The Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (also referred to as UTMB) is a mountain ultramarathon. It takes place once a year in the Alps, across France, Italy and Switzerland. The distance is approximately 166 km, with a total elevation gain of around 9,400 m. Some believe that it is the most difficult foot race in Europe.
While the best trailers complete the loop in slightly more than 20 hours, most runners take 30 to 45 hours to reach the finish line. There is no prize money awarded.
From 2006, a second race Courmayeur - Champex - Chamonix (half-loop) has also been organised, and a third race was added in 2009: "Sur les Traces des Ducs de Savoie".
Today, the races consist of the following;
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The route follows basically the Tour du Mont Blanc hiking path, that is usually completed in 7 to 9 days by hikers. This is a loop around Mont Blanc.
It starts from Chamonix (1,035 m) and goes up to the Col de Voza (1,653 m) to reach Les Contamines (1,150 m). It then climbs to the Croix du Bonhomme (2,479 m) before going down back to Les Chapieux (1,549 m), which is the first life base. The path then runs up to the Col de la Seigne (2,516 m) to enter Italy, follows the ridge of the Mont-Favre (2,435 m) before going down to Courmayeur (1,190 m), the second life base. It climbs again to the Refuge Bertone (1,989 m) and Arnuva (1,769 m) before reaching its highest point, the Grand Col Ferret (2537 m), which also marks the border with Switzerland. The path goes down again to Praz de Fort (1,151 m) via La Fouly (1,593 m) before reaching the third life base, Champex d'en Bas (1,391m). The last part includes two rather low cols: Bovine (1,987 m) and Les Tseppes (1932 m) separated by Trient (1,300 m). On the descent to Vallorcine (1,260 m), the path enters back France, crosses Argentière (1,260 m) before terminating at Chamonix, its starting point.
Slight variations are applied to the route every year sometimes for safety reasons. In 2010, the route was 166 km long for a total elevation gain of 9500m.
A more detailed profile can be found on the official web site: UTMB profile.
In 2003 and 2004, respectively 700 and 1,400 runners entered the race. In 2005, the 2000 runners limit was reached for the first time after 7 months of registration opening. In 2006, the organisers decided to create the CCC in order to allow more runners into the event. The registrations were sold out in only 2 weeks. In 2007, it was decided that the runners must qualify, by running qualifying races beforehand gaining points. That year the 2,000 runners limit was reached in less than 10 hours of opening. For the 2008 event, 2,000 runners registered in only 7 minutes, 5 months before the race. For the 2009 event, the qualifying criteria was raised to limit runners and a draw was also introduced to make entry fairer, giving equal chance to everyone, and make registration more orderly. Despite the higher criteria this year 45% of qualifying entrants were still denied a place, and therefore organisers have raised entry standards still further for the 2010 event to make the entry-selection further based on capability and experience rather than luck of the draw.
| Year | Runners | Finishers | Winner | Winner time | |
| 2003 | 722 | 67 | Dachhiri Dawa Sherpa | 20h05 | |
| 2004 | 1383 | 420 | Vincent Delebarre | 21h06 | 2004 full results |
| 2005 | 2000 | 774 | Christophe Jaquerod | 21h11 | 2005 full results |
| 2006 | 2535 | 1151 | Marco Olmo | 21h06 | 2006 full results |
| 2007 | 2319 | 1437 | Marco Olmo | 21h31 | 2007 full results |
| 2008 | 2500 | 1269 | Kilian Jornet | 20h58 | 2008 full results |
| 2009 | 2500 | 1382 | Kilian Jornet | 21h33 | 2009 full results |
| 2010 | 2400* | - | Jez Bragg* | ||
| 2011 | Kilian Jornet | 20h36 | |||
| Year | Runners | Finishers | Winner | Winner time | |
| 2006 | 1054 | 854 | Corinne Favre | 10h35 | 2006 full results |
| 2007 | 1609 | 1332 | Julien Chorier | 10h19 | 2007 full results |
| 2008 | 1318 | Guillaume Le Normand | 12h26 |
More pictures about the Ultra-Trail Tour du Mont-Blanc: