Ultra-Trail Kosciuszko by UTMB
Ultra-Trail Kosciuszko by UTMB (UTK 161K)
Jindabyne → Thredbo
Race guide
Updated 1 July 2026
Ultra-Trail Kosciuszko by UTMB (UTK 161K) runs 161 km from Banjo Patterson Park in Jindabyne to Friday Flat in Thredbo, climbing 7248 m along the way and topping out at 2222 m. The route threads through the Snowy Mountains high country via Eagles Nest, the twin Guthega Power Station checkpoints, Perisher Ski Tube and Bullocks Flat before the long run home through Thredbo Village Green. With a finish cut-off set for Day 2 at 15:05, this is a race that stretches across two days for most of the field, which changes how you should think about pacing, light, and recovery windows as much as it changes how you think about terrain.
The course and terrain
UTK 161K opens with a climb out of Jindabyne (909 m) up to Eagles Nest at the top of the Thredbo Ski Area, 30 km in at 1127 m — a long, gradual introduction rather than a shock to the legs. From there the course goes quiet on the checkpoint sheet for a huge stretch: 67 km separate Eagles Nest from Guthega Power Station 1 (97 km, 1362 m), and it's somewhere in this unbroken middle section that the route climbs to the race's high point of 2222 m. This is the backbone of the 7248 m total D+ — a long, exposed passage through the alpine high country with no crew access and no intermediate checkpoint to break it up mentally. After Guthega, the course tightens up with checkpoints coming more frequently: Guthega Power Station 2 at 106.4 km (1343 m), a climb to Perisher Ski Tube at 116.1 km (1728 m), a drop to Bullocks Flat 2 at 128.5 km (1134 m, crew point), a climb back to Village Green in Thredbo at 147.4 km (1376 m, crew point), and finally 13.6 km to the finish at Friday Flat, Thredbo (161 km, 1370 m). The back third is a genuine roller-coaster of short, sharp elevation swings rather than one sustained effort.
Where the race is won or lost
The two moves that will define your day sit in the final 35 km. The climb from Guthega Power Station 2 (1343 m) up to Perisher Ski Tube (1728 m) — roughly 385 m of gain over under 10 km — arrives deep in the race, after the long unbroken high-country stretch has already taken its toll, and it's a real test of whether you managed that middle section conservatively enough. What follows is a sharp descent of almost 600 m into Bullocks Flat 2 (1134 m), which rewards runners who still have working quads and punishes anyone who spent them on the way up. From Bullocks Flat the course climbs again to Village Green (1376 m) before the final, comparatively gentle 13.6 km into Friday Flat. That last climb-descent-climb sequence between Guthega and Thredbo is where places change hands: runners who paced the long, checkpoint-free middle section patiently will have something left to attack this closing ladder, while those who pushed too hard through the high country will be reduced to survival mode exactly when the terrain demands the opposite.
Pacing and fuelling across two days
The single biggest lesson from runners who've done this well is to resist the pull of the early, open-feeling terrain between Jindabyne and Eagles Nest. It runs easy underfoot and it's tempting to bank time there, but that section is a deposit, not a withdrawal — the real cost of the race is paid in the long, exposed middle stretch to the 2222 m high point and in the climb-heavy final third. Go through the first 30 km patiently, even socially, and treat any speed you're tempted to spend there as speed you're stealing from Perisher and the Bullocks Flat climb later on. Because the finish cut-off falls on Day 2 at 15:05, most runners will be out on course through a full night and into a second day. Plan your fuelling and mental resets around that reality rather than around a single-push mindset: break the long middle section into deliberate chunks ('to Guthega, then reassess') instead of trying to will your way through it, and treat the closing kilometres from Bullocks Flat to Thredbo as the place to spend everything you've saved. A controlled first two-thirds is what funds a strong finish here, not a fast one.
Conditions to expect
This is high-country alpine terrain in the Snowy Mountains, with the course ranging from 909 m at the Jindabyne start up to 2222 m at its high point — expect real temperature swings between the exposed high sections and the sheltered valley floors at Bullocks Flat and Thredbo. Because the race extends into a second day for most finishers, be ready for both daytime heat exposure on the long middle stretch and the cold of a night out at altitude; carrying for both is non-negotiable given how far apart the crew points at Bullocks Flat 2, Village Green and the Thredbo finish actually are.
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Checkpoints & cut-offs
✓ Course data verified against the official source (2026-07-05) · official source
0 km · 909 m · —
12.6 km · 920 m · Fri 05:20
31.5 km · 1132 m · Fri 09:30
42.9 km · 1743 m · —
56 km · 1751 m · Fri 15:00
80 km · 1830 m · Fri 20:00
89.9 km · 1629 m · Fri 22:00
98.3 km · 1337 m · Fri 23:45
107.9 km · 1331 m · Sat 02:05
117.7 km · 1715 m · Sat 04:15
130.2 km · 1133 m · Sat 06:45
137.9 km · 1228 m · Sat 08:35
149.2 km · 1364 m · Sat 11:10
159.4 km · 1930 m · —
163.3 km · 1370 m · Sat 15:00
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