Etoile des Saisies 2023

My final and only race for this season as the other events I'd been interested in had been cancelled due to poor snow cover. Les Saisies has a reputation as being too flat for alpine skiing but too hilly for cross country and it is not my favourite ski area for either. The race seems to climb and climb to the Palette plateau and not descend that much back to the entrance. Also if you are not racing you have to badge every time you go through the main gates, like a downhill skier.

les saisies etoile des saisies 2023 class=
Les Saisies Sunrise

Anyway enough moaning. The race starts early, 9am, to avoid the snow getting too sticky. Okay for the fast skiers on the 42k race who take about 1h30 but if you are a mere mortal then things get pretty sticky after about 11am and 2 hours out. I arrived at the start and picked up my race number and did a few kms to warm up, something I'd not had time or motivation for last year. The snow looked good and the early morning sun bathed the mountains.

les saisies etoile des saisies 2023 class=
Les Etoiles des Saisies

The start, like all course populaire is a bit like the Pamplona bull run with lots of stamping and broken ski poles but this year the carnage seemed to continue all around the route, I even saw broken skis! There is quite a bit of agression at the competitive end of cross country skiing. There is quite a bit of agression at the competitive end of cross country skiing. On the first climb someone skied over my right pole causing me to twist violently and pull a muscle in my back which would nag me for the rest of the race.

In reality the race is only about 18km and after the climb the descent is quite technical with a series of hairpins but with a nasty sting in the tail, a final ramp, icy this year before cruising down to the finish. I improved my time by over a minute compared to last year but the snow was much better so in reality it was not a great effort.