My first ultra: Matterhorn Sky Race 2019

Preparations or not?

The Matterhorn Sky Ultra trail was a serious challenge on Saturday the 25th of August. After a harsh wound infection in my foot mid-July I was not able to do much training, neither specific to trails nor running.

However, at the beginning of August, I already had booked a mountaineering course in Austria. With the foot not yet completely healed and the possibility of ruining all the further plans for the next months, I still decided to give it a try. But it helped a lot, at least I could get some altitude meters in my legs if not speed training. At the end of the first day of hiking to Wildes Mannle, even though it was not my first hike, the quads felt really tired. Surprisingly, this trip proved to be a good choice since day by day the legs were handling going up and down better and better. So climbing Wildspitze on the last day didn’t have such a big toll on the legs.

One next possible training that I had in sight was the Allgau marathon, the weekend after the Austrian mountaineering course: 42km with 1500D+. So I went for it as well, with the option to shorten it after 17km to Hornerlauf if things were not going as planned. But they did and I could finish the marathon.

These two: the hiking in Austria and the mountain marathon in Germany gave me some confidence for the Matterhorn Ultra. However, in the last few days, there were doubts in my mind.

What if you cannot complete 49km with 3600m D+? You never did more than a marathon: not on the road, not in the mountains. This is no joke, an ultra in the mountains is different from an ultra on the road. Bear in mind that you have to be self-sufficient between the refreshment points which are farther spread from each other, unlike in a road race. Bear in mind you have to be aware of the mountain terrain and be careful not to hurt yourself. Weather can go bad and what if you are somewhere on the course and it starts raining heavily? Ok, ok, a lot of what-ifs… Pfff. And going all the way to Switzerland from The Netherlands for a failure? No, that was no option. I need to finish or at least try to finish this race.

The race

Just to get you an idea of what I will talk about, take a look below at the map and the graphic, this was the Matterhorn Ultra Sky Race in zero-words but 2-pictures-description.

While going up, in the first 2-3 km, I felt like I was a turtle. My calves were under pressure, my tights were burning. Then Garmin showed that my condition has decreased by 20. Ok, this is not something usual but I guess it was due to the straight uphill section in the beginning which was crowded with runners. I couldn’t set my own pace, and that was annoying, but I chose to dismiss the Garmin notification from my mind and not to let myself influenced by it. In the end, the race has just started, we still have to go 40km+ and climb the 3600m. Not the moment to rush, it’s better to conserve some energy for later on. But still, when the asphalt finished I started to overpass a few runners. You don’t want to be amongst the last in a group while climbing, it’s harder!

The first food and drinks refreshment station was at the end of the cable car in Sunnegga (km 7.5) with a great view towards Matterhorn if you looked in the back. Ha! Not so though I thought. The Gornergrat was about to come that is when the hard time begins. Runner crowds were spreading along the route, no more traffic jams I thought.

Going further from Sunnegga we pass by Leisee lake and in Findeln by some authentic Walser houses, barns, and stores built of larch timber in rustic style. Then after a bit of forest is a sort of plateau where you can see the runners on the climb…And we climb, and we climb on a zig-zag path. Until a point where it’s mentioned, there are 500m of altitude left to conquer. The climbs were clearly marked with a level difference. Hurray! On this uphill, I meet Camille, a young lady from France, who offers to make a video with me. Later we will encounter each other a few times on the parcourse, while she waits for her boyfriend, and at the finish line, we all have our finish meal together.

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Getting to the highest point: Gornergrat

Climbing to Gornergrat from Findeln – Eja will take about 1000m in 6 km. Just before the last push up, there is a sort of lake if you turn back, with a view towards Matterhorn. Most people miss this view because they don’t look back. The Toblerone mountain is usually clear in the morning, but then as the day progresses, clouds gather around its top. Observed this a few days in a row. You can see for yourself that on the day of the ultra the Matterhorn was not totally clear. In this part, I encounter 2 Dutch guys and we chat a little on the ascent about the training we had and how amazing this area is.

On the ridge, the glacier and mountain panorama will leave you breathless, and I mean here not the altitude, but the view. I could have stayed there for a while, stopped there to take pictures, made a video call to share the beauty of the place, while other competitors were overpassing me. Since I didn’t put on myself any constrains of time for the first ultramarathon, I just wanted to enjoy every glorious view of the path.

This Matterhorn ultra trail promised great views. Here are some interesting facts. The Gornergrat, at an altitude of 3,089m hosts Europe’s highest open-air cog railway open all year round. According to https://www.zermatt.ch “The views take in the Monte Rosa massif with Switzerland’s highest peak (Dufourspitze, 4,634 m); the second-largest glacier in the Alps, the Gorner Glacier; and a total of 29 mountains above 4,000 m, including, of course, the Matterhorn in all its glory.” Besides this, on Gornergrat visitors find Europe’s highest-altitude hotel: Kulmhotel Gornergrat.

At Gornergrat refreshment station, opposite to the first refreshment station, you only get liquids. Then this is a good moment to refill my small camelback and get going. Runners have to go over the railway tracks and pass the tourists on the way down. It was however not overcrowded as in the beginning and we could use the extra encouragement as well. This was a good portion where you could still run decently: wide path and no technical terrain. So I accelerated downhill until Bogdan spotted me near this lake below. Since I was so concentrated on where I placed my feet I didn’t notice the people around.

After leaving Gornergrat at km16, I knew a hanging bridge was supposed to be coming soon. Going to confront one of my worst nightmares from Nepal again, but now was the Swiss technology that had to be trusted. Also more encouraging, no one was supposed to run on it and at the end of it, there was a photographer taking pictures of the participants, so it couldn’t be that bad I said to myself, and it wasn’t. That was before the next refreshment station (drinks only) at km 25.5 in Furi. During this time the sun was up and it was getting hot outside. So hot, that you would have used a shower on your head.

The cutoff point

Up to here, there were some great views, we conquered the highest point and there was no rain to make you feel miserable. However, things change on the mountain from minute to minute, from hour to hour. And so it started to change before Schwarzsee. It started raining a little. But we need to push it a bit to catch that cutoff time. I was very aware that I had enough time for that, but before this race, there was a thought on my mind that it’s going to be a tough thing to achieve. So the arrival at Schwarzsee was a very emotional moment for me.

Slowest runners are expected at Schwarzsee at 14:15 pm while fast runners at 10:00 am. What a difference! I was definitely in the second half but not the last one. And apparently, after looking in the results, I managed to keep a constant ranking during the race. I even managed to arrive there faster than the Dutch guys with whom I chatted earlier. But after reaching this point in the race my mind started to relax a little, thinking that the hardest part was over. No!!!! Wrong! What I forgot was that this is more than a marathon distance and that there are more altitude meters to come. The latest kilometers and the later climbs are always harder since you are more tired.

Last part of the trail

But let’s focus, next stop on the route is Trift, altitude 2337m, last checkpoint and food station before finish, where slowest runners are expected at 17:15, while fast runners at 11:00. Before that, there is still some ascent and plateau, where, before reaching km 40 it started raining more serious. I was already wet from sweat, no need for extra water, I could better leave the shower for the end. And surprise, since I didn’t refill enough, my water finished before the km 40. 4 or 5km I had no water. I was really looking forward to arriving in Trift.

Thereafter followed a very technical descent that would have required hiking sticks. Since I chose to go as light as possible, to be a little faster, I had no sticks with me. Running downhill here was hard as the path zigzagged a lot and there were perpendicular obstacles for the flash floods or for the snow.

In Trift, I really had the wish to visit a sanitary stop but I couldn’t find it. Also, wanted to taste the bouillon offered by the organizers but then refrain from it because I really needed a toilet. Along the way, I had my own electrolyte pills for water, but at that moment I ran out of it, and the alternative offered by the organizers was not bad either. And it was all biological. We had besides regular bananas also chocolate, cheese, and crackers as the food supply. Finally not only sugar during a competition!

Further, the descent to Zermatt was on a very steep valley with a narrow path that sometimes only a foot can step on it. Dangerous not to be sure where you are stepping. But I made it and could even pass a group of runners and accelerated towards the finish line. As heart rate is concerned I couldn’t say I felt the altitude effect, or maybe I am lucky that I am a mountain goat?

Amazing trail, good organization (they even found my missing airpod) and perfect weather. And finally, I could join the ultrarunners club!

If you enjoyed reading this article and you find this trail is something for you, go check their website of the organizers because subscription just opened this week. Moreover, you can enjoy a carfree Swiss paradise in the starting city of Zermatt. This post is not sponsored but is a running adventure I really enjoyed. Also, you can check the video I made during this Matterhorn ultra trail.