Glarner Berggeiss: Course, Elevation & Route Profile

Course & Elevation

The start sits at around 660 m at the Linthal valley station, and after half a kilometre the first ramp begins: nearly 2.8 km averaging about 20 per cent with pitches beyond 40, taking you straight up onto the Braunwald terrace. The course opens out there for a good kilometre before the second and steeper ramp starts at km 4.5 – roughly 1.5 km averaging a little over 24 per cent, which is what carries you up towards the Ortstockhaus.

The high point comes shortly after km seven at about 1,750 m, and from there the race reverses its character. The last five kilometres and more are a descent on flowing singletrails, broken by a short counter-climb around km ten, down to the finish at Hüttenberg at a good 1,300 m. Almost a quarter of the course drops steeply – and that is what separates the Belvedere from the shorter categories, which only run up the mountain.

The Glarner Berggeiss has been held as a Friday evening race in late summer since 2020 and counts towards the Glarner Laufcup. The start is at the mountain railway itself, luggage is carried to the finish at Hotel Cristal, and the return to the valley is by rail – which is what makes the point-to-point format workable at all. At over 1,300 m the finish cools down quickly in the evening and there are no changing rooms or showers, so warm clothes belong in the bag you hand in.

Pacing Strategy

A race with 1,200 m of climbing over 12.6 km is not planned in kilometre splits but in sections. At gradients around 20 per cent, fast hiking is more economical than running for most athletes, and the key is to make that switch early and deliberately rather than when your heart rate forces it. The first ramp should be climbed at an intensity where you could still speak – it is long enough to punish any exuberance.

The race is decided on the second ramp from km 4.5. It is steeper than the first and starts once more than 500 m of climbing is already in your legs. The flatter stretch across the Braunwald terrace in between invites you to push, because running suddenly feels easy again; treat it as active recovery instead and you arrive at the steepest passage of the day with your strength intact.

The real trap, though, comes after the high point. The descent on technical singletrails lasts more than five kilometres and hits legs that have done nothing but climb for an hour – spend everything on the way up and you lose more time coming down than you gained going up. The short counter-climb around km ten also demands that some climbing capacity is left, and the evening hours in the trees mean less light on ground that requires attention.

Training plan for Glarner Berggeiss: 12-week build

Depending on level, the effort lasts roughly 1:15 to 2:15. Its character splits cleanly in two: first a long, high-intensity climb in which heart rate sits near maximum for extended periods and the leg muscles work concentrically; then an equally long descent with heavy eccentric loading on muscles that were barely used before. Combining the two in one race is the actual task.

Two abilities decide the day. First, climbing endurance on gradients of 20 to 25 per cent, where running turns into hiking – that can only be trained on terrain that steep, not on moderate hills. Second, descending technique under fatigue: trails with changing surfaces, short steps, active foot work and trunk stability that still holds after an hour of climbing.

The conditions shape the preparation as well. The gun goes in the valley on a Friday evening and the race ends a good 650 m higher in the mountains as the day cools – the temperature range between start and finish is considerable, and the transition from warm valley air to cool mountain air at the high point needs planning for. The surface ranges from firm natural tracks to narrow trails, so mountain or trail shoes with genuine grip are mandatory.

The training emphases follow from that: long sessions with 800 to 1,200 m of continuous climbing, hill intervals of eight to fifteen minutes on steep ramps including deliberate switches between running and hiking, and regular descending sessions – ideally straight after a long climb, so the transition is not new on race day. Strength endurance for calves, quadriceps and trunk rounds it off and pays for itself in the closing kilometres.