Utmb/ccc 2013

[Twinkletoes]

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

[IainR]

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?

[RaceTheSweeper]

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

[Toast_under_beans]

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.

[Drunkeneuphoria]

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.

[MarkL]

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?

[Twinkletoes]

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.

[that_fjell_guy]

Just for info MarkL there is a campsite in Chamonix.

[MorganW]

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.

[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?