Torn dera Val d'Aran - VDA

Torn dera Val d'Aran - VDA

The organiser’s course is 163 km with 10,000 metres of ascent, and the checkpoint table shows how it is spent. The first climb goes straight to the Tuc Montcorbison at 2,158 metres, the night falls around Artiga de Lin and the Tuc dera Escaleta at 2,454, and the route drops to Bossòst at 710 metres around 49 km. From there it climbs through Canejan and the Refugi Honeria to the Mines de Liat at 2,322, over the Pòrt d’Urets at 2,520 to Montgarri and Beret, and down to Salardú at 114 km.

The last third crosses the lakes: Banhs de Tredòs, Estanh Obago at 2,239, Colomèrs, Mont-Romies, then Arties at 149 km, Santet Escunhau and the Tuc de Meddia at 2,215 before the descent into Vielha. Personal assistance is allowed only at Bossòst, Salardú and Arties, where the organiser also delivers each runner’s three drop bags.

With a 16:00 start, a runner at the back sees two nights in the mountains, and the gaps between Bossòst, Salardú and Arties are long. On Livebib the runner shares one link; family open it in a browser and see the position on the course line, the distance covered and a finish estimate for Vielha that updates as the race goes. In a valley without signal the position moves on along the course, marked as estimated, so the crew in Arties knows roughly when to be ready.