New from Run the Alps – Trail Running Chamonix Mont Blanc: 30 Must-Do Runs in France, Italy and Switzerland
Standing at the foot of glaciers, a cool breeze blowing off the ice on an otherwise hot mid-summer afternoon. Running along alpine ridges, the snowy flanks of Mont Blanc at your side. Winding your way through mountain villages and past herds of cows – with an occasional stop en route to pick wild blueberries. Chamonix and the region around the Mont Blanc massif is one of the most dramatic places in the world to trail run.
Now, even if you’re not on one of our trips, Run the Alps can take you there.
This week, Run the Alps is excited to release a new trail running guidebook to the region around Mont Blanc, including Chamonix, France and adjacent regions in Italy and Switzerland. Trail Running Chamonix Mont Blanc: 30 Must-Do Runs in France, Italy and Switzerland is the first new trail running guide to the region in nearly a decade.
The guide is also available in French, as Courir les Montagnes Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, 30 trail incroyables en France, en Suisse et en Italie.
Run the Alps has teamed up with Swiss Publisher Helvetiq to produce the new guide. It’s the fourth trail running book for Helvetiq, an award-winning publisher based in Basel, Switzerland. “This region is a mecca of trail running,” said Richard Harvell, a lead editor and Head of International Publishing at Helvetiq. “This book is like having a personal guide with you on the trail. The local knowledge of the Run the Alps guides and staff really comes across in the run descriptions and tips.”
The 192-page guide features 30 trail runs for all levels of trail runners. There’s lots of supporting data for each run, too, including a route map, distance and ascent data, an elevation profile, difficulty and technical ratings – and even recommendations from local trail runners. Each route also includes a bonus run, for a more ambitious day out. “Bailout” routes are also provided, to shorten the day in the event of deteriorating weather or tiring legs.
The book features stunning photographs from some of trail running’s top photographers, including Nick Danielson, Dan Fitzgerald, Toni Spasenoski, Milo Zanecchia, and Sam Hill. Danielson is the photographer for the trail running brand NNormal, Fitzgerald is a Chamonix-based freelance photographer, Spasenoski is a photographer and videographer who has worked for a number of trail running brands, Zanecchia is a filmmaker and photographer who has trail run around the world on projects with brands like Rab, Scott, and Arc’teryx. Hill is a Run the Alps guide and International Mountain Leader. He’s also Run the Alps’ Photography Manager who works with brands, events, and publications.
The team focussed on ensuring that the photography reflected an inclusive trail-running community, helping embody Run the Alps’ mission of fostering diversity and inclusivity in the sport. When looking for trail runners to model for the photography, book co-author and Project Manager Charlie Edwards and Run the Alps staff reached out to runners who have historically not been included in such projects. “Anyone who runs on a trail is a trail runner,” says Emily Geldard, Assistant Manager of Run the Alps who leads the guide team and who worked extensively on the book. “We need to shift our thinking away from the idea that there is a certain ‘look’ for trail runners. The saying, ‘If you can see it, you can be it,’ inspired us,” says Geldard.
Run the Alps made sure there’s a trail run for everyone in the book, with runs rated on a scale of one to three in terms of difficulty, one to three in technicality, and 10 to 40 kilometers in length. “We try to meet trail runners where they are,” says Geldard. “You can run for just an hour or two to a mountain cafe, or spend a big day out, with thousands of meters of climbing through wild, mountainous terrain.”
The guide is integrated with the Run the Alps web site, where trail runners can download GPX files for each run, including the bonus runs and bailout options. There are also supporting resources and articles. Guide users can scan the QR code in the book or go to runthealps.com/routes.
Trail Running Chamonix Mont Blanc was a collective effort by the Run the Alps team, including freelance writer Charlie Edwards, Assistant Manager of Run the Alps Emily Geldard, Director of Social and Environmental Responsibility Hillary Gerardi, and Run the Alps Founder Doug Mayer, who also writes for Outside Online and recently authored the history of UTMB Mont Blanc, The Race that Changed Running. Together, this lead group has more than six decades of trail running experience in the Alps.
Trail Running Chamonix Mont Blanc is available now in the Run the Alps Shop, in English or French. The guide is also available at bookstores around the world, direct from the publisher, and via bookshop.org or Amazon.com.
Helvetiq’s other books on trail running include Run the Alps Switzerland: 30 Must-Do Trail Runs, The Race that Changed Running: The Inside Story of UTMB, and Trail Running Illustrated. The Last of Giants, a graphic novel about Italy’s 330-km epic trail race, is coming in the fall of 2025. All titles are available in English and French, and The Race that Changed Running is also available in Thai, with Korean and Chinese translations coming. Visit Helvetiq’s website to learn more.
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