Collontrek: Course, Elevation & Route Profile

Course & Elevation

The course starts on the crest of the Place-Moulin dam at 1,989 metres and rolls along the reservoir for the first four kilometres, with short counter-climbs but no real vertical. At kilometre 4.8 it tips up: 5.35 kilometres averaging 15.2 per cent and gaining 815 metres lead past Prarayer to the Rifugio Nacamuli, and from kilometre 10.6 the steepest ramp of the day follows, 1.4 kilometres at close to 20 per cent.

The high point comes at kilometre 12.3: the Col Collon, which is also the Italian-Swiss border. None of this is running terrain. Sixteen per cent of the route crosses glacier, 48 per cent alpine mountain path and only two per cent asphalt; the course is graded T4 on the Swiss Alpine Club scale. Ice crampons with at least eight points are mandatory kit, along with a windproof jacket, full-length clothing, gloves and valid ID for the customs check. The line follows old crossings used for centuries by farmers and smugglers between the Haute Valpelline and the Val d'Hérens.

From the col the route drops roughly a thousand metres over the Arolla glacier and Plan Bertol into the Val d'Hérens, interrupted by a 79-metre counter-climb at kilometre 16.8. The finish sits at 2,006 metres in Arolla - almost exactly the starting altitude, but in a different country.

Pacing Strategy

The unit here is the team, not the individual: a team's time is taken from the second member across the start and finish lines, and the route is covered together. Anyone starting in wave A therefore plans from kilometre one around the pace of the weaker half. Along the reservoir that costs nothing; on the 15 per cent slope from kilometre 4.8 it decides the day.

The climb to the col is the core of the race. Only six per cent of the course is flat and around 60 per cent is steeply up or steeply down, so there is very little actual running. Brisk, even hiking with poles at an effort you can hold for over two hours beats alternating between running and standing still.

The most common misjudgement is the opening four kilometres: flat, tempting to run, and exactly the reserve you will want 800 metres of climbing later. The second is the col itself. Putting crampons on, crossing the glacier and cooling down at 3,000 metres all happen at once, and the rulebook explicitly expects the weather to swing from fine to wind, fog and ice. Keep the warm layer accessible before the col, not at the bottom of the pack.

Training plan for Collontrek: 12-week build

For a reasonably trained team in wave A the effort lasts roughly five to seven hours. Its character is not that of a running race but of a long alpine day: aerobic throughout, hiked for much of its length, with heavy load on legs and trunk from poles, pack and uneven ground.

The decisive sections are the 5.35 kilometres from kilometre 4.8 and the ramp of nearly 20 per cent that follows. Neither can be prepared for without real vertical: long mountain days with 800 to 1,200 metres of climbing in one push, deliberately at hiking pace, with poles and with the pack you will carry on race day. The descent to Arolla is just as long at around a thousand metres and asks for sure footing on boulder terrain rather than running economy.

Conditions are the second training topic. The course stays above 2,500 metres for hours, crosses a glacier and is graded T4. Crampons should have been fitted to your race shoes and walked in at least once beforehand, ideally on firn or hard snow. A weekend spent above 2,500 metres takes some of the sting out of the col.

The emphases follow from that: long endurance days in the mountains rather than speed work on the flat, descending practice on technical ground while already tired, strength endurance for pole work and trunk - and at least one long day out with your team partner, because pace, breaks and fuelling have to work for the pair, not for two individuals.