GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Run News Aug 8, 2011

Nieuws van de Transalpine website ....
"The second stage alone, with its distance of 53 km and 2,481 m of climb, is probably the toughest stage the Transalpine-Run has ever seen.". Blij dat we op 21 augustus nog de Trail des Fantomes gaan meedoen, met 50km en 2400hm een ideale voorbereiding op deze "killer stage".

New course - new challenges

The course of the Gore-Tex Transalpine-Run 2011 has been finalized and, aside from the old, well-known sections, also offers new athletic challenges and great panoramas. The Vivalpin Team has worked hard to make this year's course even more exciting.

The first stage from Oberstdorf to Hirschegg is already testament to the new design. On 27.20 km and 1,806 m of elevation difference, the western route sets out as a varied course with many trail parts into Kleinwalsertal and is thus perfect to prepare the athletes for the next two "killer stages."

Soundbite by Wolfgang Pohl (course director): “The Gore-Tex Transalpine-Run 2011, with more than 273 km of distance and 15,436 m of climb, offers the most challenging course that was ever run on the Western route from Oberstdorf to Latsch in Vinschgau. While the tried and tested stages between Galtür in the Paznauntal and Latsch were left untouched and the Uina gorge or the Rappenscharte remain as highlights of the stage, stages two and three especially will demand everything of its participants. The second stage alone, with its distance of 53 km and 2,481 m of climb, is probably the toughest stage the Transalpine-Run has ever seen. The third stage won’t be one bit less demanding, being physically challenging with 43 km of distance and 2,672 m of climb, but also offering one of the most beautiful trails of the central Alps, the “Wormser Höhenweg.” I think these facts alone are making clear that the Transalpine-Run 2011 is going to write trail running history...”

Participants continue on stage four from Galtür to Scoul, which, with 39.92 km of distance and 2339 m of elevation difference, will probably not offer any respite. Now the fifth stage awaits participants, which is coming in the form of a mountain sprint from Scuol up to the 2.130 m high Motta Naluns. Aside from stamina and endurance, the athletes' mountain running skills will make a difference here. The steep ascent over 6.19 km and 936 m of elevation on uneven ground will demand everything of the runners. The ideal program for the highly anticipated "rest day" on the Western route. These efforts will be rewarded on stage six from Scuol to Mals where three absolute highlights with overwhelmingly beautiful landscapes follow, the Uina gorge, the crossing of Schlinig Pass and the long alpine path toward Plantapatsch Hut. With a distance of 37.02 km and “only” 1,332 meters of elevation difference, this stage belongs, just as the opening stage of the event, to the two “easiest” stages of the Western route of the Gore-Tex Transalpine-Runs. The "roof of the Western route" will be taken on stage seven with 36.90 km. From Mals to Schlanders, participants must cross the infamous Rappenscharte (3,012 m) and thus the three-thousand-meter peak, which will be especially demanding and energy-sapping due to the extreme climbs and almost trail-less terrain above 2,000 meters.

With the eighth stage from Schlanders to Latsch, Gore-Tex Transalpine-Run 2011 participants take on their last obstacle on their long way across the Alps. The final turn of the 30.20 kilometer-long route, which still covers 1,807 m of elevation difference, takes participants into the foothills of the Ortler group and thus into the seventh mountain range of the Eastern Alps. After the peak at the Göflaner Scharte (2,396 m) the finish line in Latsch will soon come into view, where those 273 kilometers and 15,436 m of altitude difference finally come to a long wished-for end.