Philippe Gatta: The Everest Lafuma Sky Race

November 2008

The Everest Lafuma Sky Race is probably one of the most beautiful and demanding mountain trail running races. It takes place in the Khumbu region (Nepal) and offers fantastic views over Mount Everest (8850 m), Lhoste (8501 m), Lhoste Shar (8383 m), Makalu (8475 m) and Cho Oyu (8201 m).

During the 10 days of race, the runners cover a distance of 200 km (125 miles) and climb 11 000 meters (36,090 feet). In addition to the distance; they have to face two other challenges; firstly they run between 3000 and 5500 meters of altitude, and secondly they have to carry a rucksack with all their clothes and gear for 10 days.

For Philippe Gatta, this race was the opportunity to see Mt. Everest again, one year after his successful ascent of the Northeast ridge (see www.philippegatta.fr/everest.htm ). It would have been hard to find better spots than the Kala Pattar (5540 m) and the Gokyo Ri (5350 m) to admire the Mt. Everest and the other great peaks of this region.

For this race Philippe brought two Suunto products; the new X10 and the t6 with a Foot POD and a HR monitor. They complemented each others very well.

Before leaving for Nepal; Philippe entered the 200 km trail in the Suunto Trek Manager, split by stage. The distances and elevation calculated with STM were very accurate. Before leaving to Nepal, he transferred all the data to the X10 and printed the detail of each stage (Latitude, Longitude, Altitude, Trip, Distance and Course) that he later used during the race. He used the X10 to find some tricky locations and as security in case of bad weather.

During each stage, Philippe was constantly comparing the print outs from the STM with the distance and elevation provided by the t6 with and the Foot POD. He found the precision of the POD impressive even in this difficult terrain and wide range of speed. Throughout each stage he knew how much distance was remaining to the end which was very helpful to manage his effort.

As he also brought the HR belt, he could record his heart rate, calories spent and EPOC at each altitude.

So if you are looking for an adventurous and challenging running race, the Everest Lafuma Sky Race may be for you.

More info and photos on www.philippegatta.fr/sky_race2.htm.