New Ski Chronicle at the start of the week. Director of the Val d’Isère sports club, Ingrid Jacquemod talks about her club’s activities throughout the winter. Focus on the preparation for the Critérium de la Première neige which will take place on December 14 and 15 for this first episode.
“Within the Val d’Isère sports club, our activity is special, it resembles few clubs in France. There is an associative life part with the sports sections. Skiing is the biggest section but we try to make it perpetuate others like climbing, judo… There is also a huge part event like the Critérium de la première neige which mobilizes teams in advance. We are commissioned by our municipality to propose and organize sporting events in the resort. There are many on snow like the Scara, but we want to offer highlights all year round such as a trail during the summer, climbing, mountain biking.
“The Critérium de la Première neige is our common thread”
The Criterium of the First Snow is our common thread. He will be 69 years old, he is in the DNA of the station, he mobilizes all the socio-professionals. IIt kicks off the winter season in our region. We work on the Critérium all year round. We are one month away, we are entering money time. We are finalizing the activations that will take place around the race. We always try to bring something new, to evolve what we offer with partners for the general public.
Snow should fall soon. As soon as she arriveWe will be focus on preparation on the track. It goes quickly. Our challenge is to deliver a lead to World Cup standard, it’s at dire a standard high, with specific snow, ice but not glass, enough hard not to serve the last competitors… The east track the element center of the event.
“Everything rarely goes as planned”
Within the club, around fifteen people are working on it. And more broadly, there will be almost 500 of us working on it, between volunteers, instructors, service providers. Work on the events is exhilarating. We are experiencing very intense times. There is a lot of work upstream in the back office and then in the field. Everything rarely goes as planned. You have to adapt. This creates emulation and pushes all stakeholders to the event.
In Val, we have a real chance to be an organizer of events. It’s great for young people. The Critérium, that faire dream, they live a experience festive human, with accessible champions. We invite all licensees and try to allow as many young people from all clubs as possible to benefit from this weekend.
“The Critérium inspired me”
When I was a skier, the Critérium inspired me. As a kid, I experienced the organization behind the scenes. My father was the track director for the event. I experienced the good times and the most difficult ones. I followed him, sometimes I got up at 5 a.m. and got on a snow groomer. I also saw him six feet under when he had to cancel a race. There was an excess of teams who to move pour deliver a big one event. Teveryone bent over backwards. I grew up there and it remains engraved. »
THE WINTER CAST
Until the end of April, around ten players from the world of ski racing will share their daily lives and their thoughts. Paul Delberghe, Simon Fourcade, Yannick Garin, Alexandre Vitanov, Ingrid Jacquemod, Gilonne Guigonnat, Clarisse Brèche, Maxence Muzaton, Jules Lapierre, Ben Cavet and Argeline Tan Bouquet will regularly take up the pen as Ski Chronicler.
