HOKA UTMB Mont-Blanc
HOKA UTMB Mont-Blanc – PTL
Chamonix
Race guide
Updated 18 July 2026
The PTL — La Petite Trotte à Léon — is the most extreme event of the HOKA UTMB Mont-Blanc week: a 300 km loop from Chamonix with a staggering 23688 m of positive climb and a high point of 3198 m. It is run in teams, semi-autonomously, without waymarking in the conventional sense, and it circles the Mont-Blanc massif across three countries on terrain that ranges from trail to high alpine passes. This is not a race in the ordinary sense — there is no ranking in the competitive spirit of UTMB, and the challenge is completion and shared survival over multiple days and nights. With over 23000 m of climbing spread across 300 km, the PTL asks for mountaineering judgment, navigation, sleep management and team cohesion far more than raw speed. The checkpoints trace a route that tops out above 3000 m twice and repeatedly drops into deep valleys before climbing back into the high country.
The course and terrain
The PTL runs 300 km with 23688 m of ascent, starting and finishing in Chamonix (around 1035-1043 m) and reaching a high point of 3198 m. The route threads through a series of remote checkpoints: Vallorcine at 41.3 km (1355 m), Cabane du Trient at 66.9 km (3137 m), Orsières at 92.1 km (883 m), Fionnay at 122.2 km (1494 m), Cabane de Chanrion at 141.9 km (2456 m), Rifugio Champillon at 168.5 km (2554 m), Saint Rhemy at 186.9 km (1609 m), Courmayeur at 216.1 km (1292 m), and Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme at 251 km (2451 m) before the long return to Chamonix. The terrain is what sets the PTL apart. The altitude of points like Cabane du Trient (3137 m) and the 3198 m high point means genuine high-mountain ground — scree, rock, snowfields and exposed passes rather than runnable singletrack. The enormous vertical-to-distance ratio, nearly 24000 m of climb over 300 km, tells you that a large fraction of the route is spent hiking steeply up or picking a careful line down, often off any obvious path.
Where the race is won and lost
On the PTL, the decisive moments are not a single climb but the repeated returns to altitude after each valley drop. The route plunges from Cabane du Trient at 3137 m all the way down to Orsières at 883 m — a descent of more than 2200 m — then must rebuild all that height again toward Fionnay and Cabane de Chanrion at 2456 m. This sawtooth of deep valleys and high cabins is where teams either hold rhythm or fall apart. The two highest sections, Cabane du Trient (3137 m) early at 66.9 km and Rifugio Champillon (2554 m) at 168.5 km, sit near the limits of where the air thins and weather turns serious. The late high pass at Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme (2451 m, 251 km) comes when legs and minds are days deep into fatigue — surviving that final high crossing with enough left to cover the last 49 km back to Chamonix is the true test of the event.
Pacing and fuelling over multiple days
The cut-offs stretch the PTL across most of a week. Chamonix starts Mon 08:00, Vallorcine closes Tue 03:00, Orsières Wed 07:00, Fionnay Thu 00:30, Rifugio Champillon Thu 22:00, Saint Rhemy Fri 09:30, Courmayeur Fri 23:00, and the Chamonix finish Sun 15:00. That timeline means teams are managing several nights of movement and unavoidable sleep deprivation, so pacing is really about managing energy, feet and rest across days rather than hitting splits. Aid and resupply are widely spaced — long gaps separate points like Cabane du Trient (66.9 km) and Orsières (92.1 km), or Courmayeur (216.1 km) and Croix du Bonhomme (251 km) — so autonomy is essential. Carry enough food and the capacity to melt or filter water for the long high sections, plan sleep strategically around the more sheltered checkpoints, and keep the team eating steadily; on an effort measured in days, the runner who stops fuelling is the one who ends the whole team's race.
Conditions and the team format
At 3198 m the PTL is exposed to full high-mountain weather, and across a multi-day window in late August that can mean heat in the valleys, freezing wind and snow on the passes, storms, and cold nights above 2500 m at Champillon and Chanrion. The semi-autonomous, unmarked nature of the course puts a premium on navigation and mountaineering skill: teams must read terrain, manage exposed sections in poor visibility, and make honest safety decisions about whether to continue over a high col. The PTL is run in teams for good reason — the combination of sleep deprivation, technical high ground and remoteness makes solitary travel dangerous. Success depends on partners who can share navigation, keep morale up through the low hours, and watch each other for signs of hypothermia or exhaustion. Come with alpine kit, real experience on technical high terrain, and the mindset that finishing together, safely, is the entire goal.
Race HOKA UTMB Mont-Blanc – PTL with Crux
Get the strategy, fuelling and crew plan dialled for this exact course — built from the real route, climbs and cut-offs. Your first race is free.
Plan this race — freeCourse profile
Checkpoints & cut-offs
✓ Course data verified against the official source (2026-07-17) · official source
0 km · 1043 m · Mon 08:00
41.3 km · 1355 m · Tue 03:00
66.9 km · 3137 m · —
92.1 km · 883 m · Wed 07:00
122.2 km · 1494 m · Thu 00:30
141.9 km · 2456 m · —
168.5 km · 2554 m · Thu 22:00
186.9 km · 1609 m · Fri 09:30
216.1 km · 1292 m · Fri 23:00
251 km · 2451 m · —
300 km · 1035 m · Sun 15:00
More races
More UTMB World Series Finals
More in France
Similar distance (100 miles and beyond)
Racing HOKA UTMB Mont-Blanc – PTL?
Get a complete race strategy — pacing, fuelling, crew plan and the crux moments — built on this exact course.
Plan your race in Crux →Strava is your training. Crux is your races.