion, won in 27min30s and came close to her record for the event (27min17s), set a year ago almost to the day in a snowstorm. This performance moves her to 3rd place in the provisional overall standings behind Axelle Gachet-Mollaret and Alba De Silvestro. French U16 ski mountaineering champion Amandine Perrier took 2nd place in the round in 37min04s and consolidated her lead in the provisional overall standings in her category. The most loyal of the participants, Pascale Gachet-Mauroz, an instructor at ESF Courchevel Village, completed the women’s podium of this 9th round in 38min13s.

Among the men, a huge performance fromAlexandre Pellicier , who, after taking the lead in the Millet 3000 challenge last week, smashed his personal best in 24min18s and won the round hands down. A blistering time that propels him into the top 10 of the provisional overall standings in 7th position and takes him to the lead in the O40 category. “It’s incredible, I managed to beat my record of 24min21s that I set in 2011 when I was on the French team. Just goes to show that even at 40, you can work miracles,” he said at the finish, proud of his achievement. Behind, by a handful of hundredths, Esteban Olivero, French champion and bronze medallist at the 2018 mountain running World Championships in the cadet category, edged Loïc Bedoy at the finish for second place in a time of 26min20s.

To round off this 9th round, held in a full-moon week, a pair of Plum R150 bindings, suited to this type of competition, was up for grabs. The prize draw among all the participants, carried out by Thomas Debray, communications manager of partner brand Plum, picked the lucky winner, Stéphane Pfend, director of the resort’s ski area, credited with a time of 32min53s and a 23rd place.

The Millet Everest challenge in sight!

The ultimate challenge is fast approaching. This season 11 of the Millet Ski Touring Courchevel will stay etched in memory. Indeed, because of health measures, the organisers from the Courchevel Sports Outdoor club have had to compete in imagination to come up with a completely crazy concept: completing 9,000 m of elevation gain on the Millet Ski Touring Courchevel course (3.2 km / 500 m elevation gain), i.e. 18 climbs (57.6 km / 9,000 m of elevation gain), to reach the altitude of the summit of Everest (8,849 m) starting from sea level, as quickly as possible (only the climbs will be timed within the allotted time).

The challenge will take place over 2 days, on 20 and 21 March 2021, to celebrate the arrival of spring. Day 1 will begin at 7 am and end at 5 pm. In these first 10 hours of racing, 5,000 m of elevation gain must be completed before continuing the ascent the next day. After this first jump, participants will arrive at the virtual Everest Base Camp 1, on the south side at an altitude of 5,364 metres (for those who have chosen the Nepalese side), at the foot of the Khumbu glacier, or on the north side at an altitude of 5,154 metres (Tibetan side), at the foot of the Rongbuk glacier. Competitors will have to spend the night in their tents on the snow front of Courchevel 1850 before setting off for the final assault the next day from 8 am to 4 pm, i.e. the last 4,000 m to be climbed in under 8 hours. In the event of withdrawal, a diploma corresponding to the altitude reached and marked with the name of the corresponding summit will be awarded. The first 3 in the Everest challenge (best cumulative times over the 18 climbs) will win prize money (1st: €700, 2nd: €500 and 3rd: €300).

This final day will be festive, with the MSTC 2021 final organised in parallel from 10 am to 3 pm. Registration will be free for everyone in fancy dress and an “Atout Prix” card will be given at the finish to all participants to come and ski in Courchevel in 2022 at exceptional rates.

Before they can start the Millet Everest 2021, participants must qualify in the M3000 Challenge during the Millet Ski Touring Courchevel on Wednesdays and Saturdays until 13 March by completing 6 climbs in under 5 hours between 10 am and 3 pm (only the best time of the day counts towards the MSTC standings).

To date, 105 competitors have attempted this challenge, 70 of whom are ranked for the Millet Everest. In two weeks only 70 will remain: the 60 best times among the men and the 10 among the women for the final challenge.

In this 9th round, 11 new participants completed the 6 climbs, including the winner of the first edition of the Dynastar X3 extraordinary triathlon, Nicolas Lebrun, 2005 XTerra World Champion, who took 4th place in the provisional overall standings. Triathlete René Rovera, who has an Ironman Lanzarote win to his name in 2004 and around ten appearances at the world final in Hawaii between 1996 and 2007, entered the top 10 in 9th place.

Also worth noting is the fine performance of Ultra Trail specialist Grégoire Curmer , who took 2nd position at the end of his second participation.

Next dates: Round 10: Wednesday 3 and Saturday 6 March from 10 am to 3 pm