Situated beneath Western Europe’s tallest peak and with two of the world’s top races bookending the summer season and hundreds of miles of spectacular trails in its backyard, this medieval enclave is a trail runner’s paradise.
Rounding a sharp bend 2,000 feet above Chamonix, France (3,396 feet), this morning’s rush-hour traffic slams to a stop. “Dieu!” “Whoa, watch out dude!” “Merda!” Commuters from a variety of countries hit the brakes.
This is a different kind of traffic jam, though—we’re not on the RN205, the road that climbs for 20 kilometers to Chamonix, before disappearing into the Mont Blanc tunnel toward Italy.
We’re stopped, instead, on the town’s 3.8K “Kilomètre Vertical” trail-running route, which switchbacks over 70 times steeply upwards for 960 meters from Place du Triangle de l’Amité, in the heart of the old village.
Ahead, a tourist appears to be sightseeing, looking across at the glaciers and granite spires, or aiguilles, for which the region is famous.
“Pardon!” “Excusez-moi!”
Like cyclists swerving around an accident, the runners find their way around a hiker, frozen with vertigo and clinging to a rebar step cemented into a chunk of rock. Some veer left, leaving just barely an inch of soil between one foot and 50 feet of air—a move with all the risks of free-solo rock climbing. Most offer help, with an empathetic look or a, “Je peux vous aider?!” (“Can I help you?”)
It’s the kind of moment that takes place routinely in Chamonix, where a passion for trail running, a vertiginous topography and few if any regulations combine to create a trail-running scene unlike anywhere else in the world.
Chamonix’s “VK” tops out with a single transformative step. Runners grab the railing at the Planpraz gondola building, pulling themselves up to safety. Around a corner and up a few more steps, a grassy plateau leads to a café.
Denne historien er fra June 2018, #128-utgaven av Trail Runner.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Denne historien er fra June 2018, #128-utgaven av Trail Runner.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
You Cannot Erase us
Over the years and through thousands of miles of running, I have thought about the words that marked the beginning of colonialism on the land and the end of Indigenous sovereignty.
Inside The Adaptable Mind
How Courtney Dauwalter uses adaptability to stay cool, calm and collected when the going gets tough.
Take it Easy
How to stay at aerobic pace when you live in the hills
Here Comes the Sun
Where pessimism meets its match
Connecting the Dots
How Laura Cortez uses her passion for trails to build community.
Carbohydrate Confusion
When it comes to food and nutrition, we tend to overcomplicate things. Eat this, not that. Run fasted, restrict sugar. Unfortunately, much of the controversy stems from observations and sensationalized media headlines vs. actual data, leaving the consumer more confused from their Google search than they were before.
This Wild Life
ONE MAN’S 92-MILE RUN OF GRIEF AND SELF-DISCOVERY.
Our Town
Trail running is all about the community it fosters and the beauty and diversity within the community. Here’s a look at seven places, and the faces that call them home.
Fueling for Females
Here’s how female runners can use recent research findings for performance breakthroughs
Lose Weight with a Shake
Being a health and nutrition correspondent means that companies frequently send me their products, and ask for my stamp of approval.
