Trail running is a sport that invites runners to  dive right into nature and to explore the territoryeto. The UTMB® has been working since its creation to limit its impact on the trails of the Tour du Mont-Blanc.   

Actions carried out throughout the year

In early summer, the UTMB® Environment Commission launches its maintenance and trail creation projects.  

In collaboration with the Municipalities concerned, it participates in the protection of the most vulnerable areas. An example of this kind of action is the boardwalk created at Petit St. Bernand to avoid trampling on the wetlands of Lake Verney, but also in the Beaufortain area, in the Sausse wetlands: here too, our volunteers have worked to build boardwalks to bypass the protected areas. Commission members are also working on trail maintenance, creating water returns on degraded tracks, or simply closing secondary pathways created by runners. In 2021, the Environment Commission plans to restore the trail up to the Bertone refuge in Italy and install a boardwalk in the Durnand de la Jure valley in Switzerland, to secure a trail exposed to debris flows. 

Footbridges on the wetland of the Sausse

Additional actions during the event

During the UTMB® Mont-Blanc a team of 25 volunteers specializing in the environment mark the trails in order to provide greater protection for sensitive areas. 

The team of environmental ambassadors may have to put up signs to prohibit the use of sticks where the ground is fragile. 

In areas where the trails divide, they make sure to close shortcuts so that the flow of runners passes through the main trail. Their goal is to prevent runners from taking alternative routes that would enlarge the trails and prevent vegetation from growing back.  All of these actions can be continued on a daily basis by the runners. Small efforts certainly but which protects a flora by place unique in the world!

Braided Trail System, Bertone CCC® Refuge