Organisation

Km point Height Landmark Description 0 km 1.280 m Starting from the centre of town along with by enchanting music and fireworks. We are surrounded by a crowd admiring our courage. It is the beginning of an unforgettable tour in the heart of . We follow the road for 900m to reach Sornàs, before taking a wide path, with some ascents and getting narrower. We cross the town of and get to .

3,5 km 1.330 m We take the time to appreciate the old houses and cobbled alleys. We get back to the path, which now follows the iron route, an old itinerary taken by the miners who delivered the ore to the forges located below. We skirt the village of . The frontal La Cortinada allows us to admire the sculptures lining the road (we enjoy this ghostly beauty before getting into the, soon to come, serious matters). We leave the road through a narrow bridge on the left and start the first climb of the race crossing the village of . 5 km 1.440 m At the edge of the village, we turn left onto a paved road, the climbing gets hard until Llorts reaching a few typical houses; we then start a descent for nearly two kilometres before taking a steep climb to Coll de les Cases.

10 km 1.960 m

Little flattening before taking a tough way up again with a 100m vertical gain. We reach Coll de les Cases a second port and take a path to go down again to the traditional houses of Prats Nous.

12 km 2.010 m The road becomes hilly and we follow a contour line before reaching a small Bordes dels descent. We leave the GRP, get onto a large level area that will take us to the Joan Prats Nous Canut refuge – Pla de l’Estany.

Km point Height Landmark Description 15 km 2.060 m Refreshment point Walk through a small grassy path until reaching a track. This becomes steeper progressively before reaching the pure mineral. Approximately two Refugi Joan Canut kilometres after the shelter, we leave the track to get on a path on the right hand, this Pla de l'Estany goes down for about 100m before facing a very technical climb until the Refugi del Comapedrosa.

20 km 2.367 m Refreshment point Upon leaving the shelter, take the GRP and walk along a rather Refugi del flat way for about 1km. Then, take a very steep climb up a stony path. We soon reach Comapedrosa the crest: Portella of Sanfons.

22 km 2.592 m Path with a small descent that gets steeper before skirting the Pic Negre and crossing Portella de Sanfons the Coll Petit; climb of about 120m altitude to reach the ridge through which we walk to arrive to Port de Cabús.

26 km 2.302 m 3 kilometers down through meadows to get to Setúria and go up the ski slopes to Coll Port de Cabús de la Botella 30 km 2.047 m Refreshment point. We follow the GRP, the path becomes narrow, flattens and enters the forest. On your left hand side, we can see the peaks we will be trekking in Coll de la Botella a few hours. We cross the Pal slopes and enter the woods again before reaching the magnificent Montaner pass and the Spanish border.

34 km 2.084 m Steep descent in the woods for about 3kms, we cross the river and get to a track. After one kilometre, near a shelter, we leave the track and get on a narrower path in Collada de the woods that leads us to the village of , 150m of road and we take the Montaner descending path: camí de la Quera until the main road, which we cross. We pass under the tunnel and, after having gone down some steps, we reach the Sant Antoni chapel followed by the bridge with the same name.

Km point Height Landmark Description 43 km 1.150 m We follow the little irrigation channel, go under the main road and, after 150 m of Pont de Sant macadam, we are running over a rocky path that leads us to the city centre of Escaldes. Antoni We pass near the famous wellness centre of Caldea, through the Valira’s riverbank and reach the Prat Gran Sportive facility.

45 km 1.050 m Refreshment point. We follow the streets of Escaldes for about 500 m and continue on a heavy ascendant path. We pass under the road by a tunnel before continuing on a path that will take us to the entrance of the Madriu Valley. At this point, we leave the Escaldes civilization to enter a wonderful area. Smooth ascent until reaching the bridge, heavier then to get to a mountain shelter house where we follow a rocky path, nearly flat, until reaching the Ramio houses. We open our eyes and enjoy the beauty of nature, the old buildings and the vegetation colours. 49 km 1.645 m At the Ramio shelter houses, we follow the path for 100m and turn left to leave the Ramio GRP and to enter through a noticeable way which goes up smoothly to Coll Jovell. Sometimes it’s worth forgetting the timer: it just feels amazing!

50 Km 1.800 m

This little pass is truly amazing with its picnic tables; if we do not wish to enjoy them, we can start the descent through a rocky path. This one is not very technical and we Coll Jovell soon find another picnic area. The path is then entirely flat for 1km before reaching the road.

52 km 1.620 m On the middle of the curve, we take the first path on the right hand: the Confós path, which enters the forest. This part is really interesting; the beauty of the forest, combined with the place’s serenity and the smooth ground, feels like running on a thick Engolasters carpet. We are now in the middle of the targets, watch out for Robin Hood ☺! Small ascent before going down again: this path will lead us on a wide and flat path for 3kms ending at the Pardines.

Km point Height Landmark Description

56 km 1.635 m Refreshment point. We go up the road for 200m until the first big curve, we then turn left on the way to . This path is delightfully undulated, surrounded by trees Les Pardines and overseeing the valley. We can either run or walk to enjoy the surrounding nature. After 4kms, we start the descent to Prats, we reach the road we are going to follow for 600m before getting on a path on our left hand side leading us to Canillo. 60 km 1.495 m We leave the village through a steep ascent before getting into a narrow path, the « gall del bosc » way, over 170m of elevation for 900m of distance. Quickly, we set to Canillo 1.660m, and we then follow a relatively flat path until the round-about of Aldosa in Canillo (great sledge).

64 km 1.620 m We cross the main road and go up to the village of Aldosa, which we cross and continue L’Aldosa de Canillo our way through a very hard ascent. We walk along an old shelter house, keep on climbing until reaching 1.908m. Let’s take a moment to enjoy the incredible views.

66 km 1.908 m

We follow an undulating and enjoyable path in the woods, we cross the river on a small Coll de la Cauba wooden bridge and go over the mountain to reach the Armiana shelter houses.

68 km 1.800 m Refreshment point. 200m of elevation gain, level area and small descent before facing the true, however smooth, ascension; we follow the course of the river and we reach a ferruginous fount and peatlands. We follow the left path to get to a very hard Armiana ascent with some level areas, however, the ascent is still quite hard. The grass gets mineral gradually. Turn around from time to time to rest and enjoy the view. We are performing a 700m elevation gain in 4km. The last great ascension of the race is over, welcome to Coll d’Arenes.

Km point Height Landmark Description 74 km 2.540 m We take a deep breath. We eat and drink something, while taking the time to admire both sides of this pass: in front of us the Northern valley and part of the way we made Coll d’Arenes by night and behind us the East valley, where we just come from. We can now begin the descent to Ensegur, first through a rocky path, and then through a grassy one.

77 km 1.910 m We enter the forest leaving the shelter houses and pasturelands on our right hand side. 500m of flat land and a little and nice ascent begins through a very narrow path until L’Ensegur the top of Planes de Sornàs at 1.990m. We continue our way on a heavy descent in the forest, which becomes smoother as we reach the Planes de Sornàs.

80 km 1.540 m We cross the Planes of Sornàs and we continue our way on a rocky path. Quickly, we reach the village of Sornàs, we run through its small streets and then take the main Planes de Sornàs road. Only 900m left, we can already hear the music and the crowd of Ordino. Our happiness is limitless, we are here…

83 km 1.280 m

We are finishers! Ordino We are the kings of the world!

Caution: intersection of different AUTV routes

The purpose of this road book is purely informative. The organization team reserves the right to make small changes to the route described hereby.