The UTMB Mont-Blanc organization has announced that a participant in the PTL (Petite Trotte à Léon), one of the UTMB Mont-Blanc events, has died as a result of a fall.
This article was originally published on iRunFar.
The 2022 PTL, a 290-kilometre event with 26,500 m of ascent where entrants participate in teams of two or three, began at 8 a.m. CEST on Monday, Aug. 22, in Chamonix, France.
We sadly report that a Brazilian runner died in a fall last night during the 290-kilometer #PTL, part of the #UTMB Mont-Blanc event. https://t.co/Lf7WOEtZn7
— iRunFar (@iRunFar) August 23, 2022
The organization states that it learned of a severe accident at 1:30 a.m. CEST on August 23, during the first night of the nearly weeklong event. It occurred on an established trail between Col de Tricot and the Refuge de Plan Glacier, high above the French town of Les Contamines on the southwest side of the Mont Blanc massif.
The Col de Tricot. Photo: Guilhem Vellut via Wiki Commons
According to this year’s PTL course map on Livetrail, the live-tracking application, this was somewhere between kilometres 36 and 40 of the course. The Col de Tricot is at 2,114m above sea level and Refuge de Plan Glacier is at 2,711m above sea level. The race organization confirms that there was good weather at the location at the time of the incident.
The 2022 PTL course is shown in the purple line, with the accident site inside the red circle, between the Col de Tricot and the Refuge de Plan Glacier, on the southwest side of the Mont Blanc massif in France. Image: screenshot from the UTMB Mont-Blanc website with modification by iRunFar.
A rescue helicopter responded to the scene, and confirmed the death of a Brazilian national. To respect the individual’s family and friends, the organization will not release the victim’s name.
According to the race organization, this year’s PTL saw 105 teams start. At this time the PTL continues, and each team is being given the opportunity to continue participating or not.
The Refuge de Plan Glacier. Photo: Jerome Bon via Wiki Commons
One year ago, a Czech runner died in a fall during the 2021 TDS race at the UTMB Mont-Blanc festival, leading to the cancellation of the race for most runners. (Those who passed ahead of the accident, roughly the top 20% of the field, were allowed to continue.)
