Utmb/ccc 2013

Hi all,

Ive managed to secure a place on the CCC this year (eek!) and am in the early stages of looking at flights etc. Just wondered if anyone could give me a few tips. Firstly on when to go out - I was thinking about going out the Friday or Saturday of the week before (CCC is on the Friday) to acclimatize, take a look round and look at bits of the route hopefully. Would this give me long enough to acclimatize etc?

Also, Im hoping to share a chalet with some fellow runners, which hopefully will be central to Chamonix, but they will be going out a couple of weeks earlier to climb and stuff. Is there anyone who is also thinking about going out the week beforehand, that I could share the transfer from Geneva to Chamonix with (bit daunting going on my own!)

thanks peeps!
Cathy, Wharfedale Harriers

yeah.. I think that will be OK.. a week should do.. just.. but don't just rest.. do some hard work out there.. hiking hard up hills will help, get used to the heat and acclimatise..

Use Chamexpress for transfers?

Oooo that sounds so exciting :-). I can't help or advise but just wanted to say wow!!

Agree with Iain. Go a week early and just go out on the vast network of trails in Chamonix, hiking and running. No need to go out on the course as it's fully marked and a logistical nightmare to recce unless you use local hotels or mountain retreats.
You will love it, great week.

Re. the Geneva-Cham transfer (and back), I've used https://www.mountaindropoffs.com/ the last two years and they've been pretty good. Its a small shared mini-bus so your in company, always british drivers when I've used and english company owner who lives over there. They also do transport for UTMB events so spend a lot of the event weekend ferrying people about (including retirees). Very helpful last year as I didn't realise the hotel I was in was closing midday of my last day so we'd have 7 hours to kill lugging suitacases around Chamonix (and my missus was 5-month pregnant)! They responded quickly to a night before email and they let me leave cases at their office udirng the day so we could have a relaxed last afternoon in Cham and picked us up at their office in Cham instead of hotel in evening.

I debated long and hard for a year or so about the UTMB/CCC.
I considered an entry for the CCC rather than the full Tour as I want to be able to enjoy the event rather than endure a miasma of suffering.
I finally decided to throw an entry in and let the draw make the decision for me.
Imagine my surprise when I got picked, so, honouring my agreement with myself I booked a flight.
Imagine my even greater surprise when I started looking at hotel prices!
I could see the cost of the event going up steeper than the col du wotsit.
They wouldn't let me cancel my flight and so I'm pretty much committed.
I can see myself flying out with nothing more than my mountain marathon kit and some beer money!

I'm sure I'll enjoy it... memory of a lifetime and all that...

By the way, what are the logistics?
Possibly stupid questions:
Do people stay in Chamonix the night before the CCC start?
How to you get to the start from Chamonix?

Thanks guys for the feedback. I am going to look at going out the Friday daytime of the week before. Hopefully people will put some more tips on here as the weeks go on.

Mark L - What are your flights -where are you flying from and when?
Ive been told that you should stay in central Chamonix where everything is going on. Also, they bus us all to the start of the CCC 1st thing on the Friday morning. The website is full of useful information.

Just for info MarkL there is a campsite in Chamonix.

Either Mountain Drop Offs or ChamExpress for the Geneva - Chamonix transfer. I've used both and both have been good and reliable. From memory MDOs now have a deal with the organisers and were a touch cheaper than ChamExpress for the race week in 2012.

You'll be fine. They meet you at the airport and take good care of you.

I've usually travelled out the Tuesday before the race (I'm a 2 time finisher) but that has been with the benefit of a 2 week trip to Chamonix earlier in the summer. I've made it a priority to get up to 2,500 metres on multiple occasions to help with acclimatisation.

Looking over the CCC course from a Chamonix base is tricky. An easy thing to do is to take the free train (if you stay in a hotel, apartment or campsite you should get a Card d'Hote which gives you free travel on trains and buses in the valley) up to Vallorcine and do the final section from there back to Chamonix. This includes the roughest and steepest climb on the course from Col de Montets to Tete aux Vents. As you may not be in perfect shape at that stage of the race, that section is well worth a look.

It is also easy to take a bus to Courmayeur (they run from outside the train station). The summer timetable is pretty easy to find on the web. Try the links here:

http://www.chamonix.net/

Depending on how long you want to be out, you can then follow the course, maybe as far as Rifugio Bonnatti or even Arnuva, before doubling back to Courmayeur. Depends how much you want to do.

I was always deep into my taper by the time I arrived in Chamonix; but my final pre-race run was always from Plan de L'Aiguille across to the Montenvers railway station. A nice steady 40 minutes at 2,000 metres altitude.

The Chamonix.net site I linked to above has a huge range of information in it, not least about accommodation. I have found that hotels are best avoided; they premium price that weekend. Booking early to get an apartment has been a much better choice. If you can get at least 4 people to play, and book early, you should be able to get a full week somewhere very decent for around £600-700 or so for the week.

Morgan,

Thank you so much for that info - I will look into it all a bit more this weekend. Much appreciated. I take it you are not venturing out there this year?

Twinkletoes, fell_guy and Morgan:

Thanks for the info. I know the information is probably easily available but I was in a paroxysm of panic. I just wasn't expecting to get in.
I'm just going to do a lightning trip: fly in Thursday, camp, run, drink some beer and fly out Sunday.

Quite looking forward to it now!

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Originally Posted by Twinkletoes

Morgan,

Thank you so much for that info - I will look into it all a bit more this weekend. Much appreciated. I take it you are not venturing out there this year?

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Cathy

I've sent you a PM.

Myself and Kim Collison got entries for CCC too. We are flying out Tuesday morning, back on Sunday. Still looking at accommodation choices, £480 / week for a self catering spot is the cheapest so far I have found, unless you stay outside of Cham, but we would rather be in the thick of it and have less distance to stagger at the end of the race. Would certainly consider sharing an apartment.

Bus up from Geneva airport is very easy to do! :)

I've got an entry for the UTMB and three of us are stopping here. Flying out Weds, flying back Mon.

http://www.hb-247.com/aff/travellers...chamonix/25248

£12.66 per night....basic - but you'll sleep on a clothesline after the UTMB (won't be there for Fri / Sat nights either).

think they charge a bit extra for linen but I'll prob just take the sleeping bag. It's in Cham too and that has lots of appeal.

Cheers - Mark...

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Originally Posted by markdalton99

http://www.hb-247.com/aff/travellers...chamonix/25248

£12.66 per night....basic - but you'll sleep on a clothesline after the UTMB (won't be there for Fri / Sat nights either).

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I looked at this and another couple of hostels but no availability.

Have a found an apartment for £350 - Tripadvisor page was very useful: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Vacatio...n_Rentals.html

If anyone is still searching for accommodation, I know someone who owns a couple of apartments in Les Bossons, down the valley between Chamonix and Les Houches. Each sleeps 4 comfortably, or 6 if camp beds are pressed into use. PM me your email address if you're interested and I'll pass it on.

Nick.

I'm in the CCC too. Think I'll be flying in Wednesday, camping, running and flying out again Sunday or Monday. Liverpool or Manchester airport.

Anyone doing the full Utmb this year? Looking at accommodation - stupidly expensive. Any bright ideas? Thinking of doing it on the cheap and camping.

Mikey,

Yeah sounds a good idea, I am thinking of camping in Cham but probably doing some mountaineering stuff, as well as jogging and maybe spending some nights up in mountain huts to try and get acclimatised.

Cheers,

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Originally Posted by mikeynolan

Anyone doing the full Utmb this year? Looking at accommodation - stupidly expensive. Any bright ideas? Thinking of doing it on the cheap and camping.

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