UTMB Mont-Blanc OCC 2026: course profile, climbs and cut-offs
By Guglielmo
Published · Organiser's figures checked
The OCC is 61.2 km with ↑ 3,342 m of climbing, from Orsières to Chamonix: 83 flat-equivalent km. The biggest climb is about a quarter of it: ↑ 759 m in 3.9 km to Chalet des Grands, steep. Tête de Balme, 2,310 m, is the high point.
Race day was Thursday, 27 August 2026, start at 08:15 in Orsières; time limit 14:30. 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
61.2 kmOrganiser
Gain
↑ 3,342 mOrganiser
Loss
↓ 3,221 mOrganiser
D+ per km
55 mOrganiser's figures
Flat-equivalent
83.2 kmPendio, from the GPX
High point
2,310 mPendio, from the GPX
Header: 60 km and 3,500 m; this page uses the course table.
Elevation · OCCpeak 2,310 m
0 km60.1 km
Hardest climb3.9 km @ +19.7 %
Hardest descent3.4 km @ −17.2 %
Distance
60.1 km
Gain
↑ 3,363 m
Loss
↓ 3,242 m
Peak
2,310 m
The GPX's own numbers, a little under the organiser's figures. The organiser's file has two steps in its elevation, at km 49.2 and 51.4, which the profile shows.
Where is the OCC decided?
On the climb from Trient to Col de Balme, with the race over half done.
The race starts uphill. The first leg climbs about 650 m to Champex-Lac, and the steepest of the course’s climbs is on it, very steep but short. At the time-limit pace you are at Champex-Lac at a quarter past ten on Thursday morning. The short leg on to Plan de l’Au is the one easy leg, mostly downhill. Then comes the leg to Trient, no warm-up: it climbs and drops about 800 m each way, a fifth of the whole race’s work. From Plan de l’Au the course climbs steeply twice on the way to La Giete, drops steeply from there, then falls into Trient, short and very steep. At Trient two fifths of the work is done.
Trient to Col de Balme is 1,071 m of climbing in under 10 km, the hardest leg of the course kilometre for kilometre, a third as hard again as the average. The biggest climb of the race is on it, up to the Chalet des Grands, very steep at 20 % on average. At the col three fifths of the work is done. At the time-limit pace you leave Trient at a quarter past two on Thursday and reach the col at five past five.
After the col comes the longest leg, 17 km down to Argentière, losing 1,500 m. It goes over Tête de Balme, the high point of the course, and drops steeply from there. It climbs once more to Col des Posettes, the last big climb, and then takes the biggest descent of the race, 588 m down to Le Tour, steep. At Argentière seven eighths of the work is done; at the time-limit pace it is a quarter to nine in the evening.
The finish is the easy part. From Argentière the last 11 km to Chamonix, through La Joux, count barely more than their length. No cut-off on the way is tighter than the finish; the closest is Trient’s, six hours after the start, which at an even pace any finish under 14:38 still makes. At the time-limit pace you finish at a quarter to eleven at night.
Organiser's distances and heights; Pendio's shares and clock.
How tight are the OCC cut-offs, leg by leg?
No cut-off before the finish is tighter than the 14:30 time limit at an even effort.
Organiser: km, ↑, ↓, cut-offs and supplies (2026). Pendio: the shares and the even finish. How we measure courses.
Your target time, shared out by effort between Champex-Lac, Plan de l'Au, Trient and two more aid stations, with the margin on every cut-off, the fueling plan and a pace card.
Adds the OCC 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 OCC?
61.2 km, ↑ 3,342 m and ↓ 3,221 m, from Orsières to Chamonix (the organiser's 2026 figures); their GPX measures 60.1 km and ↑ 3,363 m.
How much of the OCC is flat?
Almost none: 8 % of the OCC is flat, about 5 km; 45 % climbs and 47 % descends.
What are the OCC cut-offs?
3:00 at Plan de l'Au (km 12.1), 6:00 at Trient (km 23.9), 9:15 at Col de Balme (km 33.6), 13:00 at Argentière (km 50.3) and 14:30 at the finish, counted from the 08:15 start (the organiser's 2026 figures).
Which OCC cut-off is the tightest?
The finish: no cut-off before it is tighter than the 14:30 time limit at an even effort.
What is the biggest climb on the OCC?
↑ 759 m in 3.9 km to Chalet des Grands, steep: 20 % on average, 52 % over its steepest 100 m.