SwissPeaks Trail

Q: How hard is the SwissPeaks 101km? A: Very hard — by design. The course gains approximately 6,000m (official) over 101km — around 65m per kilometre, placing it in the top 20% most elevation-dense distances in DTR's database. Average uphill gradient is 15.07% (steeper than 95% of the database) and average downhill gradient is 16.32% — one of the 25 steepest descending averages in the database. Over 12km of the course climbs at greater than 20% gradient. The race starts at 20:00, so the early hours are in darkness on exposed high terrain.

Q: What time does the SwissPeaks 101km start? A: The 101km starts at 20:00 on September 3, 2026 from Salvan in the Trient Valley. This means runners spend the first several hours in darkness on exposed high terrain before dawn. A headlamp and appropriate night-running kit are required.

Q: Is the SwissPeaks 101km a good race to run the week after UTMB? A: If you're fit and want to stay in the Alps — it's purpose-built for this. SwissPeaks always takes place the week after UTMB, making it a natural extension for runners already in Chamonix. The terrain is comparable in difficulty to UTMB itself; this is not a recovery run. It finishes on Lake Geneva — a very different end-point that adds its own appeal.

Q: How much does SwissPeaks 101km cost? A: Entry is 189 CHF — approximately €2.04 per kilometre at current exchange rates. The SPTiming registration platform may add administrative or platform fees on top of the listed price, so check the final total at checkout. A 5 CHF train ticket to the start in Salvan is available when registering or up to one month before the race.