Cross Switzerland Trail Run (August 2015)
About to set out on a new adventure tomorrow morning. With two great friends (Rob Thompson and Dan Janney) and a trusted guide, we’ve planned a “trail run” across Switzerland from the northeast to the southwest borders in two weeks. We will be avoiding roads and using the famed Swiss trail system to cross over 20 high passes.
Though most sections of the route have been well documented, we won’t know the full distance or elevation gains until we get out there. We estimate it’ll be over 250 miles and more than 70,000 feet of elevation gain. Our plan is 25–30 miles and 6–8k feet of elevation gain per day. With rest/weather days off, we hope to finish in 2 weeks.
The Route
Our route (below and interactive map) makes an “S” shape across Switzerland, hence our name for the run: “SxS”. It starts in the ancient border town of Sargans, travels over 100 miles southwest to Grindelwald (along a portion of the Alpine Pass Route, the APR). There we will traverse the first of three peaks which defined our route: the Eiger. After a rest day in Grindelwald, we will turn south for about 80 miles until we reach Zermatt and our second peak, the Matterhorn. Following another rest day in Zermatt, our final stage will take us on a modified version of the famous “Haute Route” for about 80 miles to our destination in Chamonix, and Mont Blanc.
Why?
The inspiration for this adventure came from both my wife Amy and our youngest daughter Olivia (age 7). Neither has much liked my mountain climbing trips, given the risks involved. So I thought: I love the “long-and-low” sport of trail running, and I’ve heard about crossing Switzerland border-to-border via the APR.
Talking with our guide Dan Corn, he said “We can’t just pass the Eiger, how about a route that traverses all three major peaks?” Add two insane friends willing to join me, the grandeur and scale of the Swiss Alps, a vast national trail system we can tailor to our route, AND we can sleep in small hotels and avoid the hassles of digging a snow camp every night…perfect!
The Unknown
The part of SxS that is exciting but scary for me is that it has not been done before, as far I can tell. Each leg has been hiked but I can’t find anyone who has charted this particular route, let alone as a trail run with just light running pack from start to finish over two weeks (widely-scattered swiss hotels makes this even possible.)
By “scary,” I don’t mean the “freak-storm-on-a-major-peak” kind of scary. I mean that I don’t know if my body will hold up day after day trying to cover these distances coupled with the elevation gains. One badly rolled ankle and that could be it. But all four of us have been training for this (though Mr. Corn could do this in his sleep) and we’ll see how things go, day by day.
Updates
I plan to post updates here (with Twitter/FB links) throughout SxS. Stay tuned and thanks for your good wishes. Special thanks to Amy and the kids for the freedom to be away from home for this adventure!
