Skyrunning Mont-Blanc 80k 2015 Preview

Posted on June 23, 2015 by talkultra

The 2014 edition of the Skyrunning Chamonix 80k proved to be a stunning and exciting race with Emelie Forsberg and Luis Alberto Hernando being crowned respective champions and in the process they also were crowned Skyrunning Ultra World Champions.

The 2015 edition of the race may not be a world championship but racing is expected to be just as fast and ferocious. Runners are travelling from all over the world to take part and as you may have expected we have a who’s who of Skyrunning toeing the line.

New for 2015 too is a tougher course! Yes, if the race wasn’t already tough enough. Changes have been made to avoid towns in favour of more secluded trails. It’s a stunning course with 6000m of vertical gain and it takes in Bel Achat, Brevent, Col de Montets, Buet, Col de la Terrasse, Tre les Eaux, Aiguillette des Posettes, Montenvers, Mer de Glace, Plan d’Aiguille and of course the wonderful finish in Chamonix.

In the men’s race several names stand out. Dakota Jones fresh from a top placing at Transvulcania will be looking to establish a grip on the race and recently has been training in the area with 2014 ladies champion, Emelie Forsberg. Unfortunately Dakota is injured.

Manuel Merillas is a rising star in the Skyrunning world after an incredible 2014. All looked to be going well at Transvulcania in May when he was racing with the front 5, however, it all became too much and he eventually finished outside the top 10. Manuel bounced back remarkably well placing on the podium just one week later at Zegama-Aizkorri. He is podium material for sure; he just needs to get his pacing right for the longer distance.

Hardrock 100 champion (2013) and UTMF winner Sebastien Chaigneau needs no introduction to a French or Chamonix audience. His face is synonymous with the area after repeated runs at UTMB. He placed 2nd in 2009 and 3rd in 2011. He knows the trails in and around Chamonix so well. However, 2014 was a tough year for Seb, we can only hope that he is 100% fit for the 80km. If he is, he is without doubt one to watch.

Alex Nichols is an ever present on the Skyrunning circuit and his confidence will be high after a top 10 placing at the IAU world trail championships in Annecy.

Aurelien Dunand-Pallaz had a good run in Chamonix in 2014 and recently placed 10th at Transvulcania. I see him looking for a top 10 once again in the 80k and if his day goes well top 5 may be a possibility but I don’t see him contending the podium.

Pablo Villa may well dish up a surprise? Since a breakthrough performance at Transvulcania in 2014, he moved to Salomon and that almost certainly has boded well. One to watch!

My last tip is Cristofer Clemente who placed on the podium just last week at Ultra SkyMarathon Madeira and on the podium at Sai Kung MSIG 50k. He is on the up at the moment and his performance in Chamonix will all depend on his powers of recovery.

Catlow Shipeck, Pascal Giguet, David Pasquio, Franco Colle, ~~Dan Doherty, Stuart Air~~ and Francois Favre are all names that will add fire to the front of the race.

The ladies race all looks about 3 people with Dong Li, Mira Rai and Hillary Allen as the main contenders for the podium. The proximity of the IAU world championships in Annecy and Skyrunning’s Ice Trail Tarentaise (in 2 weeks) have impacted on who was available to take on this tough Chamonix course.

Mira Rai has had a sting of high profile victories recently and is without doubt a hot favourite. Mira burst onto the scene in 2014 with victory at the Mustang Trail Race. Recent results are 3rd at Buffalo Stampede, 1st at MSIG HK50 and MSIG Lantau 50.

Dong Li has all the potential to upset Mira’s plans for the top of the podium and in all honesty, a longer race may well fall into her hands. Dong Li won TNF 100 in Australia and placed 3rd at Transgrancanaria.

Hillary Allen is not a lady who I have met on the run circuit, however, I am aware of her 5th place at The Rut (50k) in 2014 and she also placed 4th at Speedgoat 50k. Past records show that 50k or 50 miles are Hillary’s preferred distance so this 80km may well stretch her. This is no ordinary 80k course.

Racing starts in the early hours of Friday 26th June and you will be able to follow online via the Skyrunning Facebook page and on Twitter @skyrunnning_com

A list of entrants is available HERE

Déjame Vivir w/ Kilian Jornet now available

Posted on March 27, 2014 by talkultra

KILIAN JORNET RELEASES DÉJAME VIVIR SECOND FILM OF HIS PROJECT SUMMITS OF MY LIFE

The film chronicles the challenges experienced while climbing Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn and Mount Elbrus as part of the Summits of My Life project. The film includes close-up and personal moments of Kilian Jornet’s life, as well as those of his friends who have accompanied him in these challenges.

“Déjame Vivir reflects a way to approach mountains. It explanis what we do but espcially why we do it, where our motivation came from by going back to the origins of this sport. The title intends to reflect what we do and represent that we want to go to the mountain the way we like it, being aware of the risks and what can happen but without pretending to be role models to anyone” said Jornet.

Puigcerdà, March 27th 2014 Kilian Jornet releases Déjame Vivir (Let Me Live), the second film of his personal project Summits of My Life. This 62-minute film directed by Seb Montaz, shows the challenges Jornet and his friends faced on mountains around Europe during 2013. The film, shot in five languages, portrays Kilian Jornet defying his own limits to make a childhood dream come true by following in the footsteps of the pioneers of Skyrunning to become the World Champion.

Déjame Vivir shows attempts to break records on Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn and Mount Elbrus. Intimately portrayed and unveiling the human side, each challenge is also a reflection of the values that sustain the project Summits of My Life. Déjame Vivir is, ultimately, a collage of experiences that allow the viewer to get to know Kilian Jornet and what he does from a much closer viewpoint.

Kilian declared: “Déjame Vivir reflects a way to see the mountains, mine and a group of friends that we like to go explore the mountains in a light and dynamic and where disciplines get mixed and we can either run, ski, climb… The film explanis what we do but especially why we do it, and where our motivation came from, going back to the pioneers of this sport. I think it’s a movie where spectatos will understand that, at the end, what is important in projects is not the final goal but the way we challenge ourselves to get there”

The title of the film is not accidental, as director Seb Montaz explains: “Kilian often sang the song Déjame Vivir during filming. At that time, I did not know what the lyrics meant. But he then explained that the song title meant: “let me live” and I found that had quite a symbolic meaning: one person, Kilian, who wants to be allowed to fulfil his dreams. This is also the underlying philosophy of the project Summits of My Life, and so we thought that was quite appropriate.”

The film will be available for download or purchase on DVD as of today, March 27th at 7pm on the Summits of My Life website, although the official presentation will take place in the coming months.

A FILM FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT AFRAID TO LIVE

The second year of the Summits of My Life challenges began on Mont Blanc in July, where Jornet managed to break the ascent speed record with a time of 04h 57′. As well a sporting success, this story is also a hymn to friendship, as Jornet did not want to attempt the record alone and so he went with his friend Matheo Jacquemoud. Although the latter suffered a fall during descent and Jornet had to finish the journey alone, he has always stated that it was a joint record.

In late August, in pursuit of a childhood dream, Kilian Jornet broke the ascent and descent record on the Matterhorn, in a time of 2h 52′. Bruno Brunod, who held the previous record and had been Jornet’s idol since childhood, also stars in this part of the film. In fact, Déjame Vivir follows in the footsteps of the pioneers of Skyrunning, a group of mountaineers who conceived a different way to approach the mountains: using the minimum of materials with the objective of breaking speed records. Kilian Jornet, together with all those who practice this sport, are the legacy of that generation of mountaineers led by Bruno Brunod and Marino Giacometi, among others. The film is, thus, also a tribute to these pioneers who inspired Jornet.

In September, and to put an end to the second year of challenges, Kilian Jornet, Seb Montaz and some members of the technical staff travelled to the Caucasus for a record attempt on Mount Elbrus, the highest mountain in Europe. Following the Elbrus Race, a mythical race that climbs up to the summit of Elbrus at 5,642m, Jornet tried to beat the existing record. Bad weather conditions forced him to abandon without reaching the summit. Undoubtedly, another example of the inner philosophy of Summits of My Life, a project that highlights the idea that the experiences and knowledge acquired along the way are what matters, rather than the actual fulfilment of a goal.

Déjame Vivir puts all these challenges as well as other everyday scenes into images that help us to get to know athlete Kilian Jornet more intimately. Nourished by the feats of past heroes of this sport, Kilian adapts it to our times. A person who asks to be allowed to live according to his own philosophy and values and who surrounds himself by loved ones, not fearing to face upcoming challenges. For example, this year, 2014, Jornet will attempt to break speed records on McKinley (6,196m) and Aconcagua (6,959m).

PRESENTATIONS OF DÉJAME VIVIR

Déjame Vivir world premier will be an online broadcast on March 27th. This will allow the Project’s worldwide audience to view it simultaneously. So, at 7pm central European time an online connection to the project website will be established and Jornet himself is going to present Déjame Vivir. The official trailer of the film will also be broadcast.

Various screenings in different cities will follow, the dates of which are yet to be confirmed. The first one will be in Barcelona sometime in May with a similar format to A Fine Line, which gathered together as many as 1,500 spectators at the Palau de la Música. Apart from these presentations, the film will be available on DVD or for downloading from the project website. The campaign Friends of Summits of My Life is open to those who identify with the project values and are willing to contribute to it. Summits of My Life is Kilian Jornet’s personal project, in which he will try to set ascent and descent records for the most important mountains on the planet. The project lasts four years, and is planned to culminate in 2015 with the record attempt on the world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest. Summits of My Life is closely linked to certain values and to a purist and minimalist way of understanding mountains, which is why the climbs will be as self-sufficient as possible, searching in this way for the maximum bond between man and mountain.

The Project will be recorded in four films, which will show the experiences of each year. The first, « A Fine Line », directed by Sébastien Montaz-Rosset, narrates the first year of the project and is an emotional journey across the spectacular peaks of the Alps in the company of a small group of extraordinary mountains athletes in search of their own particular idea of happiness.

Read my interview with Kilian Jornet

Just days after his successful MATTERHORN SUMMIT. HERE

You can also listen to the interview on Ep43

Episode 43 – We have an extended and in-depth interview with Kilian Jornet about his Matterhorn Summit record. We have a selection of audio from the TNFUTMB – Rory Bosio, Anton Krupicka, Joe Grant, Nuria Picas and Jez Bragg. We speak to Jo Meek who placed 2nd lady at MDS and what the future holds for her. We have Talk Training, the News a blog, smiles and miles with Emelie Forsberg and of course, Mr Speedgoat.

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Website – talkultra.com

WEB: http://www.summitsofmylife.com

BLOG: http://blog.summitsofmylife.com/

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Get Ready For – The Otter

Posted on October 26, 2012 by talkultra

For this last episode of 3rd season of Get Ready For. Seb bring us to the heart of the Tsitsikamma National Park, South Africa. The Otter African Trail Run is one of the most popular trail in South Africa, because of its difficulty, originality and location.

It is most certainly a race for the bucket list.

Magnetic South has been given permission to run the Otter in alternate directions on a yearly basis.

2012: from WEST to EAST, the “Up-Run” – the RETTO

2013: from EAST to WEST, the “Down-Run” – the OTTER

The OTTER – African Trail Run – the iconic and South Africa’s most popular 5 day hike, the Otter, has been walked from Storms River to Nature’s Valley right from its inception. Following this route the Otter – African Trail Run took place 3 years in a row from East to West.

The RETTO (Otter spelt backwards) – Two scouting runs have been done in the last month to ensure our Safety Management Plan has considered all the variables associated with running the trail in reverse. The 2012 ”Retto” as it has been nicknamed, will still include over 2600m of elevation in its 42km traversed, however the experience of running the route with the sea constantly on your right is going to give you a completely different thrill and perspective to this spectacular challenge.

The OTTER course record is held by Ryan Sandes 4:40:15 and Jeannie Bomford 5:17:12

The RETTO course record is held by Iain Don Wauchope 4:23:24 and Krissy Moehl 5:24:59

Faces of UTMB

Posted on September 1, 2012 by talkultra

A series of people, faces and experiences from the 2012 UTMB.

Starting at 1900 in Chamonix the race took a shorter route of 100k and remained in France covering 6000m+ of vertical gain on a very wet, snowy and cold night. These images tell the story of 15 hours following the race.

One Step Beyond

Posted on July 12, 2012 by talkultra

Although this blog and website is very much ultra based I don’t think it should be at the exclusion of some remarkable things.

Seb Montaz for me is one of the greatest ‘sports’ film makers out there. Along with The African Attachment, Seb produces some remarkable movies. Many of you will have seen them – Kilian’s Quest and of course the new Summits teaser.

Anyway, Seb has just made a new film.

“In life it’s our choice whether we laugh or cry – and I chose to laugh”

One Step Beyond takes us behind the scenes for a close up look at the lives of people involved in extreme sports.

VIEW THE TRAILER HERE

Géraldine Fasnacht, world-renowned snowboarder and base jumper, invites us into the small and close-knit community of today’s real life supermen – wingsuit flyers… We join her on a rollercoaster ride across the full spectrum of human emotions, catapulting from total euphoria to devastating loss, living life at full force and in glorious technicolour. Until one day, out of nowhere, a dramatic event changes the course of Géraldine’s life and forces her to reconsider her chosen path. In the face of tragedy, she decides to pick herself up and get back on the ride, to be swept up in a whirlwind of adrenaline.

This bare bones, honest account gives us a window into the lives of ordinary men and women who have chosen to take an extraordinary path in life.

Fasten your seat belts, we hope you enjoy your trip!

“It’s like a drug… when you do it you wonder how you
managed without it for so long, you can’t live without it”

This is an intimate look at a group of people who live exploring the extremes of human capability and the meaning of their own existence – a group bound by their experiences. And of one person in particular, who has no illusions of the consequences of her actions. Introduced to the mountains and the sport of snowboarding at a young age, Géraldine fast became addicted to the outdoors and the freedom and adventure she found through being in the mountains. She left the confines of patrolled areas in her home resort of Verbier almost as soon as she could stand up on a snowboard, venturing further and further into the backcountry. With the advent of freeride and extreme ski & snowboard competitions, organisers were forced to introduce a women’s category when Géraldine and her partner in crime were faster than many of the male competitors.

A very long way from the archetypal girl next door, this exceptionally talented woman excels in everything she does – doing ‘just ok’ is not an option. The pursuit of excellence and the desire to go further, faster, explore new sports, leads Géraldine through the best of times and the worst of times, and forces her to face her darkest demons in the aftermath of a tragic event.

“It’s like when you fall in love – you can’t control it. You know it might hurt you, …but the feeling is so good”

One Step Beyond is a story of lives led to extremes, of living your dreams and coming face to face with brutal reality. Of incredible friendships and finding the strength to overcome life’s cruelest obstacles. Of sharing amazing experiences with wonderful people… and of choosing to laugh.

GÉRALDINE FASNACHT
Snowboarder, Base jumper, wingsuit flyer (born 18th June 1980, Switzerland)

“I discovered the mountains and mountaineering through snowboarding. It’s like surfing a never ending wave… Happiness for me is painting lines on mountains… wide open spaces, freedom…”

Géraldine has notched up 12 years of snowboard competitions, with 8 of those on the international freeride circuit. She achieved a staggering 11 wins, 3 of those in the Verbier X-treme. She discovered basejump and wingsuit flying 10 years ago, finding the perfect parallel to drawing lines in the snow… doing the same in the sky. She has combined her passions on numerous trips and expeditions from Switzerland to the far corners of the planet – Mali, Baffin Island, Queen Maud Land in Antarctica, snowboarding spectacular mountains and making first basejump descents.

She shares her adventures through conferences and seminars via her company Lineprod, making presentations for corporate groups and children alike. Her love for nature and the outdoors shines through in everything she does.

KARINA HOLLEKIM
Free skier & Base jumper. (born April 25, 1976, Norway)

Karina grew up with a thirst for adventure and a fierce stubborn streak. She took to the ski slopes at a young age, only accepting the need for instruction from her dad after a high speed encounter with a hut! Shaping her life around her desire to ski bigger and higher mountains, lessons at school and work as a computer programmer soon gave way to time in the Alps. Life as a professional skier eventually lead her to explore base jumping and to achieve her childhood dream of being able to fly.

In August 2006 Karina suffered a near-fatal crash after her parachute failed during a routine parachute jump. She hit the ground at over 100 km/h and doctors said she would never walk again, but after 20 surgeries she has recovered and is now skiing again.

“…I guess this stubbornness and strong belief in my capability in managing things on my own has followed me, both in good and bad, ever since.”

SAMUEL BEAUGEY
Alpinist & globetrotter (born June 3rd 1971, France)

Sam grew up at the foot of Mont Blanc and has set up base camp on the slopes above les Houches. He became a mountain guide in 1994 … crampons, ice axes, skis, snowboard, wingsuit, snowkite, parapente – he has everything in his toolkit. He has accomplished a number of first descents and ascents (ski descent of Linceul on the Grandes Jorasses with Jerome Ruby, new route on Kwangde Shar in the Himalayas, snowboard descent of Everest North Face with Jerome Ruby & André-Pierre Rhem). With over 800 base jumps under his belt, he made the first wingsuit jump from Trango Pulpit (6100m) after climbing a new route Azazel with the Planet Big Wall team. In recent years he travelled to both polar regions, climbing new routes with wingsuit descents on Baffin Island and Antarctica.

He was joined by Géraldine on the Antarctic expedition and the couple were married in July 2011.

GIULIA MONEGO
Freeride skier (born June 23rd 1981, Italy)

Giulia spent the first part of her life in Venice, moving to Cortina in the Alps at 13 where she started ski racing. She quit the race circuit in 2001, tired of the stress of competitions, completed her ski instructor qualification and studies in tourism at Milan university. She then moved to Verbier where she has been based ever since, competing in freeride ski competitions (she won the Verbier Xtreme in 2006) and working as a freeride ski instructor for Powder-extreme ski school.

“My love for the mountains has given me the opportunity to live every season and use every tool, available. Climbing, paragliding and biking in the summer; skiing and climbing in the winter making the most of the outdoors. My years of experience have allowed me to push my limits further each day in new adventures, facing new and harder challenges.”

More info available in the downloadable press pack… HERE

Usain Bolt’s record falls… ‘ish’

Posted on June 2, 2012 by talkultra

It only takes a few beers, the side of a volcano, some of the best ultra runners in the world and the talent of Salomon Team Manager, Greg Vollet to put Usain Bolt’s 100m record to bed! Well, sort of…

Admittedly, Greg did say after his run that he has a new respect for Usain Bolt. It is all well and good running down a vertical slope and ‘just’ breaking the record, BUT to go that fast on the flat is quite something else.

Well done Greg. It was a pleasure to see this at first hand. What a fun way to spend a few hours.