Ski Mountaineering in Alpe d'Huez

For those of you who are un-initiated in the endurance sport of ski-mountaineering (“skimo” to those in the know), it’s a ski discipline that involves climbing mountains either on skis or carrying them, depending on the steepness of the ascent and then descending down the mountain on them. 

There are two main types of ski used for skimo, one being the more traditional Nordic “Telemark” skis with a free-heel – but the choice of most competitors next week will be a more alpine style ski with a free-heel for ascents, but is fixed by bindings for the descents. Competitors will also use neoprene type “skins” under their skis to aid traction on uphill sections, before quickly removing them for the high-speed downhill descents.

The event is based in neighbouring village Oz-en-Oisans which is best accessed from the mid-station of the DMC lift (at the top end of town) by taking the blue run Boulevard des Lutins or the red run Poutran down to Oz. Simply take the DMC lift up to the first stop and then ski down to the left of the lift station, all the way to the small village of Oz-en-Oisans. Access by bus is possible but will involve a bus to the bottom of the hill to Bourg d’Oisans and then another to Allemont and then up to Oz itself.

The gruelling main Pyramide d’Oz race starts of in centre of Oz at 1350 metres and sees the ultra-fit competitors head off to the left (with the village behind you) and upwards towards the L’Alpette lift station at 2050 metres. After a flatter section at L’Alpette the climb continues up to the Perrin Sud at 2640 metres before a descent back to 2450 metres at the foot of the Perrin Nord. Then comes the final, and decisive, climb of the day all the way up to the Dome-Des-Rousses at 2807 metres, before a no holds barred decent down to the finish line at the L’Alpette lift station. (The Dome-des-Rousses is the lift station up and to the left of the DMC top station).

A shorter, and slightly less gruelling race, for juniors/ladies/beginners/veterans sees competitors head from Oz up above the L’Alpette with a descent just below the peak of the Perrin Sud back down to 2450 metres, before the final descent down to the finish line at L’Alpette at 2050 metres. The main race is 16km in length with a vertical gain of some 1950 metres, whilst the shorter option is a still very tough 12km in length with a vertical gain of 1250 metres.

The best view point will be from the lift station L’Alpette at 2050metres (in between Oz and the Dome-des-Rousses lift station) – as this will afford the opportunity of seeing both the long and short races before they “split” and will also give a great view of what should prove to be a fantastic finish.

The route the competitors take is fairly “free-style” with a series of timing gates the only points that are compulsory to go through. These timing gates are:

• Start line on Oz village
• PC1 (Point Control) at L’Alpette lift station
• PC2 just below the Perrin Sud (where the short and long race split)
• PC3 Perrin Sud at 2640metres
• PC4 bottom of descent from Perrin Sud at 2450metres
• PC5 top of the Dome-des-Rousses at 2807metres
• PC6 on the descent between Perrin Sud and the L’Alpette
• Finish line at the L’Alpette lift station at 2050metres

Signing-on for the event is on Saturday (23rd) between 18:00 and 19:00 in the small sports hall in Oz centre.  Meanwhile on Sunday (24th) the collection of race bibs and numbers for the competitors takes place between 06:00 and 07:00 (in the sports hall). The race briefing is at 07:15 with a main race start at 08:00, which is followed at 08:30 by the shorter race start. The podium presentations and prize giving takes place at the finish line at L’Alpette at 13:00.

The big guns of Grenoble based Team Isere Montagne will be looking to continue their recent domination of the race having claimed success in the senior, junior and ladies events in recent years, so keep your eyes peeled for their green and white colours. 2015 winner Julien Poquet will be looking to add another victory to his palmares.

Local boys ESF will be represented by members of the Oz-en-Oisans ski school and their distinctive red outfits are always easy to spot. Whilst local Bourg d’Oisans based team Montagnes de L’Oisans will be well represented as always in what they consider to be their home event.

Find more events on our what's on calendar.