Alberto Motta: The History of Trail Running in Courmayeur, Italy

When talking about trail running in the Alps, the conversation usually turns to Chamonix, France– and for good reason. (See: UTMB® Mont Blanc, Mont Blanc Marathon, CMBM, hundreds of kilometers of inspiring trails, and more.) 

But, on the other side of Mont Blanc, there is a trail running scene that is less well known. It has quietly evolved on its own for more than thirty years. Courmayeur, Italy, is rich with its own trail running history. Compared to Chamonix, the scene here is different. It’s low-key and a bit under-the-radar. And like all Italian trail running, it often tilts upward towards the sky, with Skyrunning terrain that is steep, vertiginous, and sometimes downright daring. 

Visit with trail runners in Courmayeur and talk about the evolution of the sport there, and many names come and go from the discussion. One of those names that reliably finds its way into every conversation is that of Alberto Motta. 

Alberto is the living embodiment of the Courmayeur scene. With several others, he pioneered the now-famous 330-km Tor des Géants. He was Vice-President of the Courmayeur Trail Association. CTA was the Aosta region’s first official trail running group, and a predecessor of what is now VDA, the Valle D’Aosta Trailers. 

Run the Alps’ Doug Mayer recently visited with Alberto, to hear a bit more about these early days. Enjoy this glimpse into Alps trail running history!

Doug: You grew up here in Courmayeur?  When you were a kid, did people go to the mountains?

Alberto: Yes, I was born in Courmayeur, I live in Courmayeur, I’ve never left. There have always been people walking in the mountains. Me too. We had big shoes and big backpacks. There were people who went around Mont Blanc. Mont Blanc has always been there for hikers.

Doug: And are you a skyrunner too?

Alberto: I used to run mountain races. In Italy, “trail running” didn’t exist before. There were mountain races and skyraces… but we didn’t talk about trail running. When French runners came here in 2003 with the first UTMB® everyone said they were crazy.

Doug: You wondered why they ran so much…Before UTMB what kind of races did you do? When did you start?

Alberto: I started at the end of 1993. Here in the Aosta Valley there were small races. When we were young, we had a 20k race. That was already the maximum distance for a mountain race. Before that, the most popular races were 5k and 10k.

And also ski mountaineering, I used to do a lot of that too.

Each September, there was a mixed race, running and skiing. We’d set off running from Courmayeur. Then, when we got to the Punta Helbronner, we’d put on our skis and do a lap around the glacier to get to the Aiguille du Midi. It was a double vertical kilometer. Then we did a lap under the Dent du Géant, went down and back up to arrive under the Aiguille du Midi.

It was a great race. But organizing such a race was very difficult, as the crevasses were starting to open up.

Doug: What skyrunning races did you do back then?

Alberto: There was the Becca Di Nona and we did a race on the Charvina side, I can’t remember what it was called. In Val d’Isère there was a great race that I did two or three times, too.

Doug: How did the trail organizing team get started in Courmayeur?

Alberto: Trail running here in Courmayeur was democratized thanks to France and the first UTMB® Mont-Blanc race in 2003. In 2006 we created a trail running race here in Courmayeur, then in 2009 Tor des Géants started.

In the early days, the organizational side of things in Courmayeur was handled solely by the town council in order to claim subsidies from the region. However, to obtain the regional subsidies, we had to create an association. So we created the Courmayeur Trail to help the town council to organize UTMB. Then Michel Poletti, one of the co-founders of UTMB asked, “Why don’t you do a trail running race here in Courmayeur?” That’s how we created the Trail de la Valdigne race in 2006.

Doug: Why did Michel advise you to create this trail running race? Were you friends?

Alberto: Michel advised us to organize a race to help develop the area. We created a very beautiful course that brought together five towns. At first things went very well, but then relations between the various towns became strained and complicated. But the Valdigne Trail race was the first Italian trail race ever.

[Editor’s note: In 2012, Trail Valdigne was renamed and became part of Gran Trail Courmayeur.]

But, no, we didn’t know each other before that. We met through the Courmayeur Trail Association for the organization of UTMB. Michel suggested I run UTMB too, and then we ran and finished almost together in 2005. So that’s how our relationship started.

I was mainly involved in organizing UTMB and then in 2008 Michel and I created PTL (Petit Trotte à Léon). For years Michel and I would go out into the mountains to scout routes, to see what could and couldn’t be done. PTL evolved over time, increasing in difficulty and mileage too. It was very demanding. We went out almost every weekend to identify new routes.

Doug: Did you work with Jean-Claude Marmier?

Alberto: Yes, I worked with Jean-Claude. Michel and I worked on PTL, but it was Jean-Claude who undertook to organize the race and the course. Michel and I were in charge of testing the courses designed by Jean-Claude. We set up commissions within UTMB and I was president of the course commission. It covers all the courses for all UTMB Mont-Blanc races.

Doug: Can you tell us more about trail runners at a time when the sport was just emerging ?

Alberto: In the first years of UTMB, in 2003, 2004, here in Courmayeur, no one was practicing trail running. In 2005, 5 of us from Courmayeur started.

Doug: Why did trail running come to Courmayeur?

Alberto: It’s adventure, it’s the mountains. It’s another way of looking at the mountains. Now it’s different, it’s become a professional sport. But it used to be for the adventure that the first trail runners were seduced by trail running. Marathon runners used to come and run, and they had great difficulty running in the mountains. The gear was very simple: running shoes and a t-shirt. It was a bit of an adventure. It’s even a question of fashion now: you have to have certain equipment. Today, you see runners parading down the street, equipped from head to toe.

Now we see everything and anything. Tor des Géants was a phenomenon in the Aosta Valley. There are, for example, people who have never run in their lives, and they started by running Tor des Géants.

Doug: Why do they do it?

Alberto: Because it’s a race that has become popular.

Doug: Did you ever imagine Tor would be so successful?

Alberto: Yes. The first edition was run by Jean-Claude Marmier. He said, “No problem, I walk 20 hours a day and sleep 4.” He did it all on his own. He knew right away that it was doable.

He had his own ideas. He was a mountain man, a great guide.

Doug: Do you know how Tor des Géants was born? 

Alberto: It was through PTL that we realized that it was possible to do a 300k race around the Aosta Valley. The first year of PTL was 250km long and completely autonomous. 2008 was the first time that the head of tourism for the Aosta Valley came to see the start of the race in Chamonix. He was very enthusiastic and said to me, as I was the Italian representative in Chamonix, “I want a race in the Aosta Valley.” So I came back here to Courmayeur and talked to my trail runner friends, and I said that in Chamonix we’d done 250km on our own, which meant carrying a 20kg pack. If you set off with a 5kg bag and have an aid station every 12km, it’s possible to do more. When we were thinking of creating a race in Italy we had already thought of doing Valdigne Alta Via 1 route one year and Valdigne Alta Via 2 the next year, but we gave up because it’s difficult to create and organize a race that starts in Courmayeur and finishes in another town. So we thought that if we did a 300k race, it would be possible to do a loop starting from Courmayeur and arriving in Courmayeur… to go all the way round. In 2009 we tried and it was possible. In 2009 we had the zero edition of Tor. The first part was fine, then we had bad weather the whole way.  

Doug: I’ve heard that at first people thought you were crazy and that it would be dangerous to run this distance.

Alberto: Yes, it wasn’t easy to convince people. It wasn’t a question of safety, it was more that nobody thought it could be done. But with PTL we saw that it was possible to achieve such distances.

Doug: Have you noticed many changes on your side? Some good, some more complicated?

Alberto: It was really nice back then, especially the spirit of adventure. In the past, during UTMB, when we got to the Col de la Voza, we’d all stop to take photos of the sunset. Now it’s become a sport, with runners looking for performance. For me, that’s the worst thing. Now people talk a lot, they think they know everything about trail running, they write and publish a lot of things on social networks. The whole world is changing.

One thing that has changed enormously is the age of runners. I ran the UTMB in 2005 when I was fifty and the average age of runners was quite high. Now you find runners in their twenties taking part in trail races.

Doug: I think that trail runners today are just that. They’re not necessarily climbers or mountaineers.

Alberto: Now they’re professionals. As you can see, UTMB used to be won in 24 or 25 hours, but now it’s won in 20 hours, or even under 20 hours. The one who changed the perception of trail running for me is Kilian Jornet. Before Kilian Jornet, it was Marco Olmo, who won the UTMB in 2006 and 2007, and then Kilian won the following year in 2008. Kilian marked a turning point in trail running. The sponsors followed and everything changed.

Doug: As far as the future of trail running is concerned, do you think it will develop further?

Alberto: With young people, yes, I think so. It’s not expensive. It’s accessible. You can go to the mountains in running shoes. Outdoor sports in general are attracting more and more enthusiasts these days.

Doug: What do you do now? Do you trail run?

Alberto: I left the Courmayeur organizing association in 2020 because I joined the Courmayeur town council. I was elected as deputy mayor. After a few health problems, back problems etc., I’ve reduced my sporting activities.

I go ski touring and enjoy the mountains at my leisure. I still have my job, a technical office that keeps me busy with lots of projects. I’m already retired, but I’m still working a bit.

The conversation was in French, with thanks to Run the Alps’ guide Astrid Renet for her translation and transcription. Run the Alps would like to thank Erica Motta for her help with this article.

Read More about Trail Running in the Aosta Valley

Trail Running on the Quiet Side of Mont Blanc: The Story of Valle d’Aosta Trailers

Edition Zero: Behind the Scenes Developing Tor des Géants

Meeting the Dragon: The Mythology of Italy’s 330-km Tor des Géants