Round 9 - MILLET SKI TOURING COURCHEVEL - Wednesday 22 February 2023

9th Millet Ski Touring Courchevel: a flying restart

After a short 3-week break for the Alpine Skiing World Championships, season 13 of the Millet Ski Touring Courchevel (MSTC) resumed its normal course this Wednesday 22 February with a special 9th round, "Mercredi Gras", in partnership with the company Dynastar. For the occasion, 159 participants took to the start line and more than forty of them entered into the spirit of things, covering the 3.2 km and 500 m of elevation gain on touring skis in magnificent costumes. It has to be said that it was worth the effort because, after the race, a pair of Dynastar Vertical 82 skis with matching skins was drawn by lot from among all the costumed competitors. Philippe Mottier, ski lift director at the Société des 3 Vallées, was the luckiest.

A good prelude to start sharpening the costumes ahead of the great fancy-dress final on Tuesday 21 March, which promises to be grandiose, with more than 600 participants expected for this last round, followed by the phenomenal concert by the band Tryo to round off this 2023 edition.

Jim Walmsley confirms his rise

3rd appearance of the season and faster every time. Jim Walmsley, the international ultra trail specialist who finished just off the podium at last year’s UTMB, keeps improving his performances. With a time of 22min05s, he wins this 9th round of the MSTC and moves up to 2nd place in the provisional overall standings, which are still led by Gédéon Pochat in 21min56s. This time was praised by another great ultra trail runner, Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz (Courchevel Sports Outdoor), winner of the Hoka XTrail Courchevel 2022: "Jim is impressive. With this performance, he becomes the 7th performer on this legendary vertical race course, where all the specialists of the discipline have come to take each other on for 13 years." If he manages to break the 22-minute barrier, he will join the very select circle of the world’s best athletes to have achieved this feat: Xavier Gachet, Yoann Sert, Thibault Anselmet, Gédéon Pochat, Kilian Jornet not forgetting Rémi Bonnet, the only one to have gone under 21 minutes (20min35s).

On the other steps of the podium in this 9th round, a dream duo: Samuel Equy, 2nd in 22min14s, and Mathéo Jacquemoud, 3rd in 23min09s. They will be teammates at the Ski Mountaineering World Championships next week in Spain and in the Pierra Menta in March.

Noteworthy are the fine performances of Théo Bourgeois (Sainte Foy Montagne), who consolidates his lead in the U23 category in 24min02s, and of Jean-Claude Mathieu of team Skimo Sports, who takes the lead in the O60 category in 28min58s.

Jessica Pardin secure on the podium

Caution is the watchword for Jessica Pardin. She wins in 27min02s, consolidating her second position in the provisional overall standings, led by the untouchable Axelle Gachet-Mollaret (24min12s). She is playing it safe compared with some competitors who will put everything on the final. A sensible calculation because, in a very difficult season, the weather conditions can quickly degrade the course. The manager of the Trail Running section of the Courchevel Sports Outdoor club, Lucille Germain, who is in the thick of preparing for the French trail running championships in mid-March, comes in second in 28min39s ahead of Loanne Roussillon of team Isère Montagne in 30min10s, who thereby takes the lead in the provisional standings of the U20 category.

Team Isère Montagne, out in force, takes the places of honour with Boris Cabau (29min45s), who takes the reins in the U18 category, and Jules Raybaud (24min49s) in the U20 category.

With a time of 33min26s, Amandine Perrier of the Alticim club climbs to the top of the overall standings in the U18 category, making her father proud: Florent Perrier, multiple Ski Mountaineering World Champion, who came to support her.

€9,800 in prize money and €4,800 in shopping vouchers to be won.

With a level of performance that keeps rising and an end to the 2023 season that promises to be captivating, the prize money rises from €8,000 to €9,800 to honour the top 5 men and women in the overall standings, not forgetting the €4,800 in shopping vouchers to reward the best men’s and women’s times in each category.

Next week, the resort of Courchevel, official partner of the French Ski Mountaineering team, will have its eyes fixed on the 2023 Ski Mountaineering World Championships, which will be held in Spain near Boí Taüll. Emily Harrop will fly the colours of Courchevel with a real chance of winning the sprint (she leads the World Cup in the discipline). Why not a 2nd world title for the resort, after that of Alexis Pinturault in alpine skiing. The 10th round of the MSTC on Wednesday 1 March will therefore be without the world’s elite, but some nice surprises are on the programme with the participation of Laurent Maistret, winner of the 2014 edition of Koh-Lanta and of the 7th edition of Danse avec les Stars in 2016. He will be accompanied by 3 other adventurers from the show.

Next date: 10th round of the Millet Ski Touring Courchevel on Wednesday 1 March 2023