How to follow UTMB 2026 runners without (too much) damage

Our best tips for following UTMB 2026 without trashing the environment, and without adding to the traffic chaos.

The environmental footprint of outdoor sports, and trail races in particular, has become a hot topic as the sport keeps booming. Nowhere is that tension more obvious than at UTMB, the global event based in Chamonix and its valley, but also crossing into Switzerland and Italy.

Overloaded roads, near-impossible parking, jam-packed sidewalks, even getting around on foot becoming a headache… the situation is close to tipping over, and the new municipality has even floated the idea of “scaling down” the event in the years ahead.

On top of the 10,000 qualified runners across the various races, there are roughly 50,000 spectators and followers in a gigantic open-air stadium where you can’t exactly shut the gates. A natural “stadium” we need to protect from congestion and all the hassle that comes with it, without taking away the party for those who come to watch.

In this critical context, a balance has to be found. The organisers are working flat out on this and have put serious resources into it, including a public transport plan with a budget of more than €500,000 to move athletes and supporters around, fully aware that the long-term future of the event depends on it.

Use UTMB Mobility or the trains

Cutting down on solo car trips to reduce pollution in the valleys and ease pressure on the roads: that’s the whole point of the transport system now called UTMB Mobility, in place since 2004 and beefed up every year. It’s become a major operation, with shuttles to reach the different starts and the mobilisation of 120 buses across 15 routes and 28 stops served!

The transport guide during the event

That means 60% of the event’s course is reachable by bus, to certain aid stations. But these services are paid and require buying UTMB Mobility Passes.

These Passes are even more useful because during the event, many roads and parking lots are closed to traffic, making it impossible to reach Les Contamines-Montjoie, St-Gervais, Courmayeur, La Fouly, Champex-Lac, Col de la Forclaz, Trient and Vallorcine by private car. Parking is prohibited there, so access is only possible via the UTMB Mobility shuttles.

The list of closed roads and parking lots

The catch: UTMB Mobility Passes need to be booked well ahead of race week. So forget it if you’re thinking about a last-minute impulse trip to UTMB Mont-Blanc to clap the runners through…

How do you get to the main UTMB viewing spots?

-Start/Finish - Km 0 and 176.8

Place du Triangle de l’Amitié is the beating heart of the event. At the foot of the village’s small church, it’s where the start line (and finish line) is drawn for the week’s flagship race.

Packed at the start, with 2,500 runners seated in the start zone all the way up to the first steps leading to the church, waiting patiently until 5:45 p.m. to be released onto the course.

And packed again for the various finishes (UTMB, CCC, OCC, TDS, PTL, MCC, ETC, YCC).

Getting into Chamonix is a challenge in itself, despite the car parks provided. If you’re coming from Les Houches or St Gervais, take the train instead…

The transport guide during the event

-Saint Gervais Km 22.8 / 1,000 m D+ from the start

This is the first spot where the crowds really gather. It’s still daylight, the gap between the pros and the rest hasn’t blown up yet, it’s time for the first aid station to stop and refuel, and the atmosphere is festive and electric!

To avoid gridlock in the heart of the resort, the main road will be closed on Friday 28 August, from 6 p.m. to midnight.

Volunteers are always welcoming in St Gervais

The best option is to take the train : from Chamonix, head to Saint-Gervais-les-Bains-Le Fayet station, then take the Le Valléen gondola, which goes straight up to Saint-Gervais and will be exceptionally free, both up and down, on Friday 28 August from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Park-and-ride in Passy: an UTMB Bus shuttle service will be set up to move people from the park-and-ride lots provided by the town of Passy, Avenue Joseph Thoret and Mountain Store, 170 Av. Léman Mont-Blanc, to the Le Valléen gondola base station, which takes you straight to Saint-Gervais and will therefore be free.

The list of closed roads and parking lots

-Notre-Dame de la Gorge - Km 36.9 / 1,628 m D+

UTMB enters its first night here. It’s the last date with “civilisation” before heading into the first truly wild section of the race and leaving the valley noise behind. This passage has become legendary since the Roman road, marking the start of the long climb to Croix du Bonhomme (1,300 m higher), gets stormed by supporters and turns into a real fan zone, with spectators yelling out their final encouragement before runners disappear into the solitude of the night.

The UTMB Mobility bus service will run between Saint-Gervais (MJC car park) and Les Contamines (Lay and Notre-Dame de la Gorge park-and-ride lots).

Local special buses and shuttles are also organised, such as loops between Pont des Loyers or Les Contamines town centre and Notre-Dame de la Gorge).

-Courmayeur - 83.3 km / 4,740 m D+

The race slipped into Italy a little earlier via Col de la Seigne, and in the early hours of the morning, the huge Courmayeur sports hall welcomes the first athletes into a proper life base where everyone can change and eat; later on, much of the field will even sleep there… before heading back out for the 2nd half of the race.

Once it’s daylight, the Dolonne gondola and the Maison Vielle chairlift run with adapted schedules as the athletes pass through, allowing followers and spectators to get up onto the heights above Courmayeur.

-Champex-Lac - Km 130 / 7,428 m D+

Welcome to Switzerland! Aid stations here are incredibly warm, with announcers who are always supportive and welcoming. It’s another place where the race can swing, after the endless descent from Grand Col Ferret, where conditions can feel wintry and a lead can melt away in no time. Later in the day, the place can sometimes look like a field hospital, with bodies really starting to creak at this point in the course… To get there, if you don’t have a UTMB Mobility Pass, you can use Swiss public transport: train to Orsières, then bus or walk.

-Vallorcine - Km 158.6 / 9,000 m D+

Back in France, in the Chamonix Valley. You can almost taste the finish from here, even if there are still the brutal climbs to Col des Montets and then up to La Flégère before you can hope to see the finish line.

Instead of driving and clogging up the small town of Vallorcine, take the (red) train to get there from Chamonix (and back to the finish). It’s a smarter play, especially if you want to watch the winner come through, than driving out and back, hunting for a parking spot in Chamonix, and, almost guaranteed, missing the first finisher…

-La Flégère - Km 170 / 10,000 m D+

The top of the race’s final climb. From Col des Montets, it’s a grinding ascent with zero shelter, where the sun can hit hard.

You can reach it via the Flégère gondola from Chamonix/Les Praz, and make it to UTMB’s last aid station before the finish in Chamonix. You’ll almost certainly cross paths with the future winners, who you’ll spot from far off, and you’ll get a long look if you walk a bit up the course (without getting in the athletes’ way, obviously).

One last push before dropping into the descent to Chamonix

Cheering: yes. But keep it reasonable…

Cheering is part of the race, and the atmosphere at the checkpoints will stay among runners’ best memories. Maybe the followers’ too. But the event runs for several days (and nights), in places where locals are trying to sleep, and on trails where wildlife lives and rests. So sound systems, horns, instruments and flares aren’t necessarily welcome.