La Grande Odyssée Savoie Mont Blanc is an international sled dog race spanning in French Alps and

Swiss Alps The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps (german: Schweizer Alpen, french: Alpes suisses, it, Alpi svizzere, rm, Alps svizras), represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss ...

. It was first held in January 2005. The 2012 La Grande Odyssée purse was $100,000. The next edition of the race was scheduled to be held from 10 to 21 January 2015. Logo LGO

The course

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 .Guardian. co.uk: Photo gallery, 28 January 2013, Sled Dog Racing at La Grand Odyssee
/ref> 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 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a packet oriented mobile data standard on the 2G and 3G cellular communication network's global system for mobile communications (GSM). GPRS was established by European Telecommunications Standards Insti ...

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 2012 La Grande Odyssée purse was $100,000, the first prize was $30,000, the second prize was $20,000 and the third prize was $10,000.

2011 changes

For 2011,

Finnmarksløpet Finnmarksløpet is the world's northernmost sled dog race. It is also Europe's longest sled dog race. The race starts on Saturday of the 10th week of the year and goes across Finnmark in Norway. The race was first run in 1981. Open Class Daily ...

in Norway and La Grande Odyssée Savoie Mont Blanc in France decided to create a new championship called the

Arctic Alps Cup The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

. It follows the trails of the Espace Diamant that join the Franco-Swiss massifs called Portes du Soleil, the Haute Maurienne Vanoise and Megève.

References

External links

La Grande Odyssée, Sled Dog Race
Official site. (EN) {{DEFAULTSORT:Grande Odyssee, La Dog sledding races Recurring sporting events established in 2005 Sports competitions in France