Along the Way: Swiss Trail Running Guidebook Updates
Photos: Sam Hill
IT’S BEGUN.
After months of research, map-scouring, route planning, and conversations with trail runners and local experts across Switzerland, our new trail running guidebook is officially moving from the desk to the mountains.
This summer, we’ll be out on the trails photographing, running, writing, testing routes, checking train connections, chasing good light, and doing our best to capture the kind of running that makes Switzerland such an incredible place to run – and we plan on sharing the adventure with you! Follow along on this post that we’ll update throughout the summer.
First up, meet Sam — one of the authors of the book, and the person behind the camera for the project. He has a busy summer ahead, producing the images for the guide and helping bring each route to life visually.
There’s a lot still to do, but the project is now very much on the move.
June 21, 2026
We’re now properly into the first phase of production for the Swiss trail running guidebook, and over the past month we’ve been out exploring some of the slightly lower mountain regions of Switzerland — from the Jura, to the Prealps, to the lower lines of the Bernese Oberland.
These early shoots have been about getting into the rhythm of the project: meeting runners, chasing weather windows, figuring out logistics, gathering route information, and slowly starting to shape the look and feel of the book. We’ve been lucky to work with a brilliant range of runners from all over Switzerland, who have given their time and energy to help us bring these routes to life.
Kirra, our project manager, has also been out on the trails, gathering the details we need to write accurate and useful route descriptions. Behind the scenes, we’re now working towards our first deadline with the publisher in mid-July. We’ll prepare three sample routes for a test print that will be the first chance to see how the photography, writing, design, and route information all come together on the page.
One thing that has become very clear to me already is that it really does take a village to make a project like this happen.
There has been a lot of hustling, a lot of calling in favours, and a lot of goodwill. Getting people to the right locations at the right times, often with weather changing by the hour, is not always straightforward. I’ve borrowed cars, people have driven across Switzerland on short notice, models have rearranged plans, and a lot of people have said yes without needing much convincing.
A perfect example is my friend Gasara, who has loved the previous guidebooks and was immediately enthusiastic about being part of this one. She has now modeled on two shoots, lent me her car for days at a time with no questions asked, and once woke up at 4am to get to a location, only to sit in the car for two hours while the rain passed before we could finally get out on the trail.
That kind of kindness and enthusiasm is what makes this project such a lovely thing to work on. Yes, we’re making a book about trail running in Switzerland, but already it feels like we’re also making something shaped by all the people who are generously helping it come together.
I’m hugely grateful for all the support so far, and to everyone who has been involved in these first shoots. It really means a lot.
More to come…
