Fully Vertical KM

The “Vertical Kilometer” race format has been growing in popularity in recent years. A sanctioned trail race that originated via the International Skyrunning Federation’s series, a “VK” as it’s often known, is measured by its vertical distance rather than the length of the course. These runs are short, and very steep – and nowhere is that more true than at Fully, Switzerland, where the course reaches grades of up to 60%. Fully is internationally-known as the fastest VK course in the world, and racers come from many countries each year to test their steep-trail running mettle. The Fully VK course passes through vineyards, then gets down to business, climbing directly up an old funicular route. In 2014, Urban Zemmer set a new world record at Fully, bringing the VK time under 30 minutes, in a time of 29:42.  Here, Philip Götsch got to the top in an incredible 28min53. Swiss runner Remi Bonnet has run 28min37 on the course but this was not under race conditions. You can see a great video here. 

Interested in trying a VK? Fully is a great place to do it! Take a look at the Run the Alps Fully Vertical KM blog post.

NB: We have estimated the 2025 dates based on last year’s dates. We’ll update as soon as we have more info. Run The Alps makes every effort to keep this page up to date.