Trail Running · Valais

🇨🇭Sierre-Zinal:
Course Analysis & Race Readiness

31km with 2079m of gain and 978m of loss, front-loaded by a 10.6km, 1510m climb before a rolling traverse and an 8.7km, 749m descent to the finish.

CourseRecon scores your own training against the durability and climbing demands that define Sierre-Zinal — the sample analysis below shows exactly how.

31.1 km

Distance

+2,060 m

Vertical Gain

−960 m

Total Descent

Aug 8, 2026

Next Edition · 17 days out

Check YOUR readiness

Connect Strava · No card · 2 min

The Course · GPS-Measured

What 31.2 km / 19.4 mi and 2,060 m / 6,760 ft of vertical gain actually look like

Measured from the GPS track: 31.2 km / 19.4 mi and 2,060 m / 6,760 ft of vertical gain. This is the terrain you're signing up for: read it before it reads you.

Course Profile

Segments

Daylight

Terrain summary

Claimed vs GPS-Measured

Claimed · Organizer

31.1km

Distance

+2,080m

Gain

+0.0 km−20 m

GPS-Measured

31.2km

Distance

+2,060m

Gain

Climb & Gradient

+2,060 mTotal Gain

−960 mTotal Loss

Gradient Distribution

30%

Flat

≤3% grade

28%

Run-Climb

3–15% up

15%

Steep Climb

>15% up

27%

Descent

downhill

Steepest Sustained Sections

ClimbCRUX

KM 0.0–10.6 · +1,510 m

+14.2%

Descent

KM 22.5–31.2 · −749 m

-8.6%

Climb

KM 11.7–14.9 · +193 m

+6%

Climb

KM 17.3–22.4 · +269 m

+5.2%

Finish & Cutoff Times

What it takes to finish

Reference finish times from past results — use them to set a realistic goal pace.

2h 29m

Winning time

2h 33m

Top 5

2h 38m

Top 10

5h 13m

Median finisher

12h 45m

Back of pack

What This Race Demands

Four things this course asks of your body

Every course weights the four pillars of mountain-ultra fitness differently. Durability carries 35% of the scoring weight on this course — the terrain makes that the deciding factor.

Weighting shows where readiness is won or lost at this distance — not whether you need each pillar. An aerobic base is a given for a race this long, so it carries little deciding weight even though it's essential — the gaps open on the climbs, descents and the back half.

AerobicSustained engine

Foundational

Sustained effort over 31km, but no single pillar leans on pure aerobic capacity here.

ClimbingVertical power

33%

1510m gained in the first 10.6km at 14.2% average, plus later rolling grinds.

DescendingEccentric / braking

32%

749m dropped over the final 8.7km at -8.6%, on tired legs.

DurabilityLate-race resilience

35%

Legs must survive a huge early climb, then still deliver a long closing descent.

The Profile in One Line

A brutal opening climb, a rolling high traverse, then a long descent — climbing, descending, and durability share the load.

Aerobic FoundationalClimbing 33%Descending 32%Durability 35%

Here's how CourseRecon reads a course and an athlete

Sample Readiness Analysis

What a readiness result looks like for this course

This is a worked example for a representative strong mountain-ultra athlete — not your score. Connect your own training and the same analysis runs on you.

Sample

OUT OF 100

READY

For a representative strong mountain-ultra athlete

This is a sample — connect your Strava to see your own result.

Pillar Breakdown

Aerobic

With 31km and 2079m of gain, steady aerobic output matters, but the course is defined by concentrated climbing and descending rather than uniform aerobic pace.

Climbing

Over half the distance tilts uphill, headlined by a 10.6km opening climb gaining 1510m at 14.2%; 23.2% of the course sits at very steep grades.

Descending

A third of the course is downhill, capped by an 8.7km closing descent losing 749m at -8.6%, with 10% of terrain at very steep descent grades demanding braking control.

Durability

The 1510m early climb front-loads fatigue, then rolling climbs and a long final descent test the ability to hold form deep into the effort.

KM 0–10.6

The 1510m Opening Wall

The race climbs 1510m over its first 10.6km at 14.2% average, a relentless ascent from the 574m start that sets the tone before any recovery is possible.

KM 11.7–22.4

Rolling High Traverse

After the wall, two gentler climbs of 193m and 269m at 5–6% string together near the 2424m high point, demanding steady climbing legs and rhythm.

KM 22.5–31

The Closing Descent

The final 8.7km drops 749m at -8.6%, forcing sustained braking and quad control on legs already loaded by 2079m of total climbing.

That was a sample