Ski Mountaineering - Montée de Megève

TEXT 2010
A ski mountaineering challenge organised by the Megève Club des Sports.
Invited to take part in this competition are all ski touring and ski mountaineering enthusiasts who want to experience the thrill of a mythical site in a sporting and friendly atmosphere.
The Montée de Megève is the 4th stage in the Mountain Ski Tour, a Haut-Savoyard ski race organised in several resorts: Le Mont-Saxonnex, La Clusaz , Bernex, Megève, Les Contamines-Montjoie, Praz de Lys-Sommand, Les Houches, Bernex, Flaine, Praz sur Arly, Morzine-Avoriaz and Chatel. Participation in 6 races offers participants a place in the ranking.
PROGRAMME
3.00 pm: welcome of participants at the Panoramic cinema
4.50 pm: briefing
5.00 pm: departure from the Village Square

SKI MOUNTAINEERING
Spring skiing, ski touring, downhill skiing, ski mountaineering, it is difficult to find your way through the different terms. Yet it is all skiing. Only the name differs. The history of the discipline is associated with one of the greatest adventures of the 19th century when the Norwegian, Fridjhof Nanasen, the forerunner of skiing, crossed the southern tip of Greenland in 1888 (500 km in 46 days). This feat played a large part in the spread of skiing to Continental Europe.
Ski mountaineering is a form of downhill skiing, closer to nature, which calls upon mountaineering skills. Today, the discipline is booming.
Many events organised in resorts, which are held on the slopes in the half-dark (after the ski area has closed), are fully justified because they contribute to the development of this discipline.
This winter, the Mountain Ski Tour (created in 2004) offers 11 races spread around the entire Haute-Savoie department.
These events are designed to be friendly and welcoming, where people come after a day's work to compare their skills against those of the elite in order to perfect their physical condition or prepare for other, even more ambitious, goals!
Jean Gadiolet, extract from Alpéo 2008.