UTMB 2026: course profile, climbs and aid stations
By Guglielmo
Published · Organiser's figures checked
The UTMB is 176.8 km with ↑ 10,000 m of climbing, a loop from Chamonix: 247 flat-equivalent km. No single climb dominates; the biggest is ↑ 866 m in 6.0 km from La Balme to Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme, steep. Col des Pyramides Calcaires, 2,571 m, is the high point.
Race day was Friday, 28 August 2026, start at 19:45 in Chamonix; time limit 45:30. These are that edition's figures, the latest on the organiser's site on 17 Oct 2026. Part of HOKA UTMB Mont-Blanc, 24 – 30 August 2026, Chamonix Mont-Blanc, France.
Course facts · 2026
Distance
176.8 kmOrganiser
Gain
↑ 10,000 mOrganiser
Loss
↓ 9,999 mOrganiser
D+ per km
57 mOrganiser's figures
Flat-equivalent
247.0 kmPendio, from the GPX
High point
2,571 mPendio, from the GPX
Header: 174 km and 9,700 m; course table: 176.8 km and 10,000 m; this page uses the table. Some cut-offs on the page belong to another edition with a different timetable; they are left out and the time limit kept.
Elevation · UTMBpeak 2,571 m
0 km173.8 km
Hardest climb6.0 km @ +14.4 %
Hardest descent5.4 km @ −17.3 %
Distance
173.8 km
Gain
↑ 10,112 m
Loss
↓ 10,111 m
Peak
2,571 m
The GPX's own numbers, a little under the organiser's figures. The organiser's file jumps 33 m in 13 m at km 155.1, which the profile shows.
Where is the UTMB decided?
On the climb out of Courmayeur to Refuge Bertone, just past half-way.
The first leg to Les Houches is the flattest of the race; the first real climb, steep, comes straight after it. The biggest climb and descent come on the leg from Les Contamines, back to back: from La Balme it rises 866 m to the Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme, then drops 942 m to Les Chapieux, both of them steep. That leg is the longest of the race and the biggest share of the effort. At the time-limit pace you leave Les Contamines at twenty-five to four on Saturday morning and reach Les Chapieux at a quarter past nine, with not quite a third of the work done.
The next leg is nearly as big, to Lac Combal over Col de la Seigne and the Col des Pyramides Calcaires, the highest ground of the course. Right after the steep drop from Maison Vieille, the course leaves Courmayeur straight up: 816 m of climbing in 5.6 km. Kilometre for kilometre it is the hardest leg of the race, more than half as hard again as the average; most of it is one very steep climb, the steepest of the course’s big ones. At the refuge, half the work is done, and the balcony to Arnouvaz that follows is 13 km with 435 m of climbing. At the time-limit pace the climb starts at a quarter past five on Saturday afternoon.
The second night, at the time-limit pace, runs from Arnouvaz at a quarter past ten on Saturday to Champex-Lac at a quarter past five on Sunday morning. The climb to Grand Col Ferret, the last of the high cols, is steep, and so is the drop to La Peule.
The finish is no run-in. After Champex-Lac, with three quarters of the effort done, the legs to Trient, Vallorcine and La Flégère each climb between about 800 and 950 m. The climb out of Trient to Les Tseppes is the last big one, steep, with a steep drop to Vallorcine after it; Vallorcine to La Flégère is the second hardest leg per kilometre. At Trient five sixths of the work is done, at twenty-five to ten on Sunday morning at the time-limit pace. From La Flégère the last descent drops 850 m into Chamonix: at the time-limit pace, Sunday afternoon, after two nights out.
Organiser's distances and heights; Pendio's shares and clock.
Where does the UTMB's effort go, aid station by aid station?
Your target time, shared out by effort between Les Houches, Saint-Gervais, Les Contamines and eleven more aid stations, with your clock at each one against the 45:30 time limit at the finish in Chamonix, the fueling plan and a pace card.
Adds the UTMB 2026 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 UTMB?
176.8 km, ↑ 10,000 m and ↓ 9,999 m, a loop from Chamonix (the organiser's 2026 figures); their GPX measures 173.8 km and ↑ 10,112 m.
How much of the UTMB is flat?
Almost none: 7 % of the UTMB is flat, about 13 km; 46 % climbs and 46 % descends.
What is the UTMB time limit?
45:30 from the 19:45 start, so the finish in Chamonix closes at 17:15, day 3; the organiser's page lists another edition's cut-offs only, so none is given before the finish.
What is the biggest climb on the UTMB?
↑ 866 m in 6.0 km from La Balme to Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme, steep: 14 % on average, 31 % over its steepest 100 m.