Because the weather forecast was for rain and snow and Stage 10 hikes up to a mountain hut at 7000 feet, we decided to alter our plan for the day. We took a bus to Les Prez de Chamonix and then took the cable car to the top of the mountain for our stay in the Refuge La Flégère.
We purchased some more lunch supplies, including a chocolate bar, before taking the cable car.
The cable car station.
Once we got to the top of the mountain, our decision was confirmed as there was a rain/snow mix falling.
One of the amazing benefits of our decision was our ability to see the first four runners of the UTMB coming running into the checkpoint at Refuge La Flégère. The excitement was palatable as these amazing athletes (who had started the race at 6 pm the night before) came running right by us. From this point, they were headed down to Chamonix to the finish line.
I got this close-up photo of Tim Tollefson, an American who ultimately finished in 3rd place! He looks pretty good considering he has run all night through rain and snow. It was very exciting!
Here is the bunk room we shared with a couple from Australia and a man from Singapore. We felt fortunate to only have 5 in our room as one of the rooms housed 30 plus people.
Because we had modified our hike, we had time in the late afternoon to relax and play cards.
At dinner that night, we joined our friends Terri (from Canada) and the Perlman family (Ayeley, Shuki, Nadav, and Noam) from Israel.
Terri showing our dinner — cheesy potatoes and prosciutto.
Some more friends from Iceland that we've been hiking with through all the stages.
The cheese plate that is served before dessert to "clear the palate."
We purchased some more lunch supplies, including a chocolate bar, before taking the cable car. The cable car station. Once we got to the top of the mountain, our decision was confirmed as there was a rain/snow mix falling. One of the amazing benefits of our decision was our ability to see the first four runners of the UTMB coming running into the checkpoint at Refuge La Flégère. The excitement was palatable as these amazing athletes (who had started the race at 6 pm the night before) came running right by us. From this point, they were headed down to Chamonix to the finish line. I got this close-up photo of Tim Tollefson, an American who ultimately finished in 3rd place! He looks pretty good considering he has run all night through rain and snow. It was very exciting! Here is the bunk room we shared with a couple from Australia and a man from Singapore. We felt fortunate to only have 5 in our room as one of the rooms housed 30 plus people. Because we had modified our hike, we had time in the late afternoon to relax and play cards. At dinner that night, we joined our friends Terri (from Canada) and the Perlman family (Ayeley, Shuki, Nadav, and Noam) from Israel. Terri showing our dinner — cheesy potatoes and prosciutto. Some more friends from Iceland that we've been hiking with through all the stages. The cheese plate that is served before dessert to "clear the palate."Just a few more thoughts on the Ultra Tour Du Mont Blanc — it is not hard to get caught up in the excitement of this amazing race. France's François D'Haene ran in wet and windy conditions at the 15th year UTMB to win in record time in 19:01:32 — in other words, François ran in 19 hours what took us 11 days to hike! The second place winner was the famous Kilian Jornet from France and third place was Tim Tollefson, the American pictured above.
For those of you interested in seeing some of the excitement of the UTMB, I found this short YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLLwo78n_UA&sns=em) which highlights the 2017 UTMB race. Keep in mind, this is the same course that we have been hiking for the last 11 days.
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