l'Échappée Belle 96k

8 min read

The 96 km Traversée Nord of l'Échappée Belle is a high-elevation ultra crossing the Belledonne range in the French Alps. It starts at midnight in Allevard, climbs over 7,000 m through a series of passes (Valloire at 2,751 m, Morétan, Comberousse, Arpingon), and finishes in the valley town of Aiguebelle. Most of the route sits above treeline, and the climbing barely lets up. This is how my race went.

Distance	Elevation +/-
97.2 km (60.4 mi)	7,367 m (24,170 ft) D+ 7,380 m (24,213 ft) D-

You can download the GPX track made by the organizers for this race.

Arriving in Grenoble

I arrived in Grenoble two weeks before the race. The plan was simple: spend some time in the Alps, support my friend Arnaud during his 96 km race, and enjoy a summer trip. A week before though, I rolled my ankle badly on a training run. High ankle sprain, torn ligaments, six to eight weeks off running per the ortho. Racing was off the table.

Still worth going. Arnaud was running the Traversée Nord, and even if I couldn't join him, I could crew and hang out in the mountains.

Grenoble sits at the base of the Alps, so high trails are a short drive from the center. Arnaud hosted me, cooked great meals, and introduced me to his friends. We spent a few days in central Grenoble, celebrated his birthday, then moved out to Saint-Egrève closer to the mountains.

We stayed at a mountain cabin in La Bâtie with views toward Mont Aiguille. Even with the ankle, I managed some hiking and easy jogging on soft trails. Enough to keep moving and get a bit of elevation back in my legs.

Race day

Arnaud's parents drove us to Aiguebelle for bib pickup, then on to Allevard for the start. Good news at pickup: microspikes were dropped from the mandatory gear list.

I'd packed my running kit loosely, planning to join Arnaud for a short section. On the drive to Allevard I started thinking about the whole thing. The ankle had handled a 26 km run and a slow 42 km the previous week, and taped and supported it would probably hold. If it didn't, I could drop at a checkpoint where Arnaud's parents would be waiting.

So I told him I wanted to start. He was immediately on board.

Then came the scramble for missing mandatory gear. His dad pulled an emergency blanket from the car's first-aid kit, his mom handed over a neck buff, and Arnaud lent me a headlamp. That left the collapsible water cup. Arnaud dug through the car and found the plastic lid of an aerosol can, which didn't fold and barely held a mouthful, but it passed.

By the time we reached Allevard the town square was full, with a band playing and spectators everywhere as dusk came in. We found a café, had an apéritif, ate the food we'd packed, and tried to rest before the midnight start.

We tried to sleep in the car for a couple of hours without much success. An hour before the start I got up, put on my vest, and we walked to the start line. The first wave went off at midnight to cowbells and cheering. We were in the second wave, watching them go and waiting our turn.

Allevard

We left Allevard just after midnight. The route went from pavement to service road to singletrack within a couple of kilometers. The air was cool and the first climb is gentle, so it was easy to settle in.

I wasn't sure my headlamp would last through the night, so I turned it off now and then and followed the glow from nearby runners instead. The trail climbs steadily to Refuge Crêt du Poulet (1,695 m) on soft forest paths. I got there in just under two hours at about 5.8 km/h, still on fresh legs.

Centre Cévéo

The descent to Centre Cévéo (1,046 m) was my fastest section at about 6.7 km/h. Dawn was starting to show and I could see headlamps strung out along the ridge behind me. I stopped just long enough to refuel before the big climb.

Col de la Valloire

This is the biggest climb of the race, over 1,800 m of gain to Col de la Valloire (2,751 m). Rocky switchbacks run past three alpine lakes (Blanc, Noir, and Glacé) that were catching the first light as I came through. From the col, cloud filled the whole valley below with only the peaks above it. Nothing else on the course came close to this view.

Col du Morétan

A high traverse links the two passes. Col du Morétan (2,488 m) is jagged granite with snow patches still lingering, and the boulder fields on the approach slowed everyone to a crawl. We could hear supporters cheering from the col, which helped on the last stretch up.

I put the poles away and worked boulder to boulder with big deliberate steps, keeping my heart rate down. I wanted energy left for the steep descent on the other side.

Périoule

From Morétan the trail drops toward Périoule (1,808 m). I let gravity do most of the work at about 4.15 km/h, gripping the fixed rope on the steeper pitches. The trail passes a few small alpine lakes before easing onto meadow paths, soft ground for the first time in hours.

Super Collet

Rolling climbs lead to Super Collet (1,642 m), a ski area that turns into alpine meadow in summer. The terrain is gentle here even in the midday sun, and I held a steady 4.37 km/h. We met Arnaud's parents at the checkpoint, refilled water, and took on salty snacks and soup before the afternoon.

Arpingon

This is where the race turned. The climb to Arpingon Pass (2,196 m) is long, with rocky scrambles mixed into steep grassy pitches, and my pace dropped to 2.72 km/h in the heat. The ridge opens up across the Belledonne and out toward the Chartreuse, which is worth the slow going.

Val Pelouse

My energy bottomed out through this stretch. It might have been the time of day or the passes stacking up, but I felt dizzy and unsteady and needed a short break at the top of each one.

Once we cleared the final pass the trail descends toward Val Pelouse (1,714 m). The slopes open into wide green terrain and I could run properly again all the way to the checkpoint.

I checked in with Arnaud here. He was feeling strong, so we agreed he'd push ahead and take the last 35 km on his own. I rested a few minutes after he left, then started the climb out with evening light across the valley and my headlamp back on, moving at 4.01 km/h.

Le Bourget en Huile

The descent toward Le Bourget en Huile (819 m) came in darkness, switchback after switchback with nobody around. My legs were tired but the pace held. At the checkpoint I refueled on fruit and soda and found Arnaud's parents there. They'd just missed him because he'd come through at speed. Seeing them picked me up. I told them I'd see them at the finish and headed out.

Aiguebelle

The last climb goes straight up with no switchbacks. A few runners were with me at first but fell back near the top. Along the ridgeline I kept expecting the descent to start and got fooled by false drops a couple of times.

On the final 7 km down to Aiguebelle (319 m) I found a rhythm and started catching runners. I wondered whether I'd gone out too hard on the descent, but after nearly 25 hours on the move I held 5.76 km/h through the forest all the way to the valley.

I rang the bell in Aiguebelle at 24:58, a full crossing of the Belledonne in a day and a night.

Checkpoint	Dist. (km)	Cum. Dist. (km)	Elevation +	Speed (km/h)	Time	Rank
Allevard	-	-	-	-	00:00:00	-
Refuge Crêt du Poulet	10.7	10.7	1,385	5.84	01:50:24	141
Centre Cévéo	10	20.7	277	6.71	03:19:49	194
Col de la Valloire	8.9	29.7	1,822	2.95	06:36:26	157
Col du Morétan	3.5	33.2	411	2.48	08:02:10	183
Périoule	3.7	36.9	10	4.15	08:55:34	180
Super Collet	10.3	47.2	890	4.37	11:17:22	174
Arpingon	13	60.2	1,643	2.72	16:03:52	184
Val pelouse	4.9	65.2	276	4.01	17:17:41	186
Le Bourget en Huile	15.5	80.6	972	3.41	21:50:41	197
Aiguebelle	16.5	97.2	681	5.76	24:58:05	180
Total	-	97.2	8,367	3.89 (km/h)	24:58:05	180

Reflections

I decided to run this four hours before the start, on an ankle I'd sprained a week earlier, with borrowed gear and an aerosol lid for a cup. It worked, and I'd rather have that as the story than a clean build-up. Thanks to Arnaud for running most of it with me and for splitting off at Val Pelouse so we each got our own finish.

The route is a full crossing: night forest out of Allevard, high passes through the middle of the day, then a long drop into the valley. The lakes below Valloire at first light were the high point, and ringing the bell in the dark at the other end wasn't far behind.

Thanks for reading. If you have questions or want to chat about the race, get in touch or find me on Instagram: @andrewtpham.

Happy trails!