Chamonix has a busy event calendar throughout the year. Here are some video clips of the big annual events.
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Video Snow Report from Chamonix : Mon 29th Jun 2009 - **Bonus Report* Mont Blanc Marathon
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This weekend runners from all over the world filled the streets and mountain trails of Chamonix for the Mont Blanc Marathon weekend. The main events of the two day festival were the Cross du Mont Blanc and the Marathon.
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Videos from Chamonix - Fete de la Musique
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Fête de la Musique is the celebration that takes place every summer solstice on 21st June in cities, towns and villages across France – Chamonix being no exception! More than a music festival, the Fête de la Musique is a free event that spills out from the bars and restaurants onto the streets and encompasses every type of music imaginable, from local amateur teen bands to professional classical musicians, from club DJ’s to traditional folk bands.
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Videos from Chamonix - Millet Raid
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The Millet Raid is the latest of the endurance events to arrive in Chamonix. The idea is to use the area around Mont Blanc as a playground and enjoy as many different activities in one event. Over the four days of the competition the teams will run, cycle, climb, abseil, rope slide and orienteer around Chamonix. There are four Events included in the Millet Raid; Ultra Raid covers 130km in four days and climbs over 8500 vertical metres. The two day Expert Raid will cover 75km and climb 4400m and the Discovery Raid is a two day event covering 40km and climbing 2000m. There is also a Family Raid for teams of one adult and two children.
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Videos from Chamonix - Boss des Bosses 2009
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The longest running inter-resort competition in the Alps celebrated it's 20th birthday this year and we were there to cheer on the teams from Chamonix, Val d'Isere, Courchevel, Meribel, Verbier and Zermatt and have a wee chat with hot-dogging hero Glen Plake.
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Videos from Chamonix - Nissan Outdoor Games 2009 : Winning Video - Team Argon
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The Nissan Outdoor Games once again brought some of the worlds finest extreme sports athletes to Mont Blanc. The teams of five had five days to make a five minute film showcasing not only their cinematic skills but also their prowess on skis and snowboards and their talents in the air. The winning team, Argon, took home the Golden Peak award as well as a cash prize.
Cross-country skiing is one of those sports that I have always been wary of. Not only does it look like very hard work but you also have to wear lycra and that is a material that should only be worn by super heroes and cyclists. But when the weather was too cloudy to go riding AND there was a free Nordic ski test day taking place I took it as a sign from the gods that “ski de fond” was a sport that I should at least try.
Ravanel & Co. were the hosts of the annual “Nordic Monster Test” and skis and boots were available free of charge. So, dressed in my usual ski pants I clipped in and went for a slide.
Videos from Chamonix - Winter begins with the London Ski Show & the Mondial du Ski
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Winter is coming. There is no denying it. Temperatures have dropped, days have become shorter and Christmas decorations are ALREADY in the supermarkets!
If you have been waiting eagerly for the ski lifts to open since May then you period of expectation is almost at an end. Although the new season doesn’t really start until the beginning of December, there are a number of different shows and festivals happening at the end of October that precede the new winter and herald in the new season.
For those wanting to shop, the London Olympia Metro Ski & Snowboard Show is a great place to start your winter season. All the major brands from both the ski and snowboard world are in attendance, all the latest equipment is on show and available to buy.
If that seems a little too indoors then a trip to Les Deux Alpes for the Mondial du Freeski is for you. Here you can test this winter's equipment from some of the newest companies in the ski world on the largest skiable glacier in France. It looks set to be a great winter!
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Videos from Chamonix - North Face Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc
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The North Face Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc is the last major event in the Chamonix summer calendar.
An endurance race, which attracts runners from all over the world, the Ultra Trail is a gruelling 166km run around the Mont Blanc Massif which crosses through three different countries and climbs over 9000 vertical metres, starting and finishing in Chamonix town centre.
The Ultra Trail is the main race of the week but there are two other large races too. The Courmayer, Champex, Chamonix (CCC) which is the 98km half course and the enormous Petit Trot du Léon which is a 220km, non-competitive run around the massif. The runners in each race have to run through the night in an effort to be the first to cross the finish line and distance and altitude gain mean that many are unable to finish. But for those who do membership of an elite club awaits, for it is not everyone who can claim to have finished this incredible race.
Videos from Chamonix - World Climbing Championships & Cham'Biere Festival
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This year’s World Climbing Championship weekend was another incredible event in the Chamonix calendar. Although bad weather on the Saturday meant that the programme had to be altered, nothing dampened the spirits of the crowds who gathered or the athletes who were, quite simply, astonishing. The technical climbers on the lead wall seemed to stick, fly like, to the most impossible of overhangs and after a well battled night final on the Sunday the Europeans dominated the podium:
Men’s Lead 1. Jorq Verhoven (NED) 2. Sachi Anma (JPN) 3. Klemen Becan (SLO) Women’s Lead 1. Johanna Ernst (AUT) 2. Angela Eiter (AUT) 3. Mina Morcovic (SLO)
The real crowd-pleaser of the weekend was the speed climbing and here, China was in a league of their own taking five of the six podium spots!
Men’s Speed 1. Qi Xin Zhong (CHN) 2. Ninq Zhang (CHN) 3. Maksym Osipov (UKR) Women’s Speed 1. Cuifanq He (CHN) 2. Chun-Hua Li (CHN) 3. Cuilian He (CHN)
Once the climbing was over the celebrations continued on until the very small hours as the Chamonix beer festival got underway. Local brewers show-cased over thirty different types of beer, the Chamonix fire brigade were, very sensibly, in charge of the barbeque and live DJ’s kept the crowds going until the sun started to come up.
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Videos from Chamonix - Mont Blanc Marathon Weekend
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The Mont Blanc Marathon weekend takes place in Chamonix every year at the end of June. For two days Chamonix is host to runners from all over the world who come to take part in the various races.
The highlight of the event is the Marathon itself. A 42km race that runs from Chamonix centre to Vallorcine on the Swiss border and then back through the Aiguille Rouge nature reserve to finish at Plan Praz (2000m). The shorter Cross du Mont Blanc is a half marathon that follows the same route as the marathon as far as Montroc (just beyond Argentiere), where it then also crosses into the Aiguille Rouge and heads to the finish at Plan Praz.
The weekend also has races for kids with five different classes for different age groups and for those new to cross country running, there is a 10km "discovery" race.
Video Snow Report from Chamonix : Wed 19th Mar 2008 - Boss de Bosses
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Jon reports from the site of the 19th "Boss de Bosses" competition. Teams from Val d'Isere, Chamonix, Verbier, Zermatt, Courchevel and Meribel compete to find out which resort rules the bumps. With the course shaped and the tunes pumping it looks set to be another great day in Chamonix and with fresh snow forecast a really good Easter too. Click here to find out who won!
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Video Snow Report from Chamonix : Tue 6th May 2008 - Freeride Days at the Grands Montets
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Jonathan is up at the Grands Montets for the official closing party of another winter in the Chamonix Valley. The snow is still tremendous and fortunately there is a bonus week left to enjoy it. Enjoy the bonus footage as well: highlights from both the day and the winter.
Jonathan Trigell is the author of the novel Boy A winner of The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, The Waverton Award and The World Book Day Prize 2008, which was recently turned into a BAFTA winning drama by Film 4. He also wrote the first serious novel about winter sports: Cham. "Trigell’s ski-bum hedonism does for extreme winter sports what Alex Garland’s The Beach did for backpacking" - The Financial Times
Video Snow Report from Chamonix : 30th Apr 2007 - Grand Montets Freeride Day
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Jonathan sees the season out at the annual Freeride day at the Grands Montets. Watch the action in the background for some quality jumps and some not-so-great landings!
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