ROUND 9 - MILLET SKI TOURING COURCHEVEL - Wednesday 2 February 2022

9th round of the Millet Ski Touring Courchevel in tribute to Patrice Gibaud

This Wednesday 2 February, for this Candlemas special, the pancakes whipped up by our loyal participants Nathalie Langeard and Gilles Poirier were on the menu at this deeply emotional 9th round, with a fine tribute paid to Patrice Gibaud.

Since the launch of the adventure in December 2010, Patrice greatly contributed to the success of this event through his involvement and the valuable help he gave the association.

President of the trail running section of Courchevel Sports Outdoor, organiser of the Hoka XTrail Courchevel, Patrice shared and passed on his passion for sport to many people while achieving wonderful performances and many podiums in trail running, his favourite discipline. At the start of major races such as the Grand Raid de la Réunion, Les Templiers or the UTMB, he was able to rub shoulders with many renowned athletes, including the Nepalese Dawa Dachhiri Sherpa who will remain his

role model and friend. A cheque for €1,000, corresponding to all the registrations of the evening plus a few donations, will be given to Dawa Dacchiri Sherpa for his association “Parrains et Marraines du Népal”. For this tribute, his two children, Baptiste and Matthias, accompanied him on the 3.2 km and 500 m of elevation gain of this ski touring race between Le Praz and Courchevel, with 95 other participants. A very beautiful moment where his friends and climbing companions were able to display souvenir photos on a board dedicated to him at the finish.

Some big names at the start.

First participation in this 12th season for the director of the Courchevel tourist office Gilles Delaruelle, who finishes in 55min55s (bronze “La Trace ESF” medal), and for the chairman of the executive board of the S3V, Pascal De Thiersant, vermeil medal in 42min38s.

Among the sportspeople, the new recruit of the climbing section of the club Courchevel Sports Outddor (CSO), Victoire Andrier, a speed climbing specialist (recent European Cup winner) in full preparation for the Paris 2024 Olympics, completed the course in 1h04min45s. Achieving a 4th podium this season, the Olympic rowing champion at Sydney Jean-Christophe Bette posts a time of 25min56s.

Jean François Remesy, a professional golfer with 3 wins on the European circuit to his name (the Estoril Open in 1999 and the French Open in 2004 and 2005), posts a time of 59min02s. Arnaud Jerald, holder of the world record in freediving, constant weight with bi-fins, at -117 metres, was not able to hold his breath over the whole course, but finishes in 41min55s.

Sébastien Foucras, the freestyle aerial skiing specialist with, among other things, a silver medal at the Nagano Olympics (1998) and the 1996 World Cup jumping Crystal Globe, posts a time of 40min05s with some advice from his partner Marie-José Pérec, one of the greats of French athletics.

Vincent Loustau and Véronique Lathuraz are the big winners of the day.

In the men’s race, the first 3 finish within the same minute. Vincent Loustau of the Méribel sports club had to dig deep in 25min16s (2nd consecutive win) to beat Courchevel Sport Outdoor member Jean-Baptiste Curtet, credited with 25min41s, who thereby takes the lead in the Société des 3 Vallées (S3V) Challenge. Jean-Christophe Bette in 25min56s completes the podium.

In the women’s race, a strong comeback for Véronique Lathuraz, who wins the stage in 31min36s and moves into the lead of the S3V Challenge. Cindy Josserand of the Club Multi-Sports d’Arêches Beaufort finishes second in 32min31s, her best performance of the season, ahead of Manon Morin, 3rd in 35min34s.

Claude Pinturault, manager of the Hôtel Annapurna, where Patrice Gibaud was an employee, wanted to take part in this tribute by offering a 3-night half-board stay for 2 people at his establishment to the winner of the “O40” category of Patrice, the lucky winner being Jean Christophe Bettte.

Pleasant surprises for the second half of season 12

The mid-season review is more than positive. After 9 rounds, 839 starts have been recorded for 516 ranked competitors. Figures that are steadily rising at this stage of the competition and point to a very promising and thrilling second half. Even though the times recorded so far are very high, nothing is decided.

In the provisional overall standings, among the women, Axelle Mollaret Gachet, the new holder of the race record in 23min54s, is well on her way to a 6th consecutive title. But behind her the battle is not over, with the French internationals Emily Harrop (26min15s), Jessica Pardin (26min23s), Célia Perillat Pessey (26min52s), Laura Deplanche (27min01s) and Candice Fertin (27min09s), not forgetting the Swede Tove Alexandersson, winner of the last Ski Mountaineering World Cup Vertical Race, who has announced she is coming to Courchevel.

Among the men, the 2021 season winner Thibault Anselmet leads comfortably in 22min02s, but the suspense remains intact because, in under 23 minutes, we find Equy Samuel (22min11s), Yoann Sert (22min21s), Xavier Gachet (22min31s), Gédéon Pochat (22min35s), Julien Bernaz and the Italian Henri Aymonod (22min39s) and Mathéo Jacquemoud (22min553s). To win this new edition, it will certainly be necessary to go under the 22-minute mark, even 21 minutes, because the Swiss Rémi Bonnet, holder of the all-time race record in 21min20s and winner of the 2018, 2019 and 2020 editions, has announced he is coming.

The countdown has now begun to the grand fancy-dress final, set for Wednesday 23 March, followed by the prize-giving ceremony hosted by the race’s patron Nelson Monfort and an exceptional concert with Louis Bertignac to close this season in a wild atmosphere. There are 8 rounds left to upset the hierarchy established so far, improve individual performances or simply set a time and appear in the overall standings. With €8,000 of prize money for the final podiums and €4,800 of vouchers for the winners of each category, the fight remains open.

Ultra Ski Touring Courchevel 2022

Before this long-awaited fancy-dress final after 2 years' absence, another highlight will enliven this 12th season: the second edition of the Millet Everest challenge. Competitors will have to climb 9,000 m of elevation gain in under 20 hours, that is 18 climbs on the MSTC course with a compulsory 2-hour break. Alexandre Pellicier in 8h43min44 and Corinne Favre in 10h32min52s won in 2021. A challenge that will allow all participants to discover their limits and live a unique experience at the side of Jonathan Lamy, who climbed Everest in spring 2021 before returning there this year.

Next date: Millet Ski Touring Courchevel on Wednesday 9 February 2022