ROUND 17 - MILLET SKI TOURING COURCHEVEL - Wednesday 23 March 2022

The Millet Ski Touring Courchevel 2022 final is majestic with Louis Bertignac

This Wednesday 23 March will be etched in memory. The costumes were back for the Millet Ski Touring Courchevel final, which saw record participation with more than 500 ski tourers present for this great celebration of ski mountaineering. A season marked by the 16 rounds held on this legendary 3.2 km Vertical Race course with 500 m of elevation gain between Courchevel Le Praz and Courchevel since the start of winter, every Wednesday, punctuated by 4 highlights: the organisation of a French Cup and a French Championship, the tribute paid to Patrice Gibaud and the Millet Everest challenge, not forgetting the 4 “Full Moon” specials in collaboration with partner binding brand Plum. With more than 2,000 starts given, the 970 ranked participants competed on this course, which has become the reference for all ski tourers, where specialists, amateurs and newcomers rub shoulders in friendship to beat records, fine-tune their training or simply enjoy themselves, as most of them do.

Festivities in the spotlight for this final climb

The Millet Ski Touring Courchevel (MSTC) closed in jubilation with, as tradition demands, fancy-dress finishes to the great delight of the spectators. This year, the jury was composed of our two partners from the extraordinary triathlons “Dynastar X3” and “Mag Aviron X3”: Romain Ruffet-Bon-Corps representing the company Dynastar and Eric Marie, director of Mag Aviron. After a difficult deliberation due to the quality of the field, they awarded the Deguisetoi.fr trophy for the best 2022 costume to Hervé Bouvard with his out-of-this-world armour.

But a good many costumed competitors could have laid claim to this prize, such as the multitude of Rockers, staying on the evening’s theme, among the Smurfs, Avatars, Beekeepers, Superman and others… Yoan Borowy stripped down as much as possible to save weight in his fluorescent green Mankini and Romain Malara did not hesitate to put on a swimsuit. Even the president of the French Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (FFME), Alain Carrière, came to clown around.

The 21-minute barrier has fallen!

While conviviality and good humour take priority over the clock for the vast majority of competitors in the finals, a few athletes had come to secure their place on the podium and even challenge the record.

While the new stratospheric race record set among the women by world champion Axelle Mollaret-Gachet at the 2022 Vertical Race French Championship in 23min54s seemed unlikely to be threatened in the absence of the Swede Tove Alexandersson, the only one currently able to approach the Frenchwoman, the suspense remained intact among the men, with the presence of the Swiss Rémi Bonnet, world champion in the discipline.

Three-time MSTC winner (2018, 2019 and 2020) and record holder in 21min20s, Rémi made his intentions clear on the line: to go under 21 minutes.

A staggered start was on the programme for this 17th and final round. All participants were positioned on either side of the first 200 metres of the course; only those wanting to fire their last cartridge for the places of honour started behind the official line, out of respect for the legal distance and for the validation of times. At the start signal, the elites therefore set off through this great guard of honour holding multicoloured smoke flares, followed by all the competitors in a festive atmosphere.

At the finish of this final climb, the verdict came in: the 21-minute barrier has been broken!

Rémi Bonnet took the new race record in 20min34s, thus claiming his fourth overall win. Gédéon Pochat Cottilloux, runner-up in the 2021 edition, finished 2nd in 22min19s ahead of Julien Bernaz in 22min54s.

Among the women, Axelle Mollaret-Gachet had come as a spectator to enjoy the atmosphere and cheer on Jessica Pardin, who won this final climb in 27min30s ahead of Corinne Favre (28min50s) and Fiona Porte (29min01s.

This 12th edition for Axelle Mollaret-Gachet and Rémi Bonnet.

The Raymond and René Millet 2022 crystal trophy (the founders of partner company Millet) and the €2,000 in prize money were presented by Jérémie Marache representing the partner company Millet Mountain Group and by Jean-Yves Pachod, mayor of the resort, to the 2 winners of this season 12: Axelle Mollaret-Gachet in 23min54s, who took her 6th win, and Rémi Bonnet in 20min34s, who took his 4th.

In second position, we find the three-time winner of the extraordinary Dynastar X3 Courchevel triathlon, Yoann Sert in 21min41s, and Emily Harrop at the top of the provisional overall standings of the 2022 Ski Mountaineering World Cup, in 28min15s. The world icon of the discipline, the Catalan Kilian Jornet, MSTC winner in 2014 and 2015, finished in third position with a personal best of 21min53s alongside Jessica Pardin, bronze medallist at the 2022 Vertical Race (VR) French Championship, in 26min23s. The 2021 edition winner and reigning 2022 VR French champion, Thibault Anselmet, missed out in 4th place.

To close this 12th season in style, the rest of the evening was rock’n’roll with the concert by the co-founder of the iconic band Téléphone, Louis Bertignac, who set the Envolée hall on fire for more than 2 hours with his greatest hits and covers of Téléphone, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. An exceptional success coupled with enormous popular acclaim, celebrated by Guillaume Prin, president of the organising club “Courchevel Sports Outdoor montagne et escalade”, and all the members of the club.

For season 13, expect a grand vintage with the anniversary of the 200th climb. The whole team is already thinking about next season and about the final, which promises to reach a level never seen before.

2022 overall standings:

Men:
1: Rémi Bonnet > 20min34s
2: Yoann Sert > 21min41s
3: Kilian Jornet Burgada > 21min53s
4: Thibault Anselmet > 22min02s
5: Xavier Gachet > 22min05s

Women:
1: Axelle Gachet-Mollaret > 23min54s
2: Emily Harrop > 26min15s
3: Jessica Pardin > 26min23s
4: Célia Perillat Pessey > 26min52s
5: Laura Deplanche > 27min01s

- U16 category: Kerian Grimaud 28min21s / Orianna Pautrel 39min25s
- U18 category: Eliott Robin-Saje 26min24s / Louise Trincaz 29min44s
- U20 category: Anselme Damevin 23min00s / Grâce Staberg 27min42s
- U23 category: Julien Bernaz 22min39s / Perrine Gindre 29min46s
- O24 category: Rémi Bonnet 20min34s / Axelle Gachet-Mollaret 23min54s
- O40 category: Yoann Caillot 24min22s / Corinne Favre 28min50s
- O60 category: Joseph Chedal Anglay 30min32s / Pascale Gachet Mauroz 38min07s