Prepare and test your equipment
The choice of suitable equipment is a key factor in the success of your race. Ultra-endurance requires thorough preparation, including the choice of the equipment that you take with you.
The month of August in the Mont-Blanc area can be very hot (more than 30°C), but it can also be very cold (up to -10°C experienced above 2000m), with rain, hail or even snow. Your equipment must be suitable for confronting all types of conditions and enable you to spend one or two nights on the race route, according to the speed of your progression. In the case of an incident, your equipment must enable you to await help in sufficiently safe conditions.
The UTMB® imposes obligatory equipment which all runners must have with them permanently to avoid risk of penalty. Checks are carried out during the races. We can only encourage runners to also take with them the equipment which is highly recommended, as well as the equipment that we advise them to have.It is essential to be able to adapt your equipment to your reality, test it during training sessions in varying conditions and take everything that will be useful and necessary. Weight is a concern, but don't be too minimalist. Optimise your chances of success and your performance through judicious choice.
Mandatory equipment YCC
In order to ensure their security and the good progress of the each event, each participant must have at their disposal the all the obligatory equipment on the list, detailed below.
The “heat-wave”, “winter” and “bad weather” kits are integrally a part of the obligatory equipment. According to the weather conditions, the organisers can activate a kit and inform each participant before the opening of the race-bib distribution for their race. Each participant must therefore present their obligatory equipment, including the kit activated by the organisers, in order to retrieve their race-bib, and agree to keep it with them throughout the event.
It is important to note that the material imposed by the organisers is a vital minimum which each trail-runner must adapt in function to their own capacities. In particular, they must not chose the lightest weight clothing possible in order to gain a few grammes, but opt for clothing which really offers good protection in the mountains against the cold, wind and snow, which therefore give better security and a better performance.
Basic kit
- Mobile/cell phone with international roaming allowing for its use in France and Italy (load in to its memory the organisation's security numbers, keep the phone on, don't mask your number and don't forget to leave with the battery fully charged)
- Personal beaker 15cl minimum (bottles or flasks with lids are not accepted) Supply of water of 1/2 litre minimum
- Survival blanket of 1.40m x 2m minimum
- Whistle
Bad weather kit
Can be deemed necessary by the organisation, according to weather conditions
- Jacket with hood which will withstand bad weather in the mountains and made with a waterproof* and breathable** membrane (eg. Outdry)
*minimum recommended 10 000 Schmerber
**RET recommended inferior to 13
- the jacket must, imperatively, be fitted with an integrated hood or one which is attached to the jacket by the original system designed for that purpose by the manufacturer.
- the seams must be sealed.
- the jacket must not have sections of fabric which are not waterproof, but air vents fitted by the manufacturer (under-arm, in the back), since they do not damage in any obvious way the impermeability, are accepted.
It is the runner's responsibility to judge, with these criteria , if their jacket fits the regulations stated and so bad weather in the mountains, but, during a check, the judgment is made by the person in charge of the check or the steward.
All clothing must be the correct size for the competitor and without having been modified in any way after leaving the factory.
Recommended equipment (and non exhaustive) :
- waterproof and warm clothing in relation to the weather conditions
- clothing covering 100% of the legs
- cap, neck tube (type Buff®), gloves, sun-glasses
- food reserve
Poles are authorised throughout the race. If a participant choses to start the race with poles, they must keep them with them throughout the race. It is also forbidden to start the race without them and recuperate them along the way.