Thibault Anselmet, vainqueur de la Coupe du monde de ski alpinisme 2023 + 2024
Leader in ski mountaineering
Meeting with... The star of French ski mountaineeringIn 2021, for his very first year on the senior circuit, Thibault Anselmet ended the ski mountaineering season (the competition side of ski touring) with a small globe in the vertical race and a second place in the overall World Cup ranking! In 2022, he confirmed this with a new second place in the overall ranking. A frustrating second place for this exceptional champion, naturally gifted, passionate about his sport, hard-working and attentive to every detail. Thibault then clearly announced his objective: to win the "Gros Globe" in 2023, i.e. the overall ranking of the ski mountaineering World Cup. He achieved this goal during this exceptional season , during which he also won the World Champion title in the mixed relay (with Emily Harrop) at the March 2023 Championships in Boí Taüll, Spain. During these championships, Thibault also won the silver medal in sprint!
Arrivé au sommet, le plus dur est d’y rester. Ce que Thibault Anselmet a fait en 2024 en remportant une nouvelle fois le Gros Globe en 2024. Avec en plus cette année le titre en “sprint”, une discipline ultra spectaculaire qui sera aux Jeux Olympiques de 2026.
2024 : vainqueur de la Coupe du monde au classement général (Gros globe) + en sprint (petit Globe) !
2024 : nouvelle saison exceptionnelle
« Après avoir remporté la Coupe du monde au classement général en 2023, je voulais montrer que j’étais capable d’être à nouveau au plus haut niveau. C’était le gros
objectif de la saison et j’ai confirmé. Ce n’est pas rien de rester au top niveau mondial pendant deux saisons de suite”. En 2024, Thibault Anselmet a confirmé une nouvelle fois qu’il domine le ski alpinisme mondial. Avec Le Gros Globe (vainqueur du classement général de la Coupe du monde) + le Globe en sprint. Aux Championnats d’Europe, il a également obtenu deux médailles : une de bronze en individuel et une en argent dans le relais mixte avec Celia Perillat Pessey. Quant aux championnats de France, il a tout simplement réalisé grand chelem avec 4 titres (champion de France en individuel, en sprint, en vertical et en relais mixte) ! Imbattable !
A family history
Like many local children, Thibault Anselmet took up skiing when he could barely walk. Not surprising, given that his father was a mountaineer himself. A member of the Ski Club at Bonneval sur Arc (a resort that has been awarded the "Terre d'Alpinisme" label by the UNESCO Committee), he took to the peaks before switching to ski mountaineering as a teenager. And it wasn't long before he was following in his father's footsteps. Between transmission and admiration: "He used to pick me up from boarding school on Wednesdays to end the day with dry climbs in our Haute Maurienne Vanoise resorts.
Ski mountaineering became much more than a discipline for the young Maurienne: "This sport is physically and mentally difficult and you learn a lot about yourself. You discover yourself. It also allows you to go wherever you want in the mountains, without being restricted to slopes or lifts.
Ski mountaineering is a family affair in the Anselmet family. During the 2023 World Championships, during which Thibault Anselmet became world champion, his brother Jérémy won silver in the U20 mixed relay!
A deep impulse of freedom
Inspired at an early age by the likes of Kilian Jornet, benevolently advised by his father, and supported by his local council and the Tourist Office, Thibault Anselmet progressed rapidly. And his talent and abilities are unmistakable: the man who used to work as a carpenter has become one of the only Frenchmen in the discipline to turn professional in 2021, thanks to a contract with the Army of Champions. At just 83 m tall, the skier from Bonneval sur Arc has broad shoulders: "Of course, my ambitions are higher. I'm aiming for overall World Cup victory, and why not an Olympic medal too? The sprint and mixed relay will make their debut at the Milan Olympics in 2026: "That would clearly be a medium-term objective."
Follow Thibault Anselmet on Instagram !
To the moon
In 2023, Thibault Anselmet set himself the highest goal in his discipline: to win the overall World Cup ski mountaineering ranking. He achieved this goal through hard work and a strong mental attitude. In 2023, he has reached the moon: Thibault's impressions with his new video "To the moon".
Ski touring culture
A leading figure in ski mountaineering in France, Thibault Anselmet is also indicative of a ski touring culture that is firmly rooted in the Haute Maurienne Vanoise resorts. Races and events are regularly organized in the resorts (Trace du Châtelard in Aussois, Traversée des Rois Mages in Valfréjus, montée de l'Eterlou in La Norma...), and special itineraries have been set up in Aussois, Val Cenis and Bessans.
Bessans and Bonneval sur Arc have even been awarded the " Land of Mountaineering " label by UNESCO, thanks in no small part to their ski touring culture.
Thibault Anselmet may still be young (he was born in 1997), but the next generation is already here: Anselme Damevin and Louane Roussillon, from Val Cenis, are among France's finest youngsters, as is Thibault's brother Jérémy Anselmet. Anselme won the U23 world title at the 2023 World Championships, and Jérémy also medaled at the same event.
With such a density, Haute Maurienne Vanoise is now the land of France's ski mountaineering champions.
