Red Bull Summit Quest

Myriam Guillot-Boisset and Anne-Marie Dunhill / 03.06.2016

On June 5th, 5 top women trail runners will be taking part in the inaugural edition of Red Bull Summit Quest in China. They will start at an altitude of 5,000m, reach the summit of Yuzhu Peak, and descend it. Yuzhu Peak, 6,178m, is the highest mountain in the Kunlun mountain range of the province of Qinghai. An interesting twist for this first edition is that five women instead of five men have been chosen for this 20km trail race which will combine running and mountaineering at high altitude.

The following women will be competing: Stevie Kremer (USA), Dong Lee (China), Ruth Croft (New Zealand), Camila Nicolau (Brazil) and Myriam Guillot-Boisset (France). The race director Wei Jun chose the invited athletes to represent different parts of the world and he would like the race to become an annual event, showcasing different mountains in China. Of special interest is how each runner acclimatizes and their strategies for high altitude competition.

French adventure racer and trail runner Myriam Guillot-Boisset, who is there with her husband Jacky Boisset, has written the following report on her acclimatization in preparation for the June 5th race. (Myriam is a 100% raw vegan athlete.)

Myriam Guillot-Boisset: For this race, the organization offers us the choice to do our own acclimatization, we have got all 7 days between 3000m and 6178m. And it will be interesting to see which was the best option for each one of us.
Today is my day off in Golmud at 3000m, so I have time to explain my adventures up to this point.

- 28th of May: we all arrived at 3000m in a such nice hotel. (Slept at 3000m)

- 29th of May: the organisation proposed to us to go for the day at 4100m to have the lunch and a walk. All the girls did it except for me. I preferred to stay at 3000m and have a normal training with a swim session and a run with little intensity. I didn't want spend time in the car and didn't want to stress my body too much. (Slept at 3000m)

- 30th of May: the organisation drove all the women to 4100m. With Jacky we arrived later because I wanted swim one more time before being stuck in the mountains. When we arrived we did a 1h little walk/run with a lot of stretching and 1h bike. (Slept at 4100m). The others women did a walk but went higher. Really bad weather! Snow everywhere!

- 31th of May: the organisation drove all of the women to the base camp at 5000m, they took a lunch and went to CP1 at 5600m. With Jacky we did things differently. We rode our bikes to the base camp, 50kms, 1000m up and it took 3h20. They all thought that I was crazy, but I wanted to go slowly at the altitude and give time to my body to adapt, so that why I preferred to ride my bike instead of going by car to 5000m.

When we arrived they all told me that the other girls were at 5600m but I preferred to take a rest, eat and stretch. Camila (Ed. Nicolau) from Brazil wanted to sleep at 5000m but after her walk at CP1 she felt so bad that she decided to go down. With Jacky we felt good and we were alone to sleep at 5000m. After the dinner, we did a little walk up to 5300m but really easy, just to enjoy and had a talk with a guide to explain my schedule.

I had planned to sleep June 1st at CP1, going down in the morning to 5000m and sleeping again on the 2nd of June at CP1 to do the summit the 3rd of June in the morning. But he told me that the ropes would be ready the 2nd of June and that it would be better to do the summit on June 2nd and go to Golmud straight afterwards. I was happy with his plans because I knew that the date of the 3rd it was really close to the race. (Slept at 5000m. Not the best night, I had a few headaches but not too bad.)

- 1st of June: Really bad weather, we stayed a long time in our sleeping bag because it was the only place where we were not freezing. I heard that the other women wanted to do the summit this day, so I expected to see everybody early in the morning, but nobody! The road was closed; too much snow.

So alone, at 11am, we decided to do a 1h run with few intervals, have a lunch, and do a 1h bike ride. The other girls arrived in the afternoon, they felt bad so they cancelled their summit, but they wanted to sleep at 5000m. Anyway, after the early dinner, we climbed at CP1 to sleep at 5600m. The best walk ever, the sun appeared and let us discover the amazing scenery. We arrived at CP1 at 9pm and jumped into the tent. It was freezing and so windy. (Slept at 5600m)

-2nd of June: A crazy night with really strong winds! I was afraid that the wind would destroy the tent.  At 10am we opened the tent, so beautiful...Mount Yuzhu is waiting for us. We started our summit...and the group were still climbing. I planned to try different gear to test before the race. So when you are competitor you want always light gear to be fast, but I know in the mountains you have to listen to her if you don't want to be in trouble...so I had really light crampons, 2 different types of carabineers, poles and an ice axe...We reached 6000m and the bad weather arrived so fast.

So we decided to go back...too risky and no point in doing the summit. I felt really good and didn't need to go higher, but the other reason was my crampons which were too light and not safe enough for this kind of ice. It was ok but a little bit scary. But we knew beforehand, so Jacky attached me for the downhill to avoid taking any risks! Don't worry, I know exactly what I will take for the race…very sharp crampons! And heavy carabineers that are alos easy to open with big gloves.

Arriving at the base camp, we wanted to go to Golmud at 3000m to give my body a break. But we wanted go by bike, to go down slowly so as to not stress our bodies too much. We did it until 4100m. So cool...and so good for the legs. (On the way we met an American guy, he is riding from Bangkok until...he doesn't know.)
8pm we are back in this wonderful hotel! (Slept at 3000m)

3rd of June : Day off!!!! Yahooo...it's hot here, I can breathe, take a shower...

I have two more nights before the race, one at 3000m and one at 5000m. I'm feeling really well at this moment but at this altitude everything can change quickly. I know I have done the best acclimatization for me so I'm not afraid. I can run at 5000m, also at 5600m when it's flat, I can't run when it's uphill but I can walk without stopping. I know that it will be difficult to breathe and I will have few headaches, but I have to remember that I'm in high altitude!

I don't like to compare myself to the other women, but I talked with them and they are afraid about the safety and the altitude. They haven't slept higher than 5000m and haven't done the summit. 2 have never used crampons before! This race is challenging and extreme but nothing is dangerous. The summit is not technical but you have to have practiced mountains before. Until CP1, it's just normal trail running with one more parameter: the altitude, but the 2nd part it's mountaineering. It's really steep, it's only ice, it's windy, cold and high! So I can understand their anxiety…

Anyway, it's a race, I have to stay focused on my goal and be ready for the 5th of June!
Good luck everybody! And me, I will see if I will be a Gorilla or a butterfly. (Ed. in reference to her training team.)

Thanks to my sponsors....

@CHIRU Bikes @X-Socks International @Altra Running @Sidas Sport France @Skinfit International @Aloe Vera Fresca-Tenerife South Shops @Iswari France @Gorillas & Butterflies @Hope Technology Ltd @TIME SPORT INTERNATIONAL