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The UTMB World Series, with its growing collection of trail races around the world, is indisputably the most significant trail running race series on the planet. And it culminates at the UTMB World Series Finals—including the iconic and eponymous Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB)—at the end of August every year.

UTMB’s ever-expanding presence in a sport attempting to reconcile its grassroots ethic rooted in nature with its commercialization has put the race organization under scrutiny—especially at UTMB Mont-Blanc, where signs of climate change are literally visible to the eye.

With that in mind, it was an unlikely lineup that assembled on the top floor of Maison UTMB on Rue du Lyret in Chamonix, France, to announce the race organization’s new travel policy on Wednesday afternoon.

Sitting around the table were several UTMB Group representatives: CEO Frédéric Lenart, Director of UTMB Mont-Blanc Isabelle Viseux, and Fabrice Perrin, Global Director of Sports and Sustainability. To the left was Benjamin Aidan, vice president of the French branch of Protect Our Winters (POW), a climate change organization. To the right was Hillary Gerardi, an American professional trail runner who lives down the street and holds the fastest known time up Mont Blanc, the iridescent snow-covered peak looming in the distance. Gerardi, now a dual U.S.-France citizen, was representing the Professional Trail Runners Association (PTRA).

POW France and the PTRA have not always seen eye-to-eye with UTMB, including around environmental initiatives. But in recent months the entities have been working to find common ground.

“PTRA recognizes the important role that UTMB plays in determining norms and setting examples in our sport,” Gerardi tells Outside Run. “It’s important to work with them to help shape the future of trail running.”

Together, they announced UTMB Mont-Blanc’s new travel initiative: reduce the race’s carbon-dioxide emissions by 20 percent over the next five years. The number was inspired by the 2015 Paris Agreement from the UN Climate Change Conference, informally known as COP21. To measure reductions, UTMB has committed to monitoring and reporting its greenhouse gas emissions annually.

This initiative comes with a new race travel policy for its flagship event, UTMB Mont-Blanc and the rest of the UTMB World Series Finals races. It will impact the nearly 10,000 racers who come to the Chamonix valley each August, along with race partners, and the more than 2,000 volunteers. It includes UTMB Go, a new platform designed to help runners choose “sustainable” travel to the event; a 30 percent lottery bonus for runners who choose the travel options with the lowest carbon emissions; banning private cars at 80 percent of the key UTMB race locations; and mandatory carbon offsets to be paid for by participants.

What UTMB’s New Travel Policy Entails

According to an internal analysis done by UTMB last year, travel to the UTMB World Series Finals accounts for 86 percent of the event’s total carbon impact. Travel, then, is the lynch pin to UTMB reaching its goals. That requires engaging all the participants of the race, which UTMB aims to do through several incentives and fees:

First, the policy awards 30 percent greater odds of getting into a UTMB World Series Finals races for participants who agree to use the most carbon-efficient means to get to and from the event. As part of this effort, UTMB has launched an online travel planner called UTMB Go, which helps those traveling to UTMB World Series races make “sustainable” travel plans. Agree to follow the suggested travel itinerary, tracked on UTMB Go, and you’ll get that bonus into the UTMB World Series Finals lottery.

Of course, the carbon costs of travel—and the diversity of options available—vary dramatically depending on where you are coming from. A runner from Paris can easily take trains to Chamonix, while one from San Francisco needs to take a transcontinental flight, in addition to a bus or train ride on either end.

According to UTMB, “the system will account for the unique travel realities in each country, ensuring a fair and equitable approach for all participants regardless of where they live.” Travelers, then, will only be judged based on the options available to them, not in comparison to the travel options of others.

Second, UTMB is making moves to support lower-carbon travel. There are new discounts available for participants using some of France’s high-speed TGV rail system. International travelers can now fly into Paris and take the 10-plus-hour train to near Chamonix for €29, or about $34. Though the exact savings are hard to calculate because of a TGV pricing structure that fluctuates, it’s a significant savings. (The price for a one-way journey as of publication of this article, for UTMB week, is €179, or about $206.)

For those arriving in Chamonix from a last stop of Geneva, Switzerland’s airport, approximately 50 miles away, the organization has negotiated a discount of between 10 percent and 25 percent with a local shared shuttle provider.

UTMB Mont-Blanc has already invested substantial resources in reducing auto traffic during race week, which historically often resulted in snarled lines of drivers and frustration among valley residents and race participants alike, as those involved in the races attempted to travel among the three countries (France, Italy, and Switzerland) where UTMB takes place. The system now includes prohibiting private vehicles at 80 percent of key race locations and providing 120 buses during UTMB week. Last year, UTMB invested an additional €500,000, or about $576,000, in the network.

Finally, since not all carbon emissions can be eliminated from travel, UTMB has announced that starting in 2026, everyone traveling to the Finals—runners, volunteers, and suppliers—will pay a mandatory carbon offset fee. (This offset is optional for 2025.) According to Perrin, for a traveler coming from the U.S., that cost will range from €45 to €75, or about $52 to $86. All of the funds will go to an “independent, certificated body” according to a UTMB press release, which will oversee how the money is spent. (In 2025, the UTMB group will be working with the international consulting company, EcoAct.)

American Courtney Dauwalter has won UTMB in 2019, 2021, and 2023. For those coming to Chamonix from overseas, travel options are limited and inherently carbon-intensive. (Photo: Luke Webster)

How the UTMB Travel Policy Stacks Up

Eric Brody is the founder of Shift Advantage, a sustainability and climate consultancy based in Portland, Oregon. Prior to founding Shift Advantage, he worked as Nike’s Sustainability Business Integration Manager. We spoke with him to get an independent assessment of UTMB’s new policy.

“These policies are a good start. Measuring is the first step, to understand your impacts, but the critical thing is to take action,” he says. “You only have so many levers. You want to reward people for reducing their travel impact.”

Brody also cautions that initiatives aimed at individuals is not a justification for ignoring systemic change.

“The bigger levers that companies don’t always think about is to use their voices to push government and partners to take action,” he says, while also reminding us of the stakes urgently at hand.

“We have less than five years to make very big changes,” Brody says. “We need to reduce our carbon emissions by about 55 percent by 2030, compared to 2019 levels. As a planet, we’ve been given a blood test and the results are in. We have just a little bit of time to take action before we have a planetary heart attack, when the impacts are irreversible.”

Gerardi, who has a background in environmental work at the Research Center for Alpine Ecosystems (CREA Mont-Blanc), urges the UTMB Group to not just minimize its carbon footprint within its existing UTMB model, but to also examine the model itself, which pivots around athletes traveling to UTMB World Series races to earn a chance to then race at the Finals.

“Before the World Series, it was easier to qualify for the races in Chamonix,” she says. “Now, for example, if you’re in Ecuador, there’s only one race with which you can qualify, without traveling to, say, Argentina, Columbia or Brazil. It’s important that UTMB takes into account the entire UTMB series, which is not [environmentally] sustainable.”

But Gerardi also acknowledges that the policy is a start.

“It’s PTRA’s hope that this plan, in spite of its imperfections, will inspire all of us to take a hard look at our own choices and practices,” she says.

Perrin agrees that it’s just a beginning: “It’s only a first step. We will refine the plan, then deploy it to the entire series.”

The Paradox of Paradise

As a Chamonix resident, I understand the competing interests at hand. All of us who live here know climate change more intimately than most. In the mountains above our homes, permafrost—the frozen water that holds the mountains together like glue—is melting. As a result, Chamonix’s famed aiguilles, or rock spires, are literally crumbling before our eyes. Last August 30th, a massive collapse happened not far from the iconic Aiguille du Midi peak. The tramway to the summit is one of France’s most popular tourist attractions. In one video that went viral on social media, a voice can be heard saying in French, “The Aiguille du Midi cable car is on borrowed time.”

None of the choices are easy. As a business owner of a company that— simply put—encourages trail runners around the world to trail run in the Alps, I understand that the issues are deep and complex. I want others to experience the magic of the Chamonix valley, I make a living by helping them do so, and I also want to see this landscape protected.

At my company, while we value the intent behind carbon offsets, we’ve grown cautious of their effectiveness and transparency. Instead, we’ve chosen what we hope is a better path: through our membership in One Percent for the Planet, we donate to non-profits working to protect and restore the environments where we work.

The Starting Line

Author Doug Mayer lives in Chamonix, France, where the effects of climate change are felt and seen acutely. Here, he’s running above town through wildfire smoke coming 4,000 miles away from Canada. (Photo: Tom Benitez)

The deeper truths surrounding international travel are not lost on Gerardi, who says that the PTRA is thinking about social and equity issues.

“Because the number-one source of carbon emissions comes from travel, this exposes a tension in our sport around ensuring accessibility and inclusion while not excessively contributing to climate change,” Gerardi says.

“Even if the additional cost of the carbon contribution is minuscule compared to the overall cost of participating,” she says, “it’s more about the symbolism it represents.”

UTMB has an outsized presence in the global trail running community, and Perrin acknowledges the organization has a responsibility to act.

“We’re not claiming to have all the answers—but we believe that standing still is no longer an option,” Perrin says. “It’s a start, and starting matters. We know the road ahead won’t be easy, but we’re committed to moving forward—collectively and responsibly.”

If participants in the day’s proceedings needed any reminder of the urgency of the issue, they got it when the press conference concluded and they stepped outside Maison UTMB. Just an hour earlier, at the start of the conference, Chamonix reached its high temperature for the day—86 degrees Fahrenheit, about 26 degrees warmer than average. The skies were soot-filled from Canadian forest fires, over 4,000 miles away. The day’s air quality index was 79, giving the region a rating of “poor.”

Doug Mayer is the founder of the trail running tour company, Run the Alps and the author of The Race that Changed Running: The Inside Story of UTMB. He lives in Chamonix, France.