Eiger Ultra Trail 2027: Complete Race Guide (Dates, Distances & How to Enter)

There are mountain ultras with good views, and then there is the Eiger Ultra Trail. Few races put you this close to something this famous: the course runs directly beneath the Eiger North Face, one of the most storied walls in mountaineering, on trails above Grindelwald in the Bernese Oberland.

The 15th edition takes place from 14-18 July 2027, and it has grown well beyond its original format. Alongside the classic 101km there is now a 261km team ultra crossing the UNESCO Jungfrau-Aletsch region — one of the most serious races on the UTMB World Series calendar.

Here’s what you need to know about racing the Eiger Ultra Trail in 2027, whichever distance you’re eyeing.

Eiger Ultra Trail 2027: Event Overview

Event Dates: 14-18 July 2027 (15th edition)
Location: Grindelwald, Bernese Oberland, Switzerland
Series: UTMB World Series event — finishers earn Running Stones
Format: Partial self-support — mandatory kit, and you feed yourself between checkpoints
Terrain: High alpine, technical in places, with sustained steep climbs and descents
Weather: Mid-July alpine — warm valleys, cold and exposed high ground, weather that changes fast

The 2027 Races

E250 — UNESCO Trail

• Distance: 261km
• Elevation gain: 18,000m+
• Start: Wednesday 14 July 2027, 08:00, Grindelwald
• Time limit: 95 hours
• Format: Teams of 2 or 3 — mandatory for the entire route, for safety reasons

The headline addition, and a genuinely different proposition from the rest of the programme. The E250 traverses the UNESCO World Heritage Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch region, taking in Sefinafurgga, Hohtürli, the Gasterental, the Lötschenpass, Valais trails, the Aletschgletscher and Fieschergletscher — the largest connected glaciated area in the Alps — then the Grimselpass and Haslital.

The mandatory team format is the thing to understand before entering. You are not running your own race with company; you are running as a unit for 95 hours across glaciated high terrain, and you finish together or not at all. Pick your teammates on temperament and pace compatibility, not friendship.

E101 — Ultra Trail

• Distance: 101km
• Elevation gain: 6,700m+
• Start: Saturday 17 July 2027, 04:00, Grindelwald
• Time limit: 25 hours
• Running Stones: 3
• Requirement: A valid UTMB Index in any category (20K, 50K, 100K or 100M)

The classic Eiger race and the reason most people come. The route strings together the best viewpoints in the region: Grosse Scheidegg, First, Bachalpsee, Berghotel Faulhorn, Schynige Platte, Wengen and Männlichen — before the finish traverses the base of the Eiger North Face itself.

Note the ratio: 6,700m of climbing across 101km is roughly 66 metres per kilometre. That is steep by any standard, and it places the E101 firmly in “mountain ultra” territory rather than “long trail race”. A 25-hour limit for 101km sounds generous until you look at the profile.

E51 — Panorama Trail

• Distance: 51km
• Elevation gain: 3,100m+
• Start: Saturday 17 July 2027, 07:15, Grindelwald
• Time limit: 13 hours
• Running Stones: 2

The best-value scenery-per-kilometre race of the weekend. It runs to Oberläger via First and Bachalpsee, over the Faulhorn summit at 2,680m, with views across to Schynige Platte. The organisers’ own warning is worth repeating: the first ascent toward Grosse Scheidegg should not be underestimated. It comes early, it’s long, and runners go out too hard on it every year.

E35 — North Face Trail

• Distance: 35km
• Elevation gain: 2,500m+
• Start: Saturday 17 July 2027, 07:35, Burglauenen
• Time limit: 9 hours
• Running Stones: 2

Don’t be fooled by the distance. 2,500m of gain in 35km is a higher gradient than the E101, and the route is relentless: up via Spätenalp to Wengen, then steeply up the notorious Gemsenweg — the “chamois way” — to crest the Männlichen ridge, on toward Kleine Scheidegg, and then a traverse directly below the Eiger North Face before descending the Eiger Trail through Trychelegg into Grindelwald.

For the scenery-to-suffering ratio, this is arguably the best race of the weekend. It gets you onto the signature terrain without requiring a 100km build.

E16 — Pleasure Trail, Trail Surprise and Kids Race

The shorter E16 Pleasure Trail and the Trail Surprise (16 July) round out the programme, along with a Kids Race. These are the entry points if you’re travelling with family or want a first taste of alpine trail running without committing to a full day on the mountain. Check the official site for current distances and start times, as the short-course programme changes between editions.

How to Enter

The E101, E51 and E35 run on a lottery. The process works in two stages: pre-registration, then a draw. If you’re selected, you confirm by paying the entry fee within a deadline. If you’re not selected, you go automatically into a second draw — and runners rejected in both lotteries receive a guaranteed place for the following edition without needing to re-enter.

That last detail is the most useful thing in this section, and it changes how you should think about applying. An unsuccessful application is not a wasted year — it’s a queue position. If Eiger is on your list, entering early in the cycle is worth doing even if you’re not certain about the year.

For the E101 you’ll need a valid UTMB Index in any race category, which means you need a qualifying finish on record before you apply. If you don’t have one, that’s the first job — find an indexed race and get a result banked.

Lottery windows typically fall in September, roughly ten months before the race. Check the official site for the exact 2027 dates and fees, and put the window in your calendar rather than trusting yourself to remember.

What Makes Eiger Hard

The Gradient, Not the Distance

Every race here climbs steeply. The E101 averages 66m of gain per kilometre; the E35 is steeper still. Flat-land ultrarunners routinely underestimate what that does to a pace chart. Your road or rolling-trail pace is irrelevant here — think in terms of hours and vertical metres, not kilometres per hour.

Technical Descending

The climbing gets the attention, but the descents do the damage. Alpine trails are rocky, rooty and steep, and the quad damage from a long technical descent is what ends most Eiger races — not the ascents. Sustained downhill running is the specific skill this course demands, and it’s the one most runners train least.

Altitude and Exposure

The high points sit above 2,600m. That’s not extreme altitude, but it is enough to blunt performance for sea-level runners, and the exposure matters more than the thin air: high alpine sections offer no shelter, and a July storm at 2,600m is a serious event rather than an inconvenience. The mandatory kit list exists for this reason. Carry all of it.

The Weather Can Do Anything

Mid-July in the Bernese Oberland can give you 28°C in the valley and near-freezing conditions with wind and rain on the ridges, in the same race. Plan for both, in the same pack.

How to Prepare

Training Priorities

• Vertical gain, weekly: Build toward weekly climbing totals that approach a meaningful fraction of your race’s total. For the E101 that means serious, sustained vertical work in your peak weeks.
• Downhill training: Deliberately run long technical descents. Sore quads in training are the price of not being wrecked at kilometre 60.
• Hiking efficiency: You will hike the steepest climbs. Practise it as a skill, with poles, at effort — it’s not a rest.
• Back-to-back long days: Two long mountain days on consecutive weekends teaches your legs and your head what the second half feels like.
• Night running: The E101 starts at 04:00 and may well finish in the dark. Train with the headtorch you’ll race with.

Self-Support Practice

These are partial self-support races: you carry mandatory kit and manage your own food and fluid between checkpoints. Rehearse it exactly. Run long training days with the full race pack, eating only what you carry, so you know what your shoulders feel like at hour eight and whether the gels you’ve chosen still go down at hour twelve.

If You Can, Recce

Grindelwald is an easy place to spend a week. If you can get there in advance, running even part of the course — the Eiger Trail section in particular — is worth more than any amount of elevation-profile study. If you can’t, use the official route maps and build a mental model of where the big climbs sit.

Logistics and the Grindelwald Setup

• Getting there: Zurich or Geneva airport, then Swiss rail to Interlaken Ost and on to Grindelwald. The train system is excellent and the transfer is straightforward.
• Where to stay: Grindelwald itself, close to the start and finish. Book early — July is peak season in the Jungfrau region and the race is not the only thing filling beds.
• Cost: Switzerland is expensive. Budget accordingly, and consider self-catering accommodation to keep food costs down.
• Crew and spectators: Mountain railways and cable cars make several high points accessible to non-runners, which is unusual for a mountain ultra — supporters can reasonably see you at altitude rather than just at the finish.
• Make a week of it: Jungfraujoch, the First cliff walk and the Lauterbrunnen valley are all within easy reach. Most runners bring family and turn it into a holiday.

Race Day Execution

Pace the First Climb Honestly

Whichever distance you’re running, the first sustained ascent comes early and feels manageable because you’re fresh. It isn’t. Go up at an effort you could hold for several more hours, let people pass you, and reassess at the top.

Eat Before You’re Hungry

Sustained climbing at altitude suppresses appetite, and by the time you feel like eating in a mountain ultra it’s usually too late. Set a timer. Eat on it.

Manage Your Quads Deliberately

On long descents, shorten your stride, stay light, and resist the urge to let gravity do the work early on. The descent that feels free at kilometre 20 is the reason you’re walking at kilometre 70.

Use the Checkpoints Properly

Partial self-support means checkpoints are less of a buffet than at some races. Know what’s available where, restock properly rather than efficiently, and don’t leave a checkpoint underfuelled to save two minutes.

After the Race

Mountain ultras take more out of you than road marathons of equivalent duration, largely because of the eccentric load from descending. Expect a longer recovery:

• First few days: Walking only, and probably not much of that. Eat properly and sleep more than feels reasonable.
• First two weeks: No structured running. Easy movement, hiking if it feels good.
• Weeks 3-6: Gradual return, rebuilding easy volume before any intensity.
• Don’t book a race four weeks later. The deep fatigue from a big vertical day lingers well past when your legs stop hurting.

Log It Properly

Write down your finish time, your Running Stones, how each major climb felt, what you ate and when it stopped working, what your kit choices got right and wrong, and what the weather did. Mountain ultras teach specific, transferable lessons — but only if you record them while they’re sharp. A year later, when you’re planning the next one, that record is worth more than any training plan.

Is Eiger Right for You?

Eiger is Great If You:

• Want a genuinely iconic alpine backdrop rather than generic mountain scenery
• Are collecting Running Stones toward a UTMB finals lottery
• Climb and descend well, or want to become someone who does
• Like the idea of a race weekend that works as a family holiday
• Want a choice of distances from 16km to 261km at the same event

Consider Other Options If You:

• Have no real hill training available and can’t travel to get some
• Are uncomfortable on technical, exposed terrain
• Need entry certainty — the lottery means planning a year ahead
• Are on a tight budget; Switzerland in July is not a cheap week

Final Thoughts: Eiger Ultra Trail 2027

The Eiger Ultra Trail earns its reputation honestly. The North Face traverse is not a marketing line — you run beneath one of the most famous walls in the world, on trails that would be worth travelling for even without a race number.

It is also hard in a specific way: steep, technical, exposed, and demanding of skills that road runners and rolling-trail runners rarely have. Train the descents, rehearse the self-support, respect the first climb, and carry everything on the kit list.

Entry runs through a lottery with a guaranteed place after two rejections, so the sensible move is to apply early in the cycle and treat an unsuccessful year as a step toward a successful one. Get your UTMB Index sorted if you’re going for the E101, and start building vertical now.

Planning your 2027 trail season? Track every race — finished and planned — at RunningLog.

Run the Eiger before, or targeting it in 2027? Share your experience or ask questions on Instagram or Threads!