Courmayeur · Italy

The Tor des Géants

Every September a race leaves from here, goes right round the Aosta Valley and returns to the start: roughly 330 kilometres and 24,000 metres of ascent, along the Alte Vie, with a clock that never stops. There are no stages. Runners decide for themselves when to sleep, and sleeping means an hour or two on a camp bed in a gymnasium, or twenty minutes sitting in a chair at a hut. The time limit is 150 hours, a little over six days. About half of those who start arrive. The first edition was in 2010, and entry is allotted by ballot, because applications far exceed places. From outside it looks like a test of physical endurance. People who have done it talk mostly about managing sleep, and about continuing to eat when the body has stopped wanting food.

Go deeper

How much is 24,000 metres of ascent?

It means climbing almost three times the height of Everest measured from sea level, and then descending as much again, which is the part that ruins the legs. The route crosses twenty-five cols above 2,000 metres, one after another, never staying high for long and never truly reaching the valley floor. There is no long flat section in which to recover. That is why the finishing time is measured in days rather than hours.

Can I watch without running?

Yes, and it is how almost the whole valley watches it. The start in Courmayeur is crowded and festive; the life bases in the villages along the route are far less so and are worth more, because that is where you see the state people are actually in. The paths stay open and a walker will meet competitors at any hour, including at night. If you meet them on a narrow col, let them through: they have right of way and often lack the strength to step aside.

Why here?

Because the route already existed. Alta Via 1 and Alta Via 2 cross the valley end to end on its two sides, linking huts and cols that served shepherds and smugglers long before anyone thought of a race. The event built nothing: it joined the two routes into a loop and added a clock. The result has brought thousands of people into the valley in a week of September when, before, almost nobody came.

Where it is

45.7917, 6.9722 · Open in Maps

Listen where it happened

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