Nocturne de Chamrousse

We raced in the Nocturne de Chamrousse on Tuesday night. Chamrousse is a ski area about 20mins for where we are living here in France, so there was no excuse for not going up for this small relay race. It was a very simple format-teams of 2, each taking turns to climb and ski 100vert meters, the team with the most laps in 1hr wins. The best thing about this kind if race is it is really social and great training.
Jane and I decided to race together in the "mixed" division which would make it more fun and make for an all kiwi team. I started out first, again getting a little caught out , but once under way "fun and "social" soon when out the window........
I arrived at the top first and had a pretty bad transition in the wind, and felt terrible when I arrived at the bottom. I handed off to Jane and laughed to myself, watching her run off in first place as the all men's teams followed behind. I was hoping that Jane would be passed by multiple racers so I would not have to go to hard on my next lap, but she arrived not far behind the leaders in 3rd place. This continued for the next 45mins or so and and in the end we did 4 laps each and finished in 1st for the mixed teams and 3rd place over all!
As always a huge feast followed and we met some fellow racers.
I have been really surprised, but a few different people have made a point of our 3rd place finish. On PisteHors.com they wrote "a mixed New Zealand team scored a notable third place overall (Jane Harper et Grant Guise of the CAF DSA)" and the FFME web site said similar (I think, its in French). I even got a small photo in the local paper....
This weekend I will race in a vertical race for the first time. Vertical races are just that, they involve no downhill skiing and just one climb. This race will be 1000m vert and is the French vertical championships. The French are renowned for vertical races, at the 2006 World Champs the had the top 3 places for the men, so this weekend is shaping up to be quite the reality check.

Trophée du Chaberton, Sun 13th Jan

Did my first ever teams race on Sunday, the Trophée du Chaberton. I have been wanting to do a teams race for ages, so I was really excited to finally do one. I was racing with a Frenchman, Thomas, who I met through the DSA. It snowed about 30cm, so the race was changed from its original 2000 vertical meters, to about 1300m. We started out strong, arriving at the first check point in 5th, but were passed about half way up the 2nd climb. We then passed another team as they struggled skiing (we all did!) in the deep, heavy, new snow during the 2nd descent. Thomas lead the 3rd climb and was going strong, but I had skin issues and had to stop and swap to new skins. At this point I think we dropped back to 8th or 9th, but luckily I wasn't the only one with skin issues and we got back into 5th, leaving the transition just in front of another team. With Thomas being the stronger skier, I pulled aside to let him lead, but it never happened, instead, another team passed me! We held our position during the final climb and crossed the finish line (not before I took a hard, hard fall just before the finnish line) in 6th place.
It was a good race, with Thomas later telling me that he has never gone so hard in a race before, which explained why he had nothing for the ski down.
Jane entered the B course, which is a singles race of about 1000vert meters. Yep, you guessed it, she cleaned up! There was only 2 girls in the open class, but she did finish 7th over all (guys and girls) and was really happy with her result.
After the race there was a huge feast that included this ridiculously big fry pan of potato's and sausages cooked in a cheese sauce. Got to hand it to the French, they don't mess around when it comes to food (or ski mountaineering).
Tomorrow night Jane and I will race as a team in a small relay race, Nocturne de Chamrousse. I think we stand a good chance of winning the mixed teams category.
Here's a nice little video from the Trophée du Chaberton. They are Thomas' legs below and if you are quick you might spot me. I hope your French is better than mine...


Montgenevre Defi Chaberton 2008
Uploaded by snowmontge

DSA Training

Had a little outing with the Dauphine Ski Alpinisme club, which Jane and I are members of now, on Saturday. They organised a small training clinic with French ski mountaineering legend Pierre Gignoux.
Rather than me writing about it, check out this video Stephan made........

la Nocturne de l'Aigle Cancelled/ La Plein Taquet Video

Unfortunately the la Nocturne de l'Aigle, or Night of the Eagle, was cancelled last Tuesday due to a lack of snow! I thought that kind of thing only happened in NZ.
We have a race coming up this Sunday, the Trophée du Chaberton. Jane is going to race in the singles event, which is around 1000m and I will do the teams race with a French guy that I will race with during the winter. The Teams race is about 2000m, so will be a real test as its the first time I have done a race this big, can't wait!

To give you a taste of what a race in Europe is like, here's a video of the start of La Plein Taquet which we raced in last Saturday night.

Plein Taque- Our First Race of The Season

Last night we finally lined up for our first race of the season here in France, the Plein Taque, a short individual race. The Plein Taque is held in Le Planay, which is home to the biggest race in France, the Pierra Menta. The race course was very short, just 3 laps of 140 vertical meters, so was a real sprint. Despite it being short, it was a very interesting and fun course. It started on a ski run and then quickly turned into the "off-piste" and the skin track climbed between trees before going steeply up beside another groomed ski run. Once at the top, the downhill started out on a narrow summer road, that included a short uphill skate and a high speed hair pin turn that spat you out onto a groomed run that lead back to the start/finish area. If this wasn't interesting enough it was 6:30 at night, so apart from the start /finish area, the whole thing was only lit up by competitors head lamps.
We had no idea what to expect as we drove up to this event, as we knew it was only a small race. As we drove through Beafort on the way to Le Planay, we spotted Florent Perrier, the 2007 winner of the Pierra Menta standing outside the local cheese factory, then in Areches, racers walked the streets in tight, one-piece lycra suits.
At race registration we spotted a good chunk of the French national team, including Grégory Gachet, Florent Perrier's partner from the Pierra Menta and Laetitia Roux, the female European champion! So much for just a "small race".
Lining up for the start was an experience in itself, as everyone looked fast, we weren't sure were to go in the line up. Not understanding French was also an issue at this point, as I was totally caught off guard as racer's around me took off. I was amazed at how fast the guys in the front were going! I quickly started passing people trying to make up for a bad start and my poor starting position. It was amazing skinning up as cheers of support and bells rang out from the dark on almost every corner of the lower part of the course. I passed a few more people near the top and had a good transition, coming out just behind 2 other racers and only darkness behind me. Arriving at the bottom for the 2nd uphill racers were greeted by bright lights and a lot of noise from the crowed that was waiting. I arrived just as the 2 racers in front of me were leaving and there was a string of head lamps in front of them- I had no idea where I was placed. Just after me was top female racer Laetitia Roux.
I botched my next few transitions, as the 2 guys in front of me got further away, but I managed to hold off Roux!
As I crossed the finish line, I had no idea were I had placed, but was surprised how few races had already finished, so was stoked to find out I had place 8th over all, with the only races in front of me being French team members. Some of whom are only 18-19yrs old.
Jane finished about 5 min behind me. Her unbeaten run had come to an end, but she was stoked to place 4th in the female class, also only being beaten by French team members.
After a short warm down we went inside for prize giving and dinner. Jane was stoked to get a bottle of red wine and some salami for getting 4th and I picked up another bottle of red as a spot prize! Then a huge dinner was served and we got talking to some fellow racers, who were very interested to hear that we were from New Zealand.
Other Race News
I have just found out that my application to race in the Patrouille des Glaciers has be accepted! The PDG is a 1 day suffer fest, that climbs almost 4000 meters and is 53km long! It is a teams race of 3, so I hope I can convince some other kiwis to make it over for this race in late April.
While in Areches yesterday we also put in our applications to race in the Pierra Menta. It is a teams of 2, 4 day race, that covers almost 10,000m of climbing. We have both found some French racers to do this with.
Next race is this Tuesday night, the La Nocturne de l'Aigle (Night of the Eagle), a short 2 person relay race. Its 80m laps and you and your team mate do as many as you can in 1hr. I think Jane and I have a good chance of winning the mixed division, we will see....