Ski mountaineering | Extreme Mountaineers | The Press

Climbing mountains on foot, even without running, already requires some effort. Enough for the vast majority of people. But not all. Not for the Corbeil family, for example.

Frederick Duchesneau
The Press

The Corbeils practice ski mountaineering, which combines the two sports you guess, as unlikely as it may seem.

Father Jocelyn, sons Antoine and Maxime (19 and 16), accompanied by their mother and trainer Anne-Marie Deshaies, returned a few weeks ago from Western Canada, where they made a strong impression. The youngest of the family, in particular.

“They said to him, ‘Where are you from? !” They were surprised. But they were also proud to see a Canadian performance coming from the East, out of nowhere, performing on their mountain,” says Ms.^me Deshaies.

Interlude. Before going any further, a quick definition of this sport – which will also make its debut at the 2026 Olympic Games in Italy – is essential, although its name immediately puts you on the right track.

In ski mountaineering, there is the so-called vertical event, which simply consists of reaching the top of a mountain on skis as quickly as possible. With special skis, wider than cross-country skis, narrower than alpine skis, under which is what followers have dubbed “sealskin”, which is actually synthetic or wool-based, for the adhesion.

And then there are the so-called individual events, of varying distances, during which, once at the top, you have to descend the mountain. On skis, of course. And this, after a transition where the athletes remove the skins as quickly as possible.

During the ascent, some segments that are too steep require removing the skis and attaching them to the backpack. So-called “bootpacks”.

And, during the descent, certain passages require perilous manoeuvres, which may ultimately require the use of mountaineering equipment.

And we then move as we do in via ferrata, adds Mr. Corbeil.

In this bag are also various survival items, mandatory and verified.

Finally, there are the team events.

So much for the main lines.

The Mount Gleason Extraterrestrial

Jocelyn Corbeil, dentist by profession and long-time alpine skier, first heard about ski mountaineering from a friend about ten years ago.

A resident of Victoriaville, Mr. Corbeil was a regular at Mount Gleason, far from competing in altitude with the highest skiable mountains in the province.

Shortly after, to spice up the experience, he therefore appropriately equipped himself – lightly – to try ski mountaineering, called “skimo” in the industry.

“There, I realized that the small mountain we have here became a lot bigger with these skis, because you have to climb it on foot…, he drops. And I fell in love with it. »

A passion that will take him twice to the Pierra Menta, in France, where a renowned competition takes place, and to the Patrouille des Glaciers, in Switzerland.

“In Gleason, when I started doing this, people looked at me like I was an alien. I had patients who climbed into the chairs and when I arrived at the top at the same time as them, several times, some said to me: ‘Okay, we’ve clubbed together, Jocelyn, we’ll buy you a ticket. to get into a chair!” »

But, like his sons, Mr. Corbeil wants nothing to do with chairs. If not those of his dental clinic.

Last year, to keep in shape despite the constraints imposed by the pandemic, he set out to accumulate as much elevation gain as possible at Gleason. He made it to 200,000m or some 1000 ascents of Mt.

Leave your mark

Antoine and Maxime therefore fell into the pot at a young age, following the father in his adventures as spectators, relates their mother, who learned to ski at the same time as her eldest.

Then, the sons took the same wake.

At the end of March, the foursome headed to Kicking Horse Resort, British Columbia, to compete in the Steep Dreams, North American World Ranking Championships.

“A dream,” says Anne-Marie Deshaies, manager of a private health clinic. “For guys training at Mount Gleason, Kicking Horse is like freeriding for skiers. At times, there is a small access, you have to launch yourself five or six feet lower, between two cliffs, and hope to be able to slow down because it is a free descent. »

Maxime, who was in his first championship, had the best of his two competitors in U18, both vertically and individually. In vertical, he ranked 21^and out of 46 men of all ages. Impossible to establish this comparison individually, the distance for the juniors – 875 m of elevation gain for 8.2 km – being about half that of the older competitors.

“Federation guys [internationale] were a bit shocked! “says M.^me Deshaies, about Maxime’s performances, who then sent in a request to join the Canadian team.

Antoine, who also did very well in the U20 game, also praises his younger brother.

“Max has the potential to go far,” he says voluntarily during the videoconference interview with his mother and brother, while they were taking part in a cycling camp in Virginia. Because the two youngsters are also road bike, mountain bike and triathlon athletes… “He is very good. »

As for their father, he took first place in both events in the 45 and over category, despite a strained left calf shortly before the event. Individually, he reached the finish in 2 h 42 min, far ahead of the second of the four senior competitors.

Finally, on the last of the three days of the championship, during the team event, all ages combined, Maxime Corbeil and Olivier Gagnon took 12^and rung out of 23 male duos, Jocelyn and Antoine Corbeil, on the 18th^and. Competitors had to climb 2325 m and cover 20.6 km.

Antoine, who did the Abitibi Cycling Tour in 2019, would not be surprised to see his brother at the Olympic Games in ski mountaineering. In this regard, a better structure in the east of the country would greatly help, however, adds his mother.

Be that as it may, Jocelyn Corbeil is enthusiastic about the idea of ​​admitting the discipline to the 2026 Games.

“It’s going to be spectacular. »

Sublime Pierra Menta

The Pierra Menta is both an unmissable event for the ski mountaineering elite and one of the six stages of the Grande Course, which brings together the most important competitions of the season. A look at some (magnificent) shots of this renowned event.

With the collaboration of Jean-Sébastien Mercier, The Press