Getting In · International ultra
Tor des Géants
Three hundred and thirty kilometres around the Aosta Valley, over twenty-five mountain passes, with twenty-four thousand metres of climbing, in six days. Many people who have run everything call Tor des Géants the hardest race in the world.
- Distance
- 330 km~205 miles
- Climbing
- 24,000 m~79,000 ft
- Cutoff
- 150 hours
- Passes
- 25+ above 2,000 m
- Registration
- March 1 to 15
- Field
- ~1,000
The Tor follows the Alta Via routes around the Aosta Valley in a loop from Courmayeur, under the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa and Gran Paradiso. It has a 150-hour cutoff, which sounds generous until you realise the course includes more than twenty-five passes above 2,000 metres and that nearly all of them are steep on both sides.
The race is organised around life bases, roughly every 50 kilometres, where runners can sleep, eat properly, and access drop bags. How you use them determines your race: sleep too little and you'll hallucinate off a ridge at 3,000 metres, sleep too much and the cutoff catches you.
How to get in
- Open entryThe March registration window
Registration has run from March 1 to March 15, or until spots fill. It is not a pure lottery in the Western States sense, but demand is high and there are eligibility requirements based on your ultra history.
- Time qualifierThe TORX eXperience route
Finishing a TORX eXperience race earns you a PAX, a guaranteed Tor des Géants bib, regardless of finishing position. This is the most reliable and most overlooked entry path: run one of the organisation's other events in the Aosta Valley and your 330 is secured.
- LotteryWaitlist and draw
Depending on demand in a given year, a draw or waitlist applies to the general window.
Six days of decisions
- Sleep at life bases, not on the mountain. Plan roughly 60 to 90 minutes per life base and adjust from there.
- Poles are essential, and so is knowing how to use them uphill and down for six days without destroying your hands and shoulders.
- Weather at 3,000 metres in September includes snow. Mandatory kit is substantial and enforced.
- Feet, again. Six days of wet, rocky descent. Change socks at every life base without exception.
- Eat Italian. The refuges serve real food. Take it. Nobody finishes the Tor on gels.
Questions runners actually ask
How do I guarantee entry to Tor des Géants?
Finish a TORX eXperience race. Finishers receive a PAX, a guaranteed Tor des Géants bib, regardless of their finishing position.
When does registration open?
The general window has run from March 1 to March 15, or until the available places fill.
How hard is it really?
330 kilometres with 24,000 metres of climbing over more than twenty-five passes above 2,000 metres, in 150 hours. Many experienced ultrarunners rate it the hardest race in the world.
Go to the source
Entry rules, dates, standards, fees, and odds change every single year, and the interesting races change them the most. Use this guide to build the plan; use the official site to confirm the details before you book anything.
If this is your kind of thing
Need the races in between? The hard part of a bucket list year is everything else on the calendar: the qualifier, the tune-up, the long run with a bib on.