ROUND 1 - MILLET SKI TOURING COURCHEVEL - Wednesday 21 December 2022

Season 13 of the Millet Ski Touring Courchevel gets off to a strong start!

Success was once again there for the opening of the 13th season of the Millet Ski Touring Courchevel (MSTC) this Wednesday 21 December, with more than 100 participants on the start line. With 182 rounds held, 19,646 starts given and 5,377 participants ranked over 12 years, this race has become a true institution in the ski mountaineering world and the absolute reference for the Vertical Race. Every year, in an exceptional setting and by headtorch light, the discipline’s best specialists come to compete to set the season record or fine-tune their training alongside amateurs.

In total 13 rounds are on the programme of this new edition, every Wednesday from 21 December 2022 to 15 March 2023, up to the grand fancy-dress final, enhanced by an exceptional concert with the band Tryo on Tuesday 21 March.

The resort will also host the French Ski Mountaineering championships on 7 and 8 January with 2 events : the mixed relay, which will be on the programme of the 2026 Olympics, and the vertical race on the official Millet course.

This year, the first 6 rounds of the MSTC will serve as selection for joining the French Ski Mountaineering team for the first 2 Vertical Race events of the ski mountaineering World Cups in Morgins, Switzerland (10 to 14 January) and Andorra (21 to 22 January). The selection bar is demanding because, to qualify in the seniors category, men will have to get under 22 minutes and women under 26 minutes (U23: under 23 minutes for men and under 28 minutes for women). To date, only 7 male and female athletes have managed to clear these standards.

Gédéon Pochat and Jessica Pardin first winners

With a personal best of 21min50s set in 2021, Gédéon Pochat took the first reference time of the 2023 season in 22min21s. He won ahead of Yoann Sert, credited with 22min 52s. Paul Jay, an ESF instructor in Les Ménuires, completed the podium in 23min39s. A special mention to Henri Thurier, ski instructor at the ESF in Courchevel Village, who was already present at the very 1st round of the MSTC on 8 December 2010 and finished in 40min44s.

Among the women, a quality field was on the start line. Jessica Pardin, 3rd in the MSTC in 2022, won with a time of 27min12s.

Margot Ravinel of the Club des Sports Chamonix, bronze medallist in the Sprint and Individual events at the Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne in 2020, finished in second position in a time of 29min35s ahead of Corinne Favre, a faithful of the event, credited with 30min19s.

Note the presence of Emily Harrop, holder of the overall Crystal Globe of the ski mountaineering World Cup in 2022 and the small globe in the sprint specialty. Having won at the end of November the first 2 events (sprint and mixed relay, partnered with Thibault Anselmet) of the first World Cup stage in Val Thorens wearing the colours of Courchevel, Emily was in preparation mode in this 1st round. Licensed with the Courchevel Sports Outdoor club and an instructor at the ESF in Courchevel, she took the lead in the women’s ESF challenge in 32min57s.

Courchevel, official partner of the French Ski Mountaineering team

At the prize-giving, the mayor of Courchevel, Jean-Yves Pachod, expressed the importance for the resort of spreading the word about ski mountaineering and supporting this discipline, which will be on the programme of the next Winter Olympics in 2026, by being an official partner of the French team. He did not fail to congratulate all participants, not forgetting Guillaume Prin, president of the organising club, and his whole team for organising this fine event, which attracts more and more fans of all levels as the years go by.

Next Wednesday, the atmosphere is shaping up to be hot as the French championships approach, with many specialists taking part who will come to test the course, along with resort holidaymakers. Next event: Millet Ski Touring Courchevel on Wednesday 28 December 2022.