La Grande Odyssée

La Grande Odyssée Savoie Mont Blanc is an international sled dog race spanning 900 kilometres (560 mi) in French Alps and Swiss Alps. It was first held in January 2005. The 2012 La Grande Odyssée purse was $100,000. The event has been held every year for nineteen years, as of 2023, and will hold its twentieth edition from January 13-25, 2024.

The course

Musher on the Petit Mont-Cenis Plateau

La Grande Odyssée Savoie-Mont-Blanc is intended for mushers with teams of 14 dogs who are experienced in long- and middle-distance. Through Savoie and Haute Savoie, France and Switzerland, mushers from perhaps a dozen different countries, compete for two weeks of racing over a course more than 800 km long, with a change in altitude of more than 25,000 metres (82,000 ft). The course takes the teams to 24 ski resorts (20 French and four Swiss). For each of the 10 stages, time-trialed (every two minutes) or mass (in parallel) starts bring thousands of spectators to the Savoie-Mont-Blanc region. The race includes three completely independent encampments: one in the first week and two in the second week.

The Haute-Maurienne-Vanoise Trophy

During the 2013 race, the Haute-Maurienne-Vanoise Trophy will take place during stages 7 (shortened), 8 and 9 of La Grande Odyssée Savoie-Mont-Blanc in Haute-Maurienne-Vanoise. It is open to a maximum of 10 middle-distance mushers, who must cover nearly 200 km/effort and climb up 5000m of height difference in total. The Haute-Maurienne-Vanoise Trophy also includes a compulsory encampment on open mountain.

Technology

Using a GPS tracking system, spectators can visit the race's website to follow in real time the mushers' progress. The tracking also provides security for the competitors. In addition to the tracking system, Each sled is also equipped with a calculator and a GPRS phone.

Each itinerary is simulated in 3D as a "virtual walk around" realized with the help of a camera positioned to follow a precise path along a track or sled trail.

List of winners

The 2023 La Grande Odyssée purse was more than €25,000, the first prize was €10,000, the second prize was €5000 and the third prize was $2500. Every year from 2018-2023, Frenchman Rémy Coste was awarded first place.

Year	1st Musher	Time (h:min:s)	2nd Musher	3rd Musher
2005	Jessie Royer	35:59:14	Jacques Philip	Grant Beck
2006	Jacques Philip	40:55:59	Ken Anderson	Timothy Hunt
2007	Race ended due to snow conditions
2008	Petter Karlsson	36:03:51	Emil Inauen	Ketil Reitan
2009	Radek Havrda	40:12:17	Robert Sørlie	Sigrid Ekran
2010	Emil Inauen	40:17:48	Radek Havrda	Jiri Vondrak
2011	Miloš Gonda	27:49:32	Martin Bily	Jean-Philippe Pontier
2012	Radek Havrda	39:24:12	Miloš Gonda	Jean-Philippe Pontier
2013	Jiri Vondrak	42:22:39
2014	Jean-Philippe Pontier	40:32:01
2015	Radek Havrda	22:42:17
2016	Rémy Coste	24:15:13
2017	Jiri Vondrak	20:34:10
2018	Rémy Coste	28:58:19
2019	Remy Coste	16:42:01
2020	Rémy Coste	16:10:45
2021	Rémy Coste	14:18:54
2022	Rémy Coste	14:59:27
2023	Rémy Coste	09:15:08

2011 changes

For 2011, Finnmarksløpet in Norway and La Grande Odyssée Savoie Mont Blanc in France decided to create a new championship called the Arctic Alps Cup. It follows the trails of the Espace Diamant that join the Franco-Swiss massifs called Portes du Soleil, the Haute Maurienne Vanoise and Megève.

See also

• Iditarod (Alaska)
• Yukon Quest (From Alaska to Yukon)
• Finnmarksløpet (Norway)
• American Dog Derby (Idaho, USA)

External links

• La Grande Odyssée, Sled Dog Race Official site. (EN)