Chamonix (France) (AFP)

Each year, the iconic Ultra-Trail of Mont Blanc (UTMB) brings together 10,000 participants for five times more public, investing the mountain for a week: a disastrous carbon footprint that worries runners and organizers, caught in their contradictions.

Triple winner of the test-lighthouse (a loop of 170 km around Mont Blanc), Xavier Thevenard is alarmed.

"We have the impression that everything is beautiful, everything is green but when we see the evolution, we realize that even in Chamonix, in a very beautiful place, many changes are due to human activity," says with AFP the extreme endurance runner, who believes that the magnitude of the event does not play in favor of nature.

He does not elude his own contradictions.

"We are all full of paradoxes, but I'm not at all exemplary, when I'm going to fly to Japan to run, I'm ashamed," says Thévenard, who is an everyday environmental activist. -responsible and via associations of defense of the environment.

On the side of the UTMB, the organizers - and creators - of the event, Catherine and Michel Poletti, have decided to amplify their actions in favor of the environment with a new partnership with WWF France.

- Carbon footprint -

In particular, a carbon assessment will be done at the end of this edition. "Do not ostrich, be honest and realistic," says Catherine Poletti, who also speaks of "respect the playground."

This respect also involves cleaning marked trails for runners before, during and after. According to the organization, at the end of last week's competition week, only 24 kg of waste was collected. Unlike what happened a decade ago when competitors threw their garbage on the ground, today there is very little waste left here and there.

"I really like the partnership that is being created with the WWF, which is to show that we continue to know how to make a popular event, but we know how to implement it in conditions that are consistent with the practices we impose climate change, "said the mayor of Chamonix, Eric Fournier.

In 15 years, the UTMB has become the rendezvous for trailers from around the world, in addition to a grail that is increasingly popular among amateurs, who come from all over the world. There are about 100 nationalities involved.

AND the UTMB is not the only event to generate all these issues related to the environment. The trail is growing and races are increasing.

- Amusement parks -

"For me, we make amusement parks in the mountains, it's become a kind of supermarkets of nature sports, there is something for everyone," says Cyril Cointre, one of the organizers of the Maxi Race , a race that does not escape the drifts impacting the environment.

To limit the damage, the trailer militates for a reflection of each one on its practices and advocates a return to the autonomy during the races. Most events are semi-autonomous, with control points and assistance. Trailers are followed by cars - their team for the pros, the family for the amateurs.

"Walking around Mont-Blanc on foot has very little impact, however, there are more vehicles than runners and distances that are much higher than runners, it creates a considerable impact", explains Cointre.

"We have an audience of consumers, we created it.If we offered them to go around Mont Blanc without all this barnum, there would be very few people.The people come on these races to tell the office or on the social networks they are finisher, "he adds, calling for races without refueling or markup.

"We try to make the adventure easy while what makes the beauty of the adventure is the difficulty, if we only have to concentrate on the effort, we miss the mountain" he says.

© 2019 AFP