Val d’Isère is the place to be this coming weekend to catch some sensational skyrunning in the Vertical and Ultra distances, both on the third leg of the Skyrunner® World Series calendar.
Friday’s Face de Bellevarde VK is a classic challenge on the bucket list of many of the top runners. It was here that a young Marco De Gasperi set a world record in 2003 in 34’51”. The course record still stands today and De Gasperi will be back to test himself together with some of world’s best VK specialists.
The historical course inaugurated the second-ever Vertical Kilometer® in 1996. Just three kilometres long, it’s one of the highest VK’s topping out at 2,798m at the summit of the famous Olympic downhill ski run – a gruelling challenge with an incline over 50% on the last stretch.
Making for some electrifying competition will be: Rémi Bonnet, 2015 Vertical Series champion; current ranking leader Ferran Teixido, world record holder Urban Zemmer, Marco Moletto, Hannes Perkmann, William Bon Mardion, Pascal Egli…
Records are made to be broken and they now carry a price tag. The winners will receive a €2,000 bonus each (or a BMW car if the winners are French).
The women’s record to beat is 40’52” set by Laura Orguè in 2014. Current ranking leader Christel Dewalle, second here last year, will be aiming for that top spot in Orgue’s absence. Joining the line-up are Elisa Desco, reigning Sky world champion. Emily Collinge, ranked third, Ekaterina Mityaeva and Serena Vittori.
Sunday will roll out a brand new race, the High Trail Vanoise. The newly designed course starts and finishes in the centre of Val d’Isère but the battle ground will be over the 67 km distance and gruelling 5,400m vertical climb which will have many participants struggling with the altitude.
The course travels through the Haute Tarentaise and Maurienne Valley, touching the renowned Col de Iseran at 2,764m. The highest point of the race summits the Grande Motte glacier at 3,653m. Add sections over snow and ice where the use of crampons will be compulsory, the High Trail Vanoise ticks all the skyrunning boxes
From Spain, Cristofer Clemente, ranked 2nd in 2015, is the current Ultra Series leader and race favourite. Pushing the leaders in the men’s field, will be Nicolas Martin (FRA), Marcin Swierc (POL), Nuno Silva (POR), Jan Bartas (CZE), Dmitry Mityaev (RUS) and Fulvio Dapit (ITA).
Spain’s Gemma Arenas heads the women’s ranking and will be challenged by Anne-Lise Rousset (FRA) ranked 5th, Anna Comet (ESP) and Kristina Pattison (USA) who are currently ranked 9th and 10th respectively.
Again, the stakes are high and a €3,000 prize purse will be awarded to the winners (or €1,000 plus a BMW car if they are French). However, it’s not just the top finishers who will receive prizes.
Alpina Watches, Official Watch of the 2016 Skyrunner® World Series will award two Alpina Horological Smartwatches to the winners of the Alpina Smart Time Prize. The formula is based on the time at the highest point of the race (3,653m) and applies a bonus based on age, putting everyone on the same level, irrespective of the final race results.
Some 600 competitors will take part in the weekend’s events, where skyrunning roots lie in the historic Face de Bellevarde VK and the new High Trail Vanoise – a legend in the making.
The events are organised by the Club des Sports de Val d’Isère.
Watch out for the action at the weekend’s events and follow the High Trail Vanoise on the SWS live tracking system. Join us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
