Run Fast. Eat Slow. with Elyse Kopecky in Chamonix 

You’ll arrive at the Geneva, Switzerland airport and take a 90-minute shared shuttle to Chamonix, France where you can settle into our chalet accommodations and get to know each other.

The centrally located luxury chalets each have a hot-tub, sauna, and terrace for outdoor dining – and wonderful views!

In the evening we’ll meet up to go through an overview of the tour, before enjoying a delicious catered dinner.

Today, we’ll take in a high alpine path, the Grand Balcon Nord, beneath the granite spires, called aiguilles, of the Mont Blanc range. We’ll pass the century-old Montenvers hotel high above the Mer de Glace glacier, before climbing to Signal Forbes, a dramatic viewpoint. Then we continue running above treeline to join Claude and his team at the Refuge Plan de l’Aiguille for their locally-famous fresh tarts. The descent to Chamonix winds down through forest, or you can ride the legendary Aiguille du Midi cable car down to town! 

We’ll return to our chalets with time to relax before enjoying another nutritious and tasty dinner. Tonight, our group will be joined by top mountain athlete Hillary Gerardi, who will share her experiences and training tips. Hillary will stay for dinner, allowing plenty of time to get to know this remarkable person.

We’ll run part of the Tour du Mont Blanc today, crossing the Col de Tricot, and a suspension bridge over the meltwater of the Bionnassay glacier. To start, we’ll jump in a taxi round to the pretty village of Les Contamines. It’s straight into a long uphill to reach the alpine pastures, where we can stop for something to eat and drink at the beautiful Refuge de Miage. A second steep ascent brings us to the Col de Tricot and then it’s down and around the Bionnassay glacier. We’ll run down a wide track to finish in the village of Les Houches – or there’s the option to continue along a rolling riverside path back into Chamonix to add on a few more miles.

This evening we’ll head into Chamonix for another top-notch culinary experience, this time sampling some traditional Savoyard cuisine.

Today we’ll travel by train beyond the Col des Montets at the top of the Chamonix valley and take in the Berard Valley and its beautiful waterfalls. We’ll run up the Berard valley on a rolling riverside path and then climb up above the trees. After a break to enjoy the views – and a home made fruit tea – at our high point of Refuge Loriaz, we descend on wide trails to an authentic traditional French restaurant. Here we have a choice of delicious lunch options, all featuring local produce. From there we hop on the train back to Chamonix.

We’ll take the valley train up to the quaint village of Montroc, and fast-hike up to the panoramic summit of the Aiguillette de Posettes. From here, it’s a run through high meadows to the Swiss border – where we can take a break at the mountain refuge conveniently situated right on the border!

Afterwards, the run down through the La Balme meadows is on fun single track – with the option of a gondola to reduce the amount of downhill if you prefer.

We’ll head up the valley on the train to the Col des Montets and run the Grand Balcon Sud back to Chamonix. This iconic, winding single track traverse is the last section of the famous UTMB® course, facing the enormity of the Mont-Blanc massif. There’s the option to use a gondola to reduce the descent.

Tonight we’ll have a wine-tasting featuring wines of the Alps, followed by a memorable catered dinner in our chalets, where we’ll celebrate our shared adventure in the Alps.

We’ve made new friends, learned new tips for trail running through mountain terrain, enjoyed some wonderful regional meals, and benefited from Elyse’s culinary expertise. Now it’s time to head our separate ways after a breakfast of french baguettes and croissants at our chalets.