Anna and I will leave tomorrow for Japan. Friday next week I will participate to the Ultra-trail of Mt. Fuji (UTMF), 161 km and +9,165 m non-stop race. Anna will do the STY, a 85 km and +4,860 m non stop race. Then the following Friday we will do a press conference in Berghaus Japan Office followed by a lecture in the Kojitsu Store in Tokyo.
We will try to post some news on facebook.
Philippe during the training for Ultra-trail of Mt. Fuji (UTMF) (© Anna Gatta)
Amazing, one day without rain… almost. As the snow still covers most of the Mercantour National Park, we made a Trail running in the lower valley of Cians. A nice 33 km loop around Col de Mairola and the villages of Rigaud, Lieuche and Thiéry. We made a similar trail a while back but this time we went further up after Lieuche through l’Arsilane and Villa Sauberre, two very nice places.
Chapelle St Julien (© Anna Gatta)
Trail distance: 33.5 km, ascent: 2250m / descent: 2250m.
Yesterday was the peak of our training for the Ultra-trail of Mt. Fuji and STY in Japan in 4 weeks. Anna and I made a loop of 51 km and +3650 m where I added another 7 km and +700 m, by doing additional peaks where possible, finishing my day with 58 km and +4350 m. The weather was sunny for once and the views fantastic.
Philippe, Mont Vial with the Alps behind (© Anna Gatta)
Distance: 58 km, ascent: 4310m / descent: 4310m.
Continuing the training for the Ultra-trail of Mt. Fuji, Anna and I added 43.5 km of Trail today to an already long week. We have been slow despite the pleasant weather and a good trail. We made a long loop going up and down in the the Gorges du Loup as a recce for next week photo shoot with Berghaus. This trail is very scenic, crossing the nice villages of Gourdon, Cipières and Courmes and it is worth doing, the only small issue is the last 5 km along the D3 road but that could be avoided by following the GR51 back to Pont du Loup.
Anna on Plateau de Calern (© Philippe Gatta)
Distance: 43.5 km, ascent: 1800m / descent: 1800m.
With all the recent snowfall, is not easy to find a trail with significant elevation gain without tons of snow. Today we went to the Vesubie Valley and started at Pont du Cros and made a 32 km loop, climbing to Mont Ferion, then back down to St Jean La Rivière, up to Utelle and then Le Cros. Around half of the distance was in the snow but overall the snow was relatively packed.
Philippe between Utelle and Cros d’Utelle (© Philippe Gatta)
Distance: 32 km, ascent: 1925m / descent: 1925m.
Today Anna and I went to Plan du Var and ran up to Mont Vial which is a pretty good training when we look for significant elevation gain in short distance. The trail is just 23 km long with 2050 meters of elevation gain and offers nice views over the Alps after Revest-Les-Roches. There was still a bit of snow on the North face above 1400m but it was relatively soft and pleasant to run on.
Anna running back from Mont Vial with the Alps behind (© Philippe Gatta)
Distance: 23 km, ascent: 2050m / descent: 2050m.
Just two weeks after the 174 km of the Spine Challenger, I didn’t feel like trail running again and since the snow conditions are pretty good, I went Ski touring in the Mercantour National Park. I made a classic 16 km loop starting in Boréon, crossing the Vacherie des Erps and climbing up to the Cime Guilié (2999 m) and back through the Vallon de Sangué. Good snow all the way up, the snow Vallon de Sangué has started to melt a bit, then good conditions again below 1900 m.
After the ski, I went to the Alpha wolf park to take a look at the ice climbing wall which looks in pretty good conditions too.
From the top of Guilie (© Philippe Gatta)
Philippe is recovering well ten days after his first place on the Spine Challenger a 174km non-stop race. The story, map, track, results and 55 photos are available on race report.
The next big race will be the Ultra Trail Mt. Fuji in Japan in April. It is a 161 km and +9,000 meters ultra-trail (non-stop).
Spine Award ceremony (© Euan Bruce)
I just came back from UK where I won and set a new record of 32h18 on the Spine Challenger, a 108 miles / 173 km non-stop ultra-trail. The rough trail follows the Pennine Way from Edale to Hawes. Runners have 60 hours to complete the race and have to carry food, water, sleeping bag, bivy, winter clothes, medical kit, maps, etc.
I had a chance to test some new prototypes from Berghaus (pack, jacket, insulation layer) which were ultra light and really excellent.
I will post a full report with many more photos soon.
Pen-y-ghent (© Philippe Gatta)
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Trail: Ultra Trail Mont Fuji
We just came back from Japan where Anna did the STY (84.7 km and +4860 m) and I did the Ultra-trail of Mt. Fuji (UTMF) (161 km and +9165 m). We both enjoyed the races; very nice trail, nice scenery, perfect organization and good weather.
Philippe at Yagisaki-Kouen with Mt. Fuji behind (© Anna Gatta)
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