Gran Trail Courmayeur 2027

We all know the French face of Mont Blanc: its queues on the normal route and its ultra that makes headlines every August (the UTMB® of course) 🗓️. But on the other side of the tunnel, where coffee becomes ristretto and where D+ is called dislivello, there’s a hidden gem: the Gran Trail Courmayeur ✨. Nestled at the end of the Aosta Valley, at 1,224 meters of altitude, this Italian trail invites you to turn your back on overcrowded trails and discover the Roof of Europe from its best angle—well, that depends on your point of view 🤓. Three formats on the menu, from the accessible 30 km to the downright epic 100 km, all starting and finishing on Piazza Abbé Henry, in the historic heart of Courmayeur 📍.

Behind that modern name lies an old soul 🤌. The GTC is the direct heir of the Gran Trail Valdigne, born in 2007—basically the Stone Age of trail running, when people still raced in cotton T-shirts 😵‍💫. Back then, it was the first high-mountain race of more than 80 km mapped entirely on Italian soil, and it quickly became a reference on the continent 🇮🇹. Today, the GTC belongs to the big TORX® family, the same stable as the legendary Tor des Géants ⭐️. And that’s not just a line on the pedigree: finish the GTC100 and you snag one of the 100 bibs that open the doors to the Tor des Géants the following year! So at least you avoid going through the lottery 😲. A golden ticket to one of the toughest ultras on the planet, earned by the sheer power of your quads—that’s pretty slick 🤓.

Out on the course, the 100 doesn’t mess around: roughly a hundred kilometers for 7,400 mD+, all wrapped around His Majesty Mont Blanc 👑. The route takes you through two jewels of the massif, Val Veny and Val Ferret, two glacial valleys you’ll learn to love (then to curse, then to love again 🤣). Here, you climb high: the race tops out at 2,830 meters beneath Mont Nix, after stringing together panoramic passes above 2,500 the way you chain plates of pasta at the hut 🍝. On the program: breathtaking balconies (if you have any breath left), turquoise alpine lakes, a few playful snowfields in the middle of July, and a short section equipped with chains—just to remind you that yes, you’re very much in the mountains 🏔️. Cherry on the panettone: an aid station perched on Mont Fortin (2,755 m), a mobile, helicoptered bivouac like a base camp ⛺️. Flowing? Not much. Leg-breaker? Oh yes ✅.

The “GTC 100”, the flagship event, starts in the evening, in pitch-black night, with your headlamp becoming your best friend for the first hours of the race 🔦. But no need to be a cyborg: there are three distances in total! 😄 Ultra-trail isn’t made for every set of thighs, so other options are available 🤠. The GTC30 over 30 km with 2,000 mD+, unfolding its magnificent balconata of the Val Ferret for those who want to taste the scenery without paying with their skin 😉. Otherwise, the GTC55 offers 3,500 m D+ over 55 km and goes through the most beautiful passes of Val Veny 🏞️.

But reducing the GTC to numbers alone would be missing the point 📍. Over the last few editions, the race has turned into a real festival with the Mont Blanc Trail Fest, a village set up in Bollino Park where finishers, supporters, and curious onlookers mingle between brand booths, well-earned beers, and tales of passes that get taller with every glass 🍻. And then there’s that very particular atmosphere of the Aosta Valley, straddling Italy and France. Over there, people cheer you on in patois as much as in Italian, and the finish line awaits you with a hot meal you will have never deserved more 🤤.

So if the buzz of Chamonix is calling your name but you’re dreaming of a wilder Mont Blanc, Gran Trail Courmayeur is waiting for you on the other side! Buona fortuna 💫.