Courtney Dauwalter and Kevin Schmidt were an additional attraction besides the Dolomites themselves. Our group shared extraordinary running in the Val Gardena and Val di Funes with additional staff along for the fun and photography from Martina Valmassoi and Matteo Agreiter.

The trail running season is getting close to an end in the Alps, and we squeezed in a fantastic final Tour du Mont-Blanc trip until we start up again next summer.

Our annual fall trail running trip starts out in Chamonix, France, the Alps hotspot for trail running and then makes a visit to Champéry in the Swiss Alps. Runners have the choice to take part in, or cheer on, the Alps’ oldest trail race, DDM Trail, on a beautiful course around the Dents du Midi.

Mirna Valerio, “the Mirnavator,” brought together a group of twelve wonderful women who are not often seen as typical trail runners due to their speed, body size, or ethnicity. And we all had a blast running trails in France, Italy, and Switzerland.

The Italian Dolomites are home to  some of the best trail running in Europe. On our tour, we run inn to inn, taking in spectacular views, and enjoy hearty local cuisine in the scattered villages.

The Via Valais is the most challenging trip offered by Run the Alps. The route travels through steep, rugged and remote mountain terrain, while climbing and descending over 2000m daily. As you can imagine, the views are outstanding.

Our own Tour du Mont-Blanc happened during UTMB Mont-Blanc® week and the atmosphere in Chamonix and on the trails was electric.

We had a fun crew of seven runners, including five members of a 2021 Tour du Mont-Blanc trip who decided to have a reunion tour! This group came together to run in Leukerbad and Zermatt, Switzerland with the option to race in the Matterhorn Ultraks.

The inaugural Grand Bernese Oberland Traverse was a great success! Crossing this section of the Swiss Alps we saw the region’s most famous peaks, bluest lakes, and deepest valleys, plus plenty of cows, sheep, and goats grazing the hillside pastures.

With a mix of world class trails, dramatic scenery, great company, and delicious trailside snacks, our Bernese Oberland tour kept us adding extra helpings of each of the above. This was Run the Alps’ second Bernese Oberland tour of the 2023 season.

Our group set out from the beautiful mountain chalet at Schwarzwaldalp where we’d spent a peaceful first night with the sounds of bells from cows lazily grazing in the pastures. We had the next week to explore the best trails around Switzerland’s Bernese Oberland region.

After a week of running, bonding, and storm dodging, race day dawned with perfectly clear skies and hot weather for the races at Eiger Ultra Trail by UTMB.®

Accompanied by professional trail runner Meg Mackenzie, we shared a wonderful week with a group of amazing ladies!

Food as always plays such an important part of any Run the Alps Tour du Mont-Blanc trip. There are so many cafes, buvettes, and refuges to stop at en route, and the fruit tarts, cakes, cookies, crepes, and hot meals make this a culinary tour as much as a running tour.

With an intimate group of just two guests, we started out the trail running season on part of the iconic Tour du Mont-Blanc or UTMB® race course. Our favorite climb was up to Grand Col Ferret from Arnouva.

The Via Valais tour was, simply put, fantastic. The route can’t be compared. We saw ibex up close, and picked wild blueberries all week. The weather was perfect and had the smells of the season changing to autumn.

Our group of six spent two days in Leukerbad, Switzerland ascending the cliffs of the Gemmi-pass. Then we headed across the Rhône valley to Zermatt to continue our tour. At the end of the week of trail running, we supported the Matterhorn Ultraks racers in our group.

The TMB is unfailingly a memorable loop. One thing that made this TMB stand out was that the UTMB races were also happening, and so the trails were stacked with running stars.

The Tour du Mont Blanc, “TMB,” is a classic, and it always catches people unaware of how much up and down there really is along the route. Cake, coffee, and crêpes were the center point of each day and they helped fuel us for the climbs.

Our group of six runners and two guides explored some classic Swiss trails around Wengen, Lauterbrunnen, Gimmelwald, Murren, and Grindelwald. New trails and views each day!

For the days leading up to the Eiger Ultra Trail race events, we ran around the high village of Murren, visited a Swiss “candlelight” hotel, and Lobhornhütte, a classic Swiss Alpine Club hut. Our runs also took us to Grosse Scheidegg, a high pass above Grindelwald.

Run the Alps was pleased to offer a special trail running camp this summer – just for women! Based in Chamonix, France and Courmayeur, Italy, the week of running trails was hosted by The North Face athlete and Run the Alps ambassador, Meg Mackenzie.

This year’s June Dolomites trip was led by the talented Bruno Yates and Cam Bevan. The group consisted of these two guides and five motivated and interesting guests: Andrei, Anna, Christina, Linsey and Jay. The tour took in the sights, sounds and strudels of the spellbinding Val Gardena.

A diehard father and son team were our first guests back to the Alps in over a year. Their persistence paid off, with a quiet trip trail running around the northern half of the Tour du Mont-Blanc– and a chance to trail race in Chamonix, France!

After 16 months of a global pandemic, the first Run the Alps group returns to trail run the iconic route around the Mont Blanc massif. It was a special moment for all involved!

We were blessed with perfect weather to experience the best of Chamonix, France and Champéry, Switzerland. Our trip ended with the historic Dents du Midi trail race– including a few well-earned podium positions!

This year, Run the Alps offered a September guided trail run over the Via Valais, a route designed by our friends at ALPSinsight. Wandering through Switzerland’s Valais Alps, the route is high, wild, and challenging.

Our last tour of the season featured the self-appointed “UTMB® Babes,” with Senior Guide Simon – or is it Simone? – leading the charge. The UTMB® race vibe filled the air in Chamonix and Courmayeur. We ran through Switzerland, then finished in Chamonix with cold beers and a memorable farewell dinner

Our band of merry trail runners coalesced nicely in Chamonix, and from there on it was all trail running, cafes, and – yes – even some Sound of Music. Here’s our story!

Immaculate trails, towering peaks, quaint villages and glorious wildflowers. Plus cake. Lots and lots of cake.

Running through Switzerland’s Jungfrau region, we encountered stunning views of the Eiger, flower-filled meadows, gorgeous flowing trails, glacial lakes in which to cool off… and even a life-size cut-out of James Bond!

“And is seeing and hearing not part of the reason we came?”

Trip over, Guide Mark Brightwell ponders the experience of his “tribe” of trail runners, contemplating what has changed– and what hasn’t– over the course of a trail run around Mont Blanc.

Running the classic Tour du Mont Blanc circuit out of Chamonix was a wonderful experience – for all the senses. Varied trails, incredible views, fresh tarts and coffee – and even singing – made for an incredibly fun tour and a group of very contented runners.

Running through Italy, Switzerland and France around the northern side of Mont Blanc we encountered a heatwave, snow and river crossings, as well as bright flowers and incredible views. After our journey, we enjoyed taking part in the Mont Blanc Marathon series of races.

Sunshine and a cool breeze gave us ideal conditions to explore the French and Swiss Alps. Our team of seven took in the best of Chamonix before hopping a train over to Champéry, Switzerland, where several of us ran the historic Trail des Dent-du-Midi trail race, the oldest race in the Alps.

Run the Alps’ first trip of the season ventured into Italy’s Dolomites – and found sweet single-track, stupendous views, and great food. In other words, we found the Dolomites in the Dolomites. (And we became experts in dumplings, too!)

WARNING: The following account contains an obscene number of superlatives, ridiculous strings of adjectives and a recurring theme of trails, mountains and great food!

We ran up to 33,500 feet (Well, sort of.) We ate cheese (All of us.) We crossed high passes (Lots of them.) And then we ate yet more cheese (Some of us.)

We ran trails up to 7600 feet, through talus and over the moraines of the Wildstrubel glacier on a crisp clear morning. We ran under the iconic Matterhorn past centuries old chalets above Zermatt – and then several of us raced in one of the Alps’ best known trail races, Matterhorn Ultraks.

We ran across Alpine meadows, high mountain passes and cool gorges next to the Eiger, plus embraced the traditional festivities of Swiss National day – with plenty of local food and wine.

Blue skies, swift ascents and gorgeous trails – with plenty of pie, coffee and outstanding panoramas to fuel our journey and keep spirits high. Ours was a fabulous trip with memories to last a lifetime.

As the snow melted from the high passes on the Tour du Mont-Blanc, our crew tackled the run from Courmayeur, Italy to Chamonix, France – then took part in some of the world’s most famous trail races.

The Run the Alps Tour du Mont-Blanc trip takes in the trails joining together the alps of France, Italy and Switzerland. Over 7 days of running we cover over 90 miles and climb 7,000 meters. Our trip was in Courmayeur, Italy, as the famous UTMB trail race passed through town.

This year’s Matterhorn Ultraks trip had a larger-than-life quality to it– both the trail running and the guests! We ran across glaciers, travelled to Zermatt to run under the Matterhorn— and then ticked off a famous Alps trail race series. Here’s how it went.

The trip that had it all and more with thunder, lightning, snow, ice, sunshine, mobile cow milking… and the surliest waiter in all of Italy!

It was a spectacular week of trail running through Switzerland’s Bernese Oberland. The highlight came during Day 3, when we ran under the immense Eiger North Wall. Here’s my story of how that day unfolded, with a little trip summary below. It was a pleasure to join this great crew!

The Eiger Trail 2017 trip was an awesome week of trail running in the Berner Oberland and reconnaissance for a bunch of trail runners from around the globe. Not all of us raced, but those who didn’t ran around enough, cheering everyone else!