Course guide · 2027

Eiger Ultra Trail E35 2027: course profile, climbs and aid stations

By Guglielmo Published · Organiser's figures checked

The E35 - North Face Trail is 36.6 km with ↑ 2,443 m of climbing, from Burglauenen to Grindelwald: 55 flat-equivalent km. The biggest climb is about two fifths of it: ↑ 948 m in 4.7 km from Wengen to Männlichen, very steep. Eigergletscher, 2,336 m, is the high point.

Race day: Saturday, 17 July 2027, start at 07:35 in Burglauenen; time limit 9:00. Part of Eiger Ultra Trail by UTMB, 14 – 18 July 2027, Grindelwald, Switzerland.

Course facts · 2027

Distance
36.6 kmOrganiser
Gain
↑ 2,443 mOrganiser
Loss
↓ 2,306 mOrganiser
D+ per km
67 mOrganiser's figures
Flat-equivalent
54.6 kmPendio, from the GPX
High point
2,336 mPendio, from the GPX

Header: 35 km and 2,500 m; this page uses the course table. GPX: the organiser's 2026 file.

Elevation · E35 - North Face Trail peak 2,336 m
0 km36.0 km
Hardest climb4.7 km @ +20.4 %
Hardest descent6.2 km @ −16.5 %
Distance
36.0 km
Gain
↑ 2,422 m
Loss
↓ 2,286 m
Peak
2,336 m

The GPX's own numbers, a little under the organiser's figures.

Where is the E35 - North Face Trail decided?

On the climb from Wengen to Männlichen, before half-way.

More of this course goes down than up, and over a quarter of its length climbs steeply, with as much again descending steeply. It does not start easy. The first leg out of Burglauenen climbs steeply for about 600 m, then drops steeply into Wengen; a quarter of the whole race’s work is done there. At the time-limit pace you reach Wengen just before ten on Saturday morning.

Wengen to Männlichen is 946 m of climbing in under 5 km, without a metre of descent. It is the biggest climb of the course and very steep, 20 % on average, and kilometre for kilometre it is the hardest leg by a distance, nearly twice as hard as the average. Almost a quarter of the whole race’s work is done on it, and at the top half the work is behind you. At the time-limit pace you reach Männlichen at five to twelve.

After Männlichen comes the gentlest leg of the course, short and mostly downhill to Kleine Scheidegg, where well over half the work is done, at twenty-five to one at the time-limit pace. Then comes the steepest of the big climbs: Kleine Scheidegg up to Eigergletscher, 340 m at 23 %, very steep.

The leg from Kleine Scheidegg to Brandegg is the longest stretch between aid stations, 11 km, and the biggest share of the work of any leg. From Eigergletscher the course drops about 1,000 m on its biggest descent, steep, to Brandegg and just past it; the leg loses nearly 1,200 m in all. Three quarters of the work is done on it, and five sixths at Brandegg, at five past three at the time-limit pace.

The last leg, 7 km from Brandegg to Grindelwald, has one more short steep climb and a steep drop before the finish, and loses twice what it gains. At the time-limit pace you finish at twenty-five to five in the afternoon.

Organiser's distances and heights; Pendio's shares and clock.

Where does the E35 - North Face Trail's effort go, aid station by aid station?

Organiser: km, ↑, ↓ and supplies (2027). Pendio: the shares. How we measure courses.
Legkm ↑ m↓ m DistanceEffort
→ Wengenkm 8.8 · food 8.8 737357 24 % 25.7 %
→ Männlichenkm 13.6 · food 4.8 9460 13 % 23.0 %
→ Kleine Scheideggkm 18.1 · food 4.5 27189 12 % 7.8 %
→ Brandeggkm 29.3 · food 11.2 4571,179 31 % 27.4 %
→ Grindelwaldfinish · km 36.6 7.3 276581 20 % 16.1 %

The course in detail

Flat-equivalent distance

54.6 km for 36.0 km on the map

Terrain

Climbing 41 %Flat 5 %Descending 54 %

Distance in each grade band
GradeDistanceShare
≤ −20 %3.7 km10.3 %
−20 / −15 %2.7 km7.5 %
−15 / −10 %3.7 km10.3 %
−10 / −6 %3.3 km9.2 %
−6 / −3 %3.3 km9.1 %
−3 / −1 %2.6 km7.4 %
−1 / +1 %1.8 km5.1 %
+1 / +3 %1.1 km3.2 %
+3 / +6 %1.3 km3.5 %
+6 / +10 %1.9 km5.2 %
+10 / +15 %2.6 km7.1 %
+15 / +20 %2.5 km6.8 %
> +20 %5.6 km15.4 %

D+ per 10 km

0–10 km924 m
10–20 km983 m
20–30 km282 m
30–36.0 km287 m

Biggest climbs

From (km)Length (km)D+ (m)AverageSteepest 100 m
8.84.7948+20.4 %+35.2 %
0.33.8594+15.5 %+29.7 %
19.31.5340+23.3 %+34.1 %
30.91.0123+12.1 %+16.8 %
4.40.6115+20.1 %+28.4 %

Biggest descents

From (km)Length (km)D− (m)AverageSteepest 100 m
24.86.21,014−16.5 %−27.8 %
6.02.6297−11.5 %−30.5 %
22.52.2273−12.6 %−28.6 %
33.50.7128−19.2 %−26.2 %
17.31.3100−7.6 %−14.3 %

Coming from road marathons?

  • 36.6 km is 5.6 km less than a marathon.
  • Steeper than 10 %: 29 % of it going up, 28 % coming down.
  • The longest stretch without aid is the 11.2 km to Brandegg; the shortest is 4.5 km.

How does it compare?

Organiser: km and ↑. Pendio: the rest. Every course side by side.
Coursekm↑ mD+ per kmFlat-equivalentSteeper than ±10 %
E35 - North Face Trail 36.62,44367 m54.6 km57 %
Chianti Marathon Trail 46.81,64035 m53.5 km28 %
Lavaredo 50K 48.72,65555 m64.2 km47 %
E51 - Panorama Trail 52.82,86154 m72.2 km46 %
E101 - Ultra Trail 100.76,39163 m146.6 km56 %

Plan your E35 - North Face Trail

Your target time, shared out by effort between Wengen, Männlichen, Kleine Scheidegg and one more aid station, with your clock at each one against the 9:00 time limit at the finish in Grindelwald, the fueling plan and a pace card.

The course and its GPX on the organiser's site ↗ Add to Pendio

Adds the E35 - North Face Trail 2027 course to your Pendio account, with its aid stations as a race plan. Your phone or browser downloads the file from the organiser's own site, and Pendio checks it against the file this page measured.

Questions

How long is the E35 - North Face Trail?

36.6 km, ↑ 2,443 m and ↓ 2,306 m, from Burglauenen to Grindelwald (the organiser's 2027 figures); their GPX measures 36.0 km and ↑ 2,422 m.

How much of the E35 - North Face Trail is flat?

Almost none: 5 % of the E35 - North Face Trail is flat, about 2 km; 41 % climbs and 54 % descends.

What is the E35 - North Face Trail time limit?

9:00 from the 07:35 start, so the finish in Grindelwald closes at 16:35; the organiser's course table gives no cut-off before it.

What is the biggest climb on the E35 - North Face Trail?

↑ 948 m in 4.7 km from Wengen to Männlichen, very steep: 20 % on average, 35 % over its steepest 100 m.