Florian Olivier, CimAlp Ambassador for TRAIL running

Florian Olivier has been passionate about sports and the mountains since childhood. Wanting to work in wide open spaces, he is now a manager at the Maison du Tourisme du Pilat. After a successful sporting career in volleyball, where he competed at national level, he now dedicates himself to trail running. In 2013, he achieved his first successes with several podiums and victories in competition. Notably at the French Club Orienteering Championships, where he won the title of Vice-Champion of France by team in Nationale 3 in 3h54min04 sec. Then at the Étoiles de Gimel (22 km / 560 D+), finishing 1^er in 1h41, where he also repeated the victory in 2014, on the 32km (1000D+) in 2h35. Since then, he has kept on clocking up the kilometres and the elevation gain, ready to conquer new summits kitted out in CimAlp. In 2014, Florian Olivier became CimAlp's trail running ambassador: "As a Mountain Leader, I've known CimAlp for several years, particularly for the quality and reliability of its products. It's a pleasure to carry the brand's values of innovation and performance to the trail running community."

Florian's race anecdotes:

To date, he has completed, among other things, the trail des Aiguilles Rouges in 2013, which was his first true major mountain race: 50 km and 4,000 metres of positive elevation gain! « The race is nothing but a succession of magnificent memories: a majestic sunrise over Mont Blanc from the Brévent and passages above 2,500 m altitude in wild mountain terrain! This race, completed with two friends, shows that despite trail running being an individual sport, the team spirit is very much present. My finest memory will be that feeling of pure fulfilment, alone on the singletrack below the Brévent, as dawn broke and chamois took over the scree. The mountains are so beautiful… ! » That same year, he ran the Saintélyon, which is without a doubt « the biggest nature race in the Rhône-Alpes region and arguably in all of France! It's only when you reach the start line that you realises… The crowd is impressive! At least once in my trail running career, I wanted to take on this legendary race — and I did, at the 60^th edition. » « This race is quite different from the events I've tackled so far: longer, more tarmac, more rolling… and all of it at night and in winter. The big unknown was the nature of the terrain, as we were warned about a lot of black ice. And what had to happen, happened — a nasty fall at km 12 and an extremely painful knee. At that point, the question of whether to carry on or pull out crossed my mind, and in the end it was sheer mental strength that allowed me to push through, spending a good part of the races alongside Maud Gobert, runner and trail world champion in 2011. That's part of the joy of trail running too — getting to run alongside great champions! That nasty injury would slow my progress and my hopes of finishing in the top 50 of this iconic race. Nevertheless, I finish at dawn, in the top 100 out of more than 5,000 runners with a stunning panorama of the Alps » On Saturday 5 September 2014, Florian OLIVIER took part in his first ultra trail in the Vercors with our brand-new trail 3Dflex range. Here's his take: This Ultra Trail du Vercors was a magnificent race both in terms of organisation and the quality of the mountain landscapes, despite gruelling heat conditions (over 50% of entrants withdrew). I finished in a very encouraging 11th place in my first ultra in 12h55'14''. This new Cimalp 3Dflex kit delivers on every promise: comfort, weight, breathability… and on top of that, it's "super stylish", which never hurts! My full race report is available here https://flo-trailer-pilat.jimdo.com/2014/09/08/mon-premier-ultra-ultra-trail-du-vercors/ and soon a full product review on my blog"