Val d'Aran by UTMB 110 km (Camins d'Her): The 1,360m Opening Climb in 6.75km, Iron Roads Through Pyrenean Mines, and a UTMB 100K Race That Sells Out in the High Pyrenees

Val d'Aran by UTMB 110 km (Camins d'Her — CDH) is a point-to-point route of 110km with 6,400m D+ (58.2m per kilometre) from Les to Vielha through the high Pyrenees of the Val d'Aran, Catalonia. The course is 39.8% uphill, 21.4% flat, and 38.8% downhill. Average uphill gradient is 14.3%; average downhill gradient is -13.9% — steep and sustained throughout. The biggest single climb is 1,360m over 6.75km starting at km 0.51 (20.6% average gradient, 51.4% max) — this ascent begins within the first half-kilometre and sets the race's aggressive tone immediately. The biggest single descent drops 1,242m over 6.3km at km 12.24 (-19.7% average gradient). A 15.48km long descent from km 80.88 drops 943m at -6.1% average — the longest continuous descent on the course. The race starts at 06:00 on Friday from Les with a 28-hour cutoff, finishing in Vielha.

The Camins d'Her begins its first real climb within the first half-kilometre (km 0.51), gaining 1,360m over 6.75km at a 20.6% average gradient — ranking 48th of 390 European trail races for single-ascent scale. To put that in context: only 47 European ultras in DTR's database have a larger single ascent. The average gradient of 20.6% means sustained hands-on-knees or pole-assisted climbing from the opening minutes of the race. The max gradient on this section reaches 51.4%. The CDH's opening climb is steeper, on average, than any single climb found on the sibling VDA 161K course, making the shorter distance the more brutally front-loaded of the two. This opening plays directly into the CDH's character as a race where fatigue management from the first hour is critical to reaching Vielha within 28 hours.

Across six DTR ranking metrics for 390 European trail races, Val d'Aran by UTMB 110 km places in the upper-to-mid range for most measures of mountain difficulty. D+/km ranks 136/390 (top 35% for vertical density at 58.2m/km). The top single ascent ranks 48/390 — among the 50 largest single ascents in European ultra racing. The top single descent ranks 71/390 (1,242m at -19.7% average). Average uphill gradient ranks 106/390 (14.3% weighted average; top 27% for sustained steepness). Average downhill gradient ranks 280/390 on the inverted scale (-13.9% weighted average; rank 1 = gentlest; 280th = 111th steepest in Europe). Percent-flat ranks 216/390 (21.4% flat — slightly more valley-floor connector sections than many high-mountain ultras). GPX formula_gain_dev_pct = +0.070 (GPX overestimates official D+ by ~7%; official 6,400m used in content; moderate deviation, not unusual for mountain GPS in complex terrain).

The Camins d'Her runs through the Val d'Aran, a Pyrenean mountain enclave in Catalonia where Aranese — a dialect of Occitan — is co-official alongside Catalan and Spanish. The valley is walled in by peaks exceeding 2,900m and connected to the rest of Spain only by road tunnels through the mountains. The CDH course traces the valley's industrial heritage: it passes through mining tunnels and the historic mines of Liat at the foot of Mont Mauberme (2,880m), the source of the route's name — Camins d'Her means Iron Roads in Aranese, referencing the mining-era iron paths that once connected these high valleys. The route then descends through alpine lakes, waterfalls, and river corridors before arriving in Vielha, the valley's main town and festival base. Terrain is consistently alpine: exposed ridgelines, rocky scree, technical descent paths, and very little runnable forest trail compared to lower-altitude European ultras. July weather in Val d'Aran typically brings valley temperatures of 14-21 degrees C with significantly colder and more unpredictable conditions on the high passes — severe-storm disruption is a structural feature of this event, having shortened or altered multiple editions.

The Val d'Aran is genuinely remote. Toulouse Airport (TLS, France) is the closest major airport at approximately 3–4.5 hours by car. Barcelona (BCN) and Zaragoza (ZAZ) airports are 3.5–5.5 hours. Public transport options exist (buses from Toulouse and Barcelona) but are slow and impractical for race logistics. A car is strongly recommended. Vielha is the base town — accommodation is strong but books out fast in July given race week demand. The race starts in Salardú (a short distance from Vielha); shuttle services are available during race weekend. Book accommodation and arrange transport well in advance.