Round 3 - DYNAFIT SKI TOURING COURCHEVEL - 26 December 2012

William Bon Mardion lowers the season record again.

For this 3rd round of the Dynafit Ski Touring Courchevel, the full moon was out for the 98 ski mountaineers who climbed the 3.2 km and 500 m of elevation gain on touring skis from Le Praz to Courchevel 1850, enjoying an exceptional landscape by the light of the moon.

Among the runners, with bib number 1, was the famous sports journalist Nelson Monfort. Starting first in this time trial with his friend Fernand Mugnier , deputy mayor of the commune, he was able to savour the pleasure of this discipline over the first half of the course before running into a few small problems with the skins no longer sticking, which cost him precious minutes.

Despite this, for a first time, he did rather well with a time of 1h20min and, finishing to the ovations of the public and the competitors, who had formed a guard of honour for him, there is no doubt he will be back to improve his time.

Like Fernand, other elected officials have developed a taste for this Wednesday meeting, such as Dominique Chapuis and Philippe Mugnier, also deputy mayors, who finished in 59min02s and 45min13s respectively.

It was with a time of 31min18s that Jean-Christophe Bette , Sydney Olympic gold medallist and multiple rowing world champion, crossed the finish line.

Many holidaymakers in the resort were also there and were able to appreciate the performances of the discipline’s specialists fighting for the season record.

For this 3rd climb, the podium was 100% filled by the Arêches Beaufort multisport club, with Wiliam Bon Mardion in first place, shaving a few hundredths off Mathéo Jacquemoud 's time from last week with a new provisional record for the season of 23min02s. Cyrille Gardet came second in 24min40s and Florent Perrier took third place in 25min05s.

Among the women, Christine Gachet of CAF Vanoise won in 36min30s ahead of Caroline Freslon Bette of team Garmin in 39min08s and Florence Grand of CAF Aix-les-Bains in 41min20s.

The prize-giving was once again carried out by Nelson Monfort , who, as usual, did not hesitate to put on a show to the delight of the participants.