Ice Trail Tarentaise 2015 – Skyrunning European Championships

Posted on July 12, 2015 by talkultra

Emelie Forsberg & Luis Alberto Hernando

2015 Skyrunning European Champions

Luis Alberto Hernando and Emelie Forsberg do the double! Skyrunning World Champions (2015) and now 2015 Skyrunning European Champion at the Ice Trail Tarentaise, Val d’Isere.

Following on from respective Transvulcania Ultramarathon victories, the dynamic duo of Hernando and Forsberg once again showed the Skyrunning ultra runners that they are the ones to beat.

Hernando was pushed close by rising star Manuel Merillas whereas Forsberg had a clear run to the line despite finding the conditions tough.

Magdalena Laczak fulfilled her potential by taking the 2^nd place on the ladies podium and it was a blast from the past Anna Strakova put in a final surge for the final podium spot.

In the men’s race, Fulvio Dapit looked certain to take the final podium place but complained his legs were shot on the final climb. Clement Molliet seized an opportunity and relegated Dapit off the podium.

RACE LEADERS

1 – Luis Alberto HERNANDO 07:43:00

2 – Manuel MERILLAS MOLEDO 07:50:27

3 – Clement MOLLIET 07:54:29

WOMEN RACE LEADERS

1 – Emelie FORSBERG 09:17:21

2 – Magdalena LACZAK 09:30:37

3 – Anna STRAKOVA 09:48:46

More news and a detailed race report to follow.

Ice Trail Tarentaise 2015 Pre Race Presentation

Posted on July 11, 2015 by talkultra

It’s a hot weekend in Val d’Isere! So hot that the ice Trail Tarentaise may well become the ‘Trail Tarentaise.’ Of course snow does still exist on the course but in comparison to 2014 and in particular 2013, this years #ITT will be very different.

Today, the top contenders were introduced to the assembled crowds. Luis Alberto Hernando has no 1 as the ‘hot favourite’ and Emelie Forsberg has no 2, as the 2x defending champion.

Racing gets underway at 0400 tomorrow (Sunday) and the first finisher in Val d’Isere is expected at approximately 11:30.

A 65km course with 5000m +/-runners will pass over Grand Motte 3633m, Col Fresse 2576m, Charvet, 2400m, Col de la Rocheure 2911m, Col Fours 2976m, Col Pers 3009m, Aiguille Pers 3386m, Col de L’Iseran 2700m and then through the Tunnel Lessieres 3000m before a fast descent to the finish.

You can read a full race preview HERE

Expect Luis Alberto to have strong competition from Manuel Merillas, Franco Colle and Fabien Antolinus and Emele to be pushed by Maud Gobert and Anna Comet.

Follow online LIVE via @skyrunning_com and via http://itt.livetrail.net

Ice Trail Tarentaise 2014 – Race Start Images

Posted on July 13, 2014 by talkultra

The 2014 Ice Trail Tarentaise got underway at 0400 Sunday 13th July. It was a wet start but temperatures were mild and everyone was enthusiastic at the tough challenge that would be ahead.

Ones to watch in the men are Francois d’Haene winner of the ITT in 2012 and 2nd in 2013 behind Kilian Jornet and Luis Alberto Hernando who beat Francois in Chamonix just 2-weeks ago.

For the ladies, Emelie Forsberg 2013 champion returns but she will have strong competition from Francesca Canepa and Maud Gobert amongst others.

Race Preview HERE

Ice Trail Tarentaise Press Conference Images 2014

Posted on July 12, 2014 by talkultra

The Skyrunner World Series – Ice Trail Tarentaise gets underway at 0400 Sunday 13th July from the town of Val D’Isere, France.

A press conference was held today, 1100hrs with many of the top elite runners assembled.

Luis Alberto Hernando and Emelie Forsberg, were crowned Skyrunning World Champions just 2-weeks ago in Chamonix. Will they be triumphant in Val D’Isere?

Luis will have strong competition from Francois d’Haene who placed 2nd to Kilian Jornet in the 2013 edition. In addition, we can expect strong performances from Tom Owens, Fulvio Dapit, Fabien Antolinos, Caine Warburton, Vlad Ixel, Matt Cooper plus many more!

Francesca Canepa from Italy has been a last minute entry and will pressure Emelie along with Nuria Dominguez.

You can read a race preview HERE

Follow that action on iancorless.com, Talk Ultra Twitter and Skyrunning Facebook and Twitter feeds

Ice Trail Tarentaise 2014 Race Preview

Posted on July 7, 2014 by talkultra

The stunning alpine village of Val d’Isère is the official home of the next two races in the Skyrunner® World Series: the Ice Trail Tarentaise and Bellvarde Vertical Kilometer. The ITT starts and concludes in this beautiful mountain retreat and as the name suggests, it is also the source of the Isère River. The Isère flows through some of the most iconic mountain landscape available. It is a haven for alpinists wanting to test themselves on the iconic slopes of Meribel, Val Thorens, Courchavel; it is affectionately known as the ‘Le Trois Vallees’.

The Tarentaise valley and the Ice Trail Tarentaise in many respects personify what Kilian Jornet has been pursuing for years, the term ‘Alpinism’ is often perceived as climbing but it is so much more.

The race route has over 60 km’s above 2000m altitude and with a highest point of 3653m at ‘Grande Motte’ this is a race not to be taken lightly. Memories of the Tour de France flood into my mind when I discuss this region, however, other than the highest paved mountain pass at the ‘Col de L’Iseran’ at 2770m, no bicycles will be seen.

Traversing glaciers, ascending and descending summits such as ‘Aiguille Pers’ at 3386m, participants in the 2014 Ice Trail Tarentaise will no doubt have a full appreciation of what Kilian and others like him strive for when they coin the term, Alpinism.

Ropes, ladders, way markers, peaks at over 3000m and 5000m +/- ascent and descent guarantees that not all those who toe the line will see the finish. It is a tough-tough race, no doubt!

65km / 5000mD + –

Starting July 13, 2014 at 04:00 / Centre station Val d’Isère.

Men

Luis Alberto Hernando

Luis Alberto Hernado is on a roll in 2014. Victor at Transvulcania La Palma and recently crowned Skyrunning World Champion for the Ultra distance in Chamonix, one has to say that Luis is the hot favourite for glory in Val d’Isère. Running with 100% commitment, Luis is a frightening force on any trail or mountain and his commitment is motivating. Tempered with a wonderful friendly nature, Luis is without doubt an increasingly popular choice by ultra, trail and Skyrunning aficionados. I for one hugely respect Luis’s ability and his approachable, modest and friendly nature. Luis has great experience of snow and ice and although the ITT field has depth, this may well be a re run of Hernando and d’Haene going head-to-head.

Francois d’Haene

François d’Haene ran toe-to-toe with Kilian Jornet for the 2013 edition of the ITT and it was only in the latter stages of the race that Kilian clicked up a gear and pulled away for victory. Francois, like Luis is an extremely talented and likeable guy! I know this isn’t a personality contest but the addition of good characteristics helps. Francois produced a remarkable UTMF victory a couple of months ago and just last week placed 2^nd behind Luis in Chamonix for the Skyrunning worlds. I have to say that I think that Francois may just have the edge of Luis on this course. One thing is for sure; it’s going to be real close and a great battle.

Ricky Lightfoot had to miss the Skyrunning worlds due to work pressure so I am really excited to se him toe the line in Val d’Isère. He’s an incredible talent and may well just slip under the radar at Tarentaise. In 2013 Ricky had a couple of incredible results, particularly at The Otter in South Africa and IAU World Trail Championships. In 2014, Ricky beat Tom Owens at the iconic Three Peaks fell race, so, we can expect a great performance. Withdrawn

Tom Owens

Tom Owens ran his first ultra in May at Transvulcania La Palma and placed well within the top-10 with a world-class performance. At Zegama-Aizkorri the impact of Transvulcania took its toll and although Tom had a great run it was probably a little below expectation. Jump to one week ago and Tom made the final podium slot behind Kilian Jornet and Michel Lanne at the SKY distance in the Skyrunning World Championships. Ice Trail will be a real test and adventure for Tom but I think we can expect to see him in the mix.

Fulvio Dapit placed 4^th at this race last year and I have no reason to think that an equal or better performance can be expected in 2014. The only question mark will come in regard to Fulvio’s recovery. He raced at Lavaredo Ultra Trail just 7-days ago and was a dominant force over the first half of the race.

Caine Warburton

Caine Warburton from Australia was one of the Aussie trio who placed in the top-10 in Chamonix. Needless to say, this has placed Caine from well under the radar to a ‘one-to-watch.’ Ice Trail Tarentaise however will be a very different race to the one experienced in the Skyrunning World Champs. Caine’s performance will come down to 2-key elements: recovery post Chamonix and his ability to run on snow and ice. He’s a top-10 contender.

Matt Cooper is another Aussie who raced in Chamonix but he had a below par performance, particularly if we compare it to his 2013 Ronda dels Cims performance. I personally think that Ice Trail may well suit Matt’s skill set and although the podium may be ambitious, a top-5 and certainly top-10 is a distinct possibility.

Pau Bortololo Roca has placed in and around the top-10 consistently at high-key races. In 2014, Pau has won 2-races: Ultra Trail Barcelona and Transgrancanaria 82km. Unless a disaster happens at the front of the race, I don’t see Pau a contender for the win but top-5 is a distinct possibility and should all things align, the podium is not out of reach.

Aurelien Dunand-Pallaz placed 7^th at the 2013 CCC showing a skill level that will transfer to Ice Trail and place the Team Adidas runner a contender for top-10. A recent 11^th place at the Maxi Race in Annecy and top-10 at Mont-Blanc 80km shows he has great form. However, Aurelien may only race the VK? (tbc)

Ones to watch:

Marc Casal Mir – 21^st at Transvulcania La Palma 2014.

Scott Hawker – 7^th at Lavaredo Ultra Trail just 7-days ago.

Jordi Bes Ginesta – 17^th at Transvulcania La Palma 2014.

Ladies

Emelie Forsberg Ice-Trail Tarentaise ©iancorless.com

I don’t wish to put a down on the ladies race but I just don’t see anyone coming close to Emelie Forsberg if she has anything like the form she displayed at the Skyrunning World Championships. Emelie showed everyone a clean pair of ‘Sense’ last year and dominated the ladies race by almost 1-hour. Her performance was so strong that the ever smiley and happy Swede ‘chicked’ most of the men’s field. Emelie is outright winner barring an accident and top-10 contender overall ((maybe even top-5!)

Maud Gobert is racing less these days, however, when she races she personifies that class is permanent as shown in Chamonix 7-days ago with another top quality performance. Maud may have all the potential to take either podium slot.

Anna-Lise Rousset placed 5^th at Transvulcania La Palma in 2014 and will be looking to repeat that performance in Val d’Isère. In reality, 2^nd or 3^rd on the podium will be the target. Ice Trail will be a new challenge though; one can’t look at the distance of 65km and think it will be easy. It’s a whole new ball game.

Alesandra Carlini

Alessandra Carlini has moved up a level recently and although I see her offering no contest to Emelie, she will be in the mix fighting for the podium and most definitely a top-5 possibility. In 2014, Alessandra placed 2^nd at MSIG Sai Kung 50 and 10^th at Transvulcania La Palma.

Laia Andreu Trias has only two significant results that I am aware of and both of those come from Cavalls del Vent: 6^th in 2012 and 3^rd in 2013.

Ones to watch:

Judit Lamas Borraz

Alexis Traub

Info

2013 results Top-10 Men

Jornet 7:35:32
d’haene 7:40:13
Reiter 8:12:38

2013 results Top-10 Ladies

Forsberg 9:11:11
Dewalle 10:08:58
Canepa 10:31:59

Skyrunning website HERE

Ice Trail Tarentaise website HERE

Ultra Running Review of the Year 2013

Posted on December 19, 2013 by talkultra

What an amazing time to be involved in the sport of ultra running! The once niche minority sport has exploded to greater heights and distances in 2013. No longer is a long beard and ‘Buff’ a pre requisite of ultra running (unless you’re Rob Krar). Clean cut, young, fast is the new ‘ultra runner’ mixing it up with the old guard.

Just think back to this time last year, had you heard of Zach Miller (not the Zach Miller, but, the Zach Miller; confused?), Michele Yates, Rob Krar, Magdalena Boulet and Xavier Thevenard.

Racing and the opportunity to race has also increased to the extent that it is now possible to race pretty much week in and week out for 12-months of the year. Of course, this brings pluses and minuses, certainly from an elite level, runners need to be far more savvy and race clever. You can no longer race month on month and expect to win. Races now have much higher quality fields and the pace is going up. The growth of Skyrunning has been instrumental in enticing a world audience to test runners of all abilities on tough, technical and high-terrain and the feedback has been incredible. UTWT have launched a series of races above the 100-km distance and in doing so have created a ‘trail’ circuit that offers multiple terrain in multiple locations all over the world. It will be interesting to see how the inaugural year goes when 2014 comes around.

So, what are the highlights of 2013?

Ultra Runner of the Year – Men and ladies

Lets start with Rob Krar. I interviewed Rob just after his incredible ‘FKT’ in the Grand Canyon early in 2013 when he put the Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim record at another level. At the time we discussed Western States, he was intimidated by the ‘Super Bowl’ of ultra and his first 100-miler. “I’ll give it a shot and see what happens”. Well, if you hadn’t noticed Rob pre WSER you did afterwards. Your not supposed to run WSER and get 2^nd overall in your first attempt. UROC, Ultra Race of Champions was the final of the Skyrunner Ultra World Series and for some reason they had bestowed upon themselves the title, ‘The Ultra Running World Championship’. Mmmmm well, it certainly had a quality field but ‘World Championship’? I don’t think so. In the end it came down to a head-to-head between Dakota Jones and Rob Krar. Dakota looked as though he had it sewn up but on the final descent, Rob unleashed a pace that Dakota went on to say was ‘just crazy’. Rob took the win and a pattern was forming. We were all a little surprised to see Rob’s name on the start list for JFK50, primarily with TNF50 in San Francisco just two weeks later. As it happened, Rob dropped at around the 41-mile mark and went on to say that it was either ‘a great training run for TNF50 or the worst decision he had made in a while.’ It was a great training run! Rob ran a super calm, collected and mature race in San Francisco and when he took the front in the last fifth of the race he released a pace that was just incredible. Without doubt my ultra runner of the year!

Kilian Jornet and the Matterhorn ©iancorless.com

Of course, you can’t talk about male ultra runner and not mention Kilian Jornet. Kilian is a phenomenon. He is the star of our sport. Once again he was crowned Skyrunner World Ultra Series Champion with wins at Transvulcania and Ice Trail Tarentaise. In addition to this, Kilian was also champion of the ‘Sky’ series with 4 wins; Zegama, Mont-Blanc, Matterhorn Ultraks and Limone Extreme. Add this a couple VK’s, a win at Canazei Sky race for the European Championships and a win at Trans D’Havet for the ‘Ultra’ Skyrunning European Championships and you would say the deal is done! But wait-a-minute, we haven’t mentioned his records for his ‘Summits’ project. A stunning new FKT for Chamonix-Mont-Blanc-Chamonix but arguably THE highlight of the year was his Matterhorn Summit. It was a sublime and surreal performance that put going to the mountains light on another level. It was without doubt my ‘moment’ of the year. You can read my ‘Matterhorn Summits Interview’ with Kilian here. Kilian is the most complete athlete I know.

Michele Yates - iancorless.com ©bradclayton

Michele Yates hadn’t run an ultra before 2013. Who would have thought that Ms Figure Colorado 2008 would be such an awesome talent? Well her history shows that she is a 2x Olympic Trials Marathon Competitor, she has 9 marathon wins and PB of 2:38:37. To say Michele burst on the ultra scene would be an underestimation. Her win at Indiana Trail 100 (17:35:18) almost went unnoticed but then taking top spot and the $10,000 prize at Run Rabbit Run suddenly made every one stop, look around and take notice. Placing 3^rd at UROC was another sign that Michele was no one trick pony but just like Rob Krar, Michele sealed a quality 2013 with a win at TNF50. She started that race from the front and never relinquished the lead until the line. Is Michele female ultra runner of the year? Well, I would have said yes. That is until the weekend of Dec 13^th/ 14^th. (Listen to interview with Michele on the Christmas show of Talk Ultra, Ep51 out Dec 27^th)
Pam Smith victorious at Western States turned up at the Desert Solstice track meet run by Aravaipa Running and not only took out the win for 12-hours on the track but set a new female record for 100-miles, 14:11:26. Take your pick, Michele or Pam; it’s a tough call.

But wait a minute, what about Emelie Forsberg. Emelie arrived on the run scene in 2012 and instantly had success, continually placing top-3 with Anna Frost and Nuria Picas. However the break through moment came ironically this time last year, she won TNF50 in San Francisco. This seemed to change everything, Emelie arrived at Transvulcania in May 2013 and won, she followed this up with a win in Zegama, Canazei, Ice Trail Tarentaise, Matterhorn Ultraks, UROC and then went on to run her first 100-miler at the super tough Diagonale de Fous (Raid de la Reunion) and place 2^nd. Do you want to vote against Emelie?

Performances of the Year

Rory Bosio blasted around the TNFUTMB course and in the process not only obliterated the female record but placed 7^th overall. Her performance was nothing short of miraculous.
Jon Olson set a new American record for 100-miles on the track and then just as the year came to a close, Zach Bitter broke the record with an 11:47:21 but maybe even more important, Zach set a new World Record for 12-hours (101.66 miles) beating a Yiannis Kouros record. That does not happen very often! (Zach Bitter will be in the Christmas episode of Talk Ultra, Ep 51 out Dec 27th here)
I have already mention Kilian and the Matterhorn but it was so good I am mentioning it twice!
Timothy Olson went back to Western States and won again. You can win a race once but going back and doing it again is always a true sign of a champion.
Seb Chaigneau took a win and CR at Hardrock 100.
Nickademus Hollon became the youngest person ever to not only complete Barkley but also win it. You can listen to his interview on Talk Ultra here.

Julien Chorier Ronda dels Cims ©iancorless.com

Julien Chorier produced a sublime and calculated performance at the super tough Ronda dels Cims. It was a joy and a pleasure to watch someone control and dominate a race from the front and look good all the way.
Sage Canaday, jeez I missed him out and he definitely deserves a mention for Bandera, Tarawera, Transvulcania (3rd), Lake Sonoma and Speedgoat 50k.

Francesca Canepa once again had an incredible year with a great performance at Ronda dels Cims but arguably a repeat win at Tor des Geants places her well and truly at the top on ‘endurance’ lady of the year!
Iker Karrera nailed Tor des Geants.
Ricky Lightfoot went over to South Africa and raced at The Otter and not only won but put the course record at a new level, in addition he won the IAU World Title in Wales.

Xavier Thevenard took everyone, including himself, by surprise at TNFUTMB with a controlled and impressive performance against some top competition.

Jez Bragg completed the Te Araroa in New Zealand. An incredible journey from the northern tip of New Zealand all the way down to the southern tip. Listen here.
David Johnston completed the Iditarod trail Invitational in 4 days 19 hours 13 mins.Crazy fast.
Ian Sharman and Nick Clark went head-to-head in the Grand Slam of Ultra Running and produced possibly the most exciting competition of 2013. The pair of them produced incredibly consistent performances and showed us all that it is possible to race four 100-milers back-to-back. They didn’t only ‘complete’ but they competed. They both won a race and were never out of the front rankings. Ian Sharman ultimately had the icing on the cake with the overall fastest time and a new Grand Slam record. Respect! Interview with Ian Sharman here.
Paul Giblin at the West Highland Way race. 15:07 and good beating of Terry Conway’s previous CR.

Stevie Kremer Limone Extreme ©iancorless.com

Stevie Kremer doesn’t do ultras but she is a darn fine trail and mountain runner and what ‘Pocket Rocket’ achieved in 2013 is nothing short of miraculous. Can’t wait to see what 2014 has in store.
Ed Catmur has continued to knock out some great 100-mile performances on the GB scene with wins at North Downs Way and the Winter 100.
Lizzie Wraith new female CR for the Lakeland 100 in the UK.
William Sichel keeps running and running crazy distances and setting new records.
Jonas Buud didn’t win Comrades in 2013 but he ran one of the best paced races I’ve ever witnessed. He was way back in the late 30’s and slowly moved up to 3rd. Wow! Notable mention to Brit ladies, Joanna Zakrezewski and Holly Rush who placed top-10.

Surprises of the Year

Rob Krar – Just one word sums up the bearded warrior ‘Krarnage’.
Zach Miller – no, not Zach Miller, but Zach Miller. Zach rocked up at JFK50, nobody knew him and he didn’t know anyone else. He took over the lead when Rob Krar dropped at mile 41. Not only did he win but also he set the 3^rd fastest time ever. Interview with Zach here.
Xavier Thevenard – TNFUTMB was going to be won by Anton Krupicka, Miguel Heras, Julien Chorier, Seb Chaigneau or Mike Foote. Somebody should have told them all about CCC winner, Xavier.
Michele Yates – wow, what a first year in the ultra world.

Who and what to watch out for in 2014

Cameron Clayton has found his feet, 2013 had some mixed performances but when everything aligns he races with the best. His Transvulcania, UROC and TNF50 performances without doubt elevates him to ‘hot’ for 2014.

Luis Alberto Hernando Haria Extreme ©iancorless.com

Luis Alberto Hernando pushed Kilian close at Transvulcania, Zegama, finished joint first at Trans D’havet and won at Cavalls del Vent. In 2014 he plans to race TNFUTMB, now that will be interesting.
Magdalena Boulet had an ultra debut at TNF50 and placed 2^nd. This sub 2:30 marathon runner may turn a few heads in 2014.
Brit, Stuart Air may raise a few eyebrows in 2014. He had a solid Ronda dels Cims, Ice Trail Tarentaise and Tor des Geants and for 2014 he has a Hardrock 100 slot!
Hardrock 100 had it’s draw and suddenly much of the WSER ‘lottery’ chat shifted focus to the field up at Silverton. The 2014 race is a classic in the making with Kilian Jornet, Sebastian Chaigneau, Julien Chorier, Joe Grant and more. Excited? Just a little.
The Skyrunning World Championships take place in Chamonix with runners from all over the world coming to race VK, SKY and ULTRA in one of the endurance capitals of the world.
Beards – the jury is out. Are beards fast or slow? Rob Krar, Timmy Olson and ‘Clarky’ are certainly great advocates for hairy running but Kilian, Cameron, Sage provide a strong counter argument. What are your thoughts?

And finally…

A review of any year is going to be personal. Without doubt we will all have our own highlights and favourite moments, so, I would love to read your thoughts.

Please use the form below.

On a personal note, 2013 was an incredible year, I feel blessed with all the opportunities I have had. To witness many of the moments I write about is a great pleasure. Of course, it’s nothing without you folks reading, looking at my photographs or listening to my podcast.

A very BIG thank you from me.

Happy Christmas and a wonderful 2014 awaits us all…

LINKS:

Photography from 2013 races HERE

IMAGES book HERE

Calendar HERE

Podcasts HERE

IMAGES – Coffee Table Photo Book

Posted on November 25, 2013 by talkultra

I am pleased to announce that my coffee table book, IMAGES is now available to order.

Details:

Size: 10×8 inckes/ 25×20 cm’s
Format: Landscape
Pages: 68
Paper: High quality images printed on Premium Lustre paper
Cover: Hardcover with full colour images dust jacket
Foreward: by Emelie Forsberg (Salomon Running)

Availability:

Book : £50.00 (plus postage) full colour hard bound book with dust jacket, signed on request.

eBook : £15.99 available for iPad – direct purchase HERE

Hints n Tips:

The ebook IMAGES by Ian Corless is available for download. Here’s how to get this ebook onto your iOS device:

Open this email on your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch.
If you do not have the free Apple iBooks app you’ll need to install it before downloading your book.
Follow this link to get the book: YOU WILL BE SENT A LINK
(This link will expire in 48 hours, after which you will be prompted to log in)
Safari will open and begin downloading the ebook to your device.
When the download is complete, you will be given the option to ‘Open in iBooks’. Tap this button once.
iBooks will launch, im port the ebook, and then open it for viewing.

A few notes for a smoother experience…

Connect to Wi-Fi: Image-rich ebooks can be quite large, so downloading and importing them to iBooks can take several minutes.
Be patient: Very little feedback is given while iBooks is opening the file, so you may want to check your device after a few minutes.
Make room: Make sure you have enough free space on your device or the download may fail.
Can’t find your book? In iBooks, make sure you’re viewing the ‘Books’ collection and not the ‘PDFs’ collection. To switch views, just tap the ‘Collections’ button in your iBooks library.

PDF : £12.00 a high-resolution full colour PDF available for computer viewing in Adobe or similar software

Races included in the book:

Trofeo Kima, Templiers, The Coastal Challenge, The Causeway Crossing, Transvulcania La Palma, Zegama-Aizkorri, Haria Extreme, Ronda dels Cims, Mont-Blanc Marathon, Ice Trail Tarentaise, Dolomites VK & Skyrace, Trans D’Havet, Matterhorn Ultraks, TNFUTMB, Grand to Grand, UROC, MDS and Everest Trail Race.

Ordering:

Books are available to order with an estimated 12-day turnaround.

Ice Trail Tarentaise, video Aiguille Pers

Posted on July 16, 2013 by talkultra

If you wondered what it was like at the Ice Trail Tarentaise, this short video will give you a no fills insight to the Aiguille Pers summit.

YouTube HERE

Ice Trail Tarentaise Race Report

Posted on July 15, 2013 by talkultra

Kilian Jornet and Emelie Forsberg excel at the ISF Skyrunning Ice Trail Tarentaise. With over 60 km’s above 2000m altitude and with a highest point of 3653m at ‘Grande Motte’ this is a race not to be taken lightly. Memories of the Tour de France flood into my mind when I discuss this region, however, other than the highest paved mountain pass at the ‘Col de L’Iseran’ at 2770m, no bicycles will be seen.

The Tarentaise valley and the Ice Trail Tarentaise in many respects personify what Kilian Jornet has been pursuing for years, the term ‘Alpinism’ is often perceived as climbing but it is so much more. Traversing glaciers, ascending and descending summits such as ‘Aiguille Pers’ at 3386 m, participants in the 2013 Ice Trail Tarentaise will no doubt had a full appreciation of what Kilian and others like him strive for when they coin the term, Skyrunning. You see, Skyrunning is Alpinism but without the clutter, it’s about being light and moving fast.

Val D’Isère, 0400 on Sunday 14^th July, 600+ runners departed for one of the most challenging races they would ever experience. With a total distance of 65km’s, 5000m+ positive gain and over 60% of the course in snow, the race would ultimately be the most challenging Skyrunning race ever encountered by all the participants.

The 2012 race winner, Francois D’Haene dictated the early pace with Rickey Gates and Kilian Jornet. At Tignes after following a river trail and an early climb the field was already spreading out. Emelie Forsberg had opened a gap on the female competition and was already pulling away.

Darkness was now being replaced by the arrival of a new day and blue skies, temperatures started to rise but temperatures did drop to as low as -3deg on the first big challenge of the day, the Grande Motte at 3653m, this would see participants climb 1800m in under10km. The ascent included traversing a glacier (YakTrax compulsory) and then a 70deg climb that included sections of Via Ferrata. At the summit, km17, Kilian, Francois and Rickey continued to establish a lead over a chasing Fulvio Dapit and Philipp Reiter.

Christel Dewalle and Ronda dels Cims winner, Francesca Canepa pursued Emelie Forsberg but the pattern was set for the whole race. Emelie was in her element, and although she said post race that it was the hardest race she had ever done, she also admitted that she loved every step of it, ‘this is pure Skyrunning, it is what I love about this sport, the ability to combine mountains, snow, running and ice to combine together in one of the most challenging sports’.

The descent from Col Fours at 2976m to Pont Neige at 2530m now had Francois D’Haene and Kilian Jornet establishing a lead over the rest of the field that would not be relinquished. A small section of road and a right turn at Cascade ultimately proved to be one of the hardest sections of the course. Climbing from 2700m to the Col Pers at 3009m and then Pointe Pers 3386m resulted in many runners failing to meet cut-off times or drop with fatigue at Cascade. Marcus Warner from Ultra168 said, ‘that broke peoples spirits, I have buried the feeling it created; I had to look inside and decide if I wanted to put myself through it. However, I found that inner strength and moved on. The terrain was hard pack snow on the north side to waist deep soft snow. It sucked life from within me, the final 300m was a treadmill of slate and scree, I felt I was going nowhere’.

At the iconic Col de L’Iseran, the highest road in Europe the final challenge awaited, the 300m ascent to the Tunnel Lessieres at km56. It was in the final stages of this climb on the tough and technical rock section that Kilian moved ahead of Francois and pulled away to take another incredible win. Emelie Forsberg looked relaxed and comfortable, her lead was convincing and a victory was guaranteed. Christel and Francesca continued to hold second and third place and this format would not change to the finish line.

The 2013 ISF Skyrunning Ice Trail Tarentaise will be remembered in years to come as an iconic day in Skyrunning history. Along with Zegama-Aizkorri, Trofeo Kima and Canazei in the Dolomites, the ‘ITT’ will become a flagship event. It will test elites and non-elite runners to the limit and as many said post race, ‘km for km, that is the hardest race I have ever done’