Trail Weeks
in the Alps with Esprit Montagne

We offer Weekends and Short Stays of Trail from 4 to 5 days:

Progress in Trail, thanks to the EAD techniques that your Mountain Leader knows:

Supervision of a Trail Stay by the Esprit Montagne team :

Go on a Trail Trip:

Our trail courses from beginner to expert:

• For beginners the easiest course is in Savoie, you can find it here.
• For the experienced we go on the most beautiful trail paths in Chamonix.
• For the experts we cross the Aravis mountains in Haute Savoie. 

The strengths of Esprit Montagne

• Passionate Trail Guides who have extensive mountain experience, they will make you progress quickly with the use of video to study your running technique and your footing;
• You eat local products prepared by your Guide, he can give you little tips and give you good contacts to improve your diet, which is greatly required by your sporting life;
• A small agency on a human scale that builds the most beautiful itineraries, far away from the beaten tracks;
• Strong actions for the environment: less transports and departures from the main train stations in the Alps;
• Small groups for more conviviality, you will be a maximum of 10 Trailers, sometimes 8, in order to be autonomous with a minibus and have more logistic freedom ...
• An agency that develops mountain beekeeping ...

The Most Beautiful Trails in the Alps

We show you off-trail or small paths routes, it's ideal to technically improve downhill. You will enjoy the most beautiful panoramas on the way up.

Take advantage of sports trips that mix trail and hiking, to travel wild routes, you can surely see wild animals along your way. Enjoy beautiful breaks near a lake or a mountain stream ...

The Mont Blanc Trail competitions :

Our trails are located near the biggest trail competitions: we choose the most beautiful parts and we cover the more aesthetic variants, thanks to our small groups led by a mountain professional!

The trail races that run through the Mont Blanc massif are many, at the end of August three major Trails are organised:

The Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc which circles Mont Blanc crossing three countries. The start is in Chamonix, then the riders go to Les Houches, Contamines, Chapieux, Courmayeur, Champex, Trient, Argentière before returning to Chamonix. The UTMB is 170 km long and about 10,000 m in altitude, the route may change depending on the weather ... It is organized at the end of August, normally the 2021 edition should take place after the cancellation of the 2020 edition because of the COVID 19 pandemic.

The CCC starts from Courmayeur in Italy and passes to Champex in Switzerland, before arriving in Chamonix in France. It is a 100 km Ultra Trail with 6100 m of positive elevation, 1900 athletes will start on 08/27/2021 at 9:00 a.m. from Courmayeur. The best ones should take around 11 a.m. and the time barrier is set at 26:30 minutes.

The TDS also starts from Courmayeur, to come to the Petit Saint Bernard pass. The descent that leads to Bourg Saint Maurice is very difficult, with more than 1,400 meters of negative elevation. The climb that follows is very difficult by the Passeur de Forclaz, then by the Passeur de Pralognan which is the most technical passage of the race. The organization sets up fixed ropes to secure the passage. The trail continues, passing Cormet de Roseland, the Bonhomme passes and Les Contamines. The last major difficulty is the Col du Tricot, before the descent to Les Houches and the arrival in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc.

In June for the opening of the season, several races are organized in the Chamonix valley:

The Mont Blanc Marathon starts from Chamonix de la Vallée for the summit of Posettes, then descends to Tré-le-Champs before ascending to the Aiguilles Rouges reserve in front of the Mont Blanc glaciers. The finish of the race is near the station of the Plampraz cable car, after 42 km of running.

The Mont Blanc Vertical Kilometer is the fastest race, with its 1000 meters of elevation gain: the record is held by the Frenchman François Gonon in 34 minutes and 07 seconds, the old record was set by Kilian Jornet in 2014 in 10 more seconds. The departure is from the church of Chamonix, then the route climbs under the line of the Plampraz cable car.

The Mont Blanc 80 km  is very demanding, it is an early season trail with very technical descents and climbs in the Chamonix valley. You run mainly in France with a small passage in Switzerland at the Emosson dam. It's the Tour of the Chamonix Valley: at the foot of Mont Blanc the paths are difficult, prepare yourself well! Be careful, it is probably the most difficult over this distance ...

The Trail des Fiz

The Trail of 5 or 8 refuges, depending on the distance, is one of the most beautiful trails of the summer facing Mont Blanc.

The Tour des Géants:

This is the Trail that goes around the Aosta Valley: you run near Mont Blanc, Grand Paradis, Mont Rose, Matterhorn and Grand Combin. That's 330 km and 24,000 vertical meters near the highest peaks in the Alps. This is the Everest of Running, a solid preparation and several years of training are absolutely necessary before imagining being able to make this trail competition, which takes place over 7 days.

The Little Saint Bernard Trail:

Something new: this is one of the wildest and most difficult trails in the Alps. It takes place on the southern slope of Mont Blanc. The departure takes place around the end of September or the beginning of October from the Petit Saint Bernard pass. The route goes through the Col des Chavannes, the Col de la Seigne, the Col de l'Ouillon and the Col de Forclaz before returning to the Petit Saint Bernard.

The Aiguilles Rouges Trail:

A great classic which is well known for its difficulty and its beauty. The Trail takes place in front of Mont Blanc in the Aiguilles Rouges reserve!

How to train for trail running in winter?

Winter is always a bit special for runners, you have to go with a frontal at nightfall after work to continue training: many runners lose their motivation during this period. For Esprit Montagne, winter is the best time to change a bit of activity and do a sliding endurance sport!

Discover endurance sports such as Cross-Country Skiing and Ski Touring:

Esprit Montagne offers you to exchange your trail shoes for a pair of cross-country or touring skis. Cross-country skiing is one of the most complete sports, all muscle chains are called upon with coordination and balance work which will allow you to work on all the fundamentals of trail running.

Ski touring allows you to reach the summits with even more technique: you will need good skiing technique and learning the weather and snow is the main difficulty if you do not go with a Guide!

A period of rest for your joints by reducing the impact:

Take advantage of the winter to give your body a little rest, for a good training the rest phases are necessary, for the mental as the physical one, but not more than two weeks without activity!