Speedgoat Mountain Races by UTMB
Speedgoat Mountain Races by UTMB – 30K
Snowbird Center Plaza Area
Race guide
Updated 19 July 2026
The Speedgoat Mountain Races by UTMB 30K is a 31 km race with a savage 1914 m of positive climbing, run from the Snowbird Center Plaza and topping out at 3341 m on Hidden Peak. Do not be fooled by the modest distance: with more than 60 m of climb for every kilometre and a course that lives almost entirely above 2400 m, this is one of the most concentrated doses of vertical and altitude in the by UTMB series. The race is defined by two ascents of Hidden Peak, the high point of the course, separated by a steep drop and reclimb, before a long plunge back to the Snowbird base. It is short in kilometres but enormous in effort - a race where the thin air, the sustained grade and the technical descending matter far more than raw flat speed, and where clearing the single mid-course cut-off requires genuine climbing strength.
The Course and Terrain
From the start at Snowbird Center Plaza (0 km / 2463 m, a crew point) the course climbs immediately and barely relents. Hydration Station #1 comes at 6.9 km (2644 m), then the trail rears up to Hidden Peak #1 at 15 km (3325 m) - the first summit and the cut-off point. After a descent and reclimb the route returns to Hidden Peak #2 at 20.8 km (3340 m), the high ground of the day at 3341 m, before dropping to Hydration Station #2 at 29.1 km (2641 m) and finishing at 31 km (2475 m). The numbers reveal a brutally simple shape. The first 15 km gain over 860 m to the top of Hidden Peak, an average that hides much steeper pitches on the upper mountain. Between the two Hidden Peak visits the course loses and regains altitude to tag the summit a second time, packing more climbing into a small stretch of trail. Only after 20.8 km does the course finally turn decisively downhill, giving back roughly 865 m over the closing 10 km. There is no flat to hide on - you are either climbing hard or descending steeply the entire way.
Where the Race Is Won and Lost
The crux is the sustained climb from Hydration Station #1 (2644 m at 6.9 km) to Hidden Peak #1 (3325 m at 15 km): roughly 680 m of ascent over about 8 km, gaining ground into ever-thinner air and culminating just below the course high point. This is where the field shatters. Go out too fast on the lower slopes and you arrive here already redlined, with the altitude amplifying every mistake. The second decisive section is the drop and reclimb between Hidden Peak #1 (15 km) and Hidden Peak #2 (20.8 km, the 3341 m high point). Losing and re-earning altitude above 3000 m, on legs that have already climbed for two hours, is where mental resolve counts most. Then the race flips entirely: the descent from Hidden Peak #2 down to Hydration Station #2 (2641 m at 29.1 km) is around 700 m of drop over roughly 8 km - steep, fast and quad-destroying. Runners who paced the climbs conservatively and can still descend under control here will pass many who emptied the tank on the way up.
How to Pace, Fuel and Clear the Cut-off
There is one intermediate cut-off, at Hidden Peak #1 (Sat 11:10, 15 km), with a final cut-off at the finish (Sat 17:30). Because that intermediate gate sits at the top of the main climb, it effectively demands a strong, steady ascent from the gun - but racing it by surging low down is a trap that leaves nothing for the second summit. Aim to reach Hidden Peak #1 with comfortable margin by climbing within yourself, not by sprinting the lower mountain. Aid is sparse and the carries are long by this course's standards: from the start to Hydration Station #1 is 6.9 km of climbing, and from Hydration Station #1 all the way over both Hidden Peak summits to Hydration Station #2 is a committing 22 km with only the summit itself in between. Leave each hydration station fully loaded with fluid and calories, and fuel steadily on the climbs while the effort is aerobic - at these altitudes your stomach tolerates small, frequent intakes far better than big feeds. Crew access is at the start/finish and the Hidden Peak points; plan to be self-sufficient across the long high-mountain middle.
Altitude and Conditions
This is a high-altitude race in the truest sense: the course sits between 2463 m and 3341 m and spends its entire middle third above 3000 m. For runners not acclimatised to that elevation, the effect is dramatic - heart rate and breathing spike, climbing pace collapses, and the risk of altitude symptoms is real. Arriving several days early to adjust, or committing to a very conservative climbing effort, is not optional preparation, it is the difference between finishing and not. The upper mountain around Hidden Peak is fully exposed at over 3300 m, where weather can turn quickly and temperatures, wind and sun are all more severe than at the Snowbird base. Carry sun protection and a wind or shell layer even on a fair-looking morning. Combine the thin air with 1914 m of climbing crammed into 31 km and steep, technical descending, and the message is clear: treat Speedgoat as a mountain challenge measured in vertical metres and altitude, not in kilometres, and pace it accordingly.
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Checkpoints & cut-offs
✓ Course data verified against the official source (2026-07-17) · official source
0 km · 2463 m · —
6.9 km · 2644 m · —
15 km · 3325 m · Sat 11:10
20.8 km · 3340 m · —
29.1 km · 2641 m · —
31 km · 2475 m · Sat 17:30
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