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Stubai Ultratrail

H🏔️ The Ultimate Guide: Stubai Ultra Trail (100 km)

The Verdict: 8.7 / 10

Is this for you? If your heart beats faster for ruthless gradients, technical rocky trails in the dead of night, and landscapes that move you to tears... then this is your next race. It is a merciless, but insanely beautiful ordeal.

📊 The Scorecard

At a glance: How does this trail stack up?

Overall Rating (8.7/10)

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Technical Difficulty (9/10) — 1 = Flat, 10 = Extreme

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Trail Marking (8/10)

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Volunteers & Crew (8/10)

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Aid Stations (8/10)

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Would Recommend (9/10)

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⛰️ Race & Route Stats

• Distance & Elevation:100 - 103 km / approx. 6250 D+ & D-
  
  
• Location & Time:Neustift Im Stubaital, Austria / 10:00 PM (Start)
  
  
• Time Limit:25 hours (the clock ticks mercilessly)
  
  
• Heroes' Shoe Choice:Salomon Genesis, Salomon Genesis S-Lab, Hoka Tecton X3
  
  
• Entry Fee:€ 160 - € 170
  
  

The Epic Highlights:

• Feasts (with a wish) along the way:The aid stations are an oasis in the wilderness with super friendly volunteers. You will find real cola, liters of iso, savory sausage, cheese, and an inexhaustible supply of fresh watermelon. A small warning from the runners: a hot meal like pasta or risotto was unfortunately missing, and sometimes the stations were just a bit further than the briefing promised.
  
  
• Unprecedented Atmosphere:From the start in the beautifully illuminated Neustift to the finish line where steaming Kaiserschmarrn and ice-cold glasses of beer (or sorbet!) await you.
  
  
• Natural Beauty:The transition from an icy night to a burning sunrise above the clouds, especially on the peaks surrounded by low shrubs, is an experience that will be engraved in your soul.
  
  

Mother Nature's Warnings:

• Technical Purgatory:The descents are never a moment to relax. You bounce over rocks, tight turns, natural steps, and endless tree roots, completely breaking your pace.
  
  
• Climbing until you break:Gradients of over 30% are no exception here. This is climbing on the verge of mountaineering, and they just keep coming.
  
  
• Climate of Extremes:Prepare for biting wind and 5 degrees Celsius on the peaks at night, and a merciless, shadowless heat during the day.
  
  

🌌 The Epic of the Stubai 100: A Battle Between Heaven and Earth

It began, as the best adventures often do, with a setback. The legendary Zugspitz Ultra was on the bucket list but sold out in a flash. It was Rik who found salvation on Instagram: the Stubai Ultra Trail. A relatively unknown, but terrifying challenge, and for Rik, his very first 100-kilometer trail race. Six friends—Alexander (Alec), Ben, Jimmy, Femke, Rik, and Amalia—packed their bags, filled their soft flasks, and traveled to the Austrian Alps for a journey to the gates of hell, only to emerge purified.

Friday, race day. The hours before an ultra of over 100 kilometers always crawl by agonizingly slowly. After a meticulous gear check, the great wait began. Picturesque Neustift was flooded with toned bodies in colorful compression gear. The group killed time with coffee, ice cream, nervous jokes, and a slightly frustrated hunt for Kaiserschmarrn.

As the sun disappeared behind the majestic mountain peaks, the tension in the valley increased. At 10:00 PM, the group stood ready in the starting corral, illuminated by hundreds of headlamps. Alec and Ben took their places on the front line with an insatiable hunger; their eyes were razor-sharp. Jimmy, Femke, and Rik opted for controlled chaos and positioned themselves in the middle. The countdown began. Three, two, one... The gunshot sounded, cheers erupted, and the darkness swallowed the runners.

Alec was instantly unleashed. The first kilometer went at a furious pace, and he literally flew off. Ben, blessed with the wisdom of a seasoned runner, refused to blow himself up and found his own pace on the first climb. Running in the pitch dark through the mountains provided an immense rush. The first descent was a technical feast of tight turns, natural steps, roots, and rocks—exactly what Ben enjoyed.

Behind them, Jimmy, Rik, and Femke joined forces for the dreaded second and third mountains. The profile already gave it away: these would be the ultimate deciders. Stomping up 1100 meters of elevation over just 6 kilometers, towards the icy border of 2270 meters. Here, the mountain showed its teeth. The temperature plummeted to a brutal 5 degrees. Biting gusts of wind lashed the exposed flanks. Jimmy's lungs protested against the combination of thin air and cold, while Femke stubbornly ground on, disappearing like a lone firefly into the pitch-black night.

At the front, the mountain also took its toll on the long, steep climbs. At the top, beautifully situated among the low mountain shrubs, Ben caught sight of his companion Alec again. An unspoken alliance was forged: they would complete this hellish journey together and embark on the adventure as a unit.

When the first rays of the sun finally turned the Alps to gold, a landscape of breathtaking beauty unfolded. For Rik, this was themoment. Around 9:00 AM, he stood on the magical third peak. Looking out over the immense Alpine landscape, he grabbed his phone and called his family. Those voices from home gave him a massive mental boost. At that moment, he secretly thought: "Now the hardest part is over."

But daylight also mercilessly reveals obstacles. Despite Rik's hopes, the steep climbs and descents kept coming. The second part of the race proved to be a ruthless test. At the front, Ben noticed how bizarrely difficult it was to pick up speed; a cocktail of merciless heat, accumulating fatigue, and the constant, supreme concentration demanded by the root-filled trails completely killed the pace.

Around kilometer 58, the organization revealed its most sadistic surprise. A monster 1.2 kilometers long, but with 360 meters of elevation gain. Gradients of 30% in the full, burning sun. For Jimmy and Rik, it felt like running in an oven. For Femke, the mental monster struck here. She listened to podcasts for hours to dispel the endless loneliness of the midday heat. The "Sea of Concrete" at Schönberg, a boring and glowing stretch of asphalt just before the very last climb, served as the ultimate test of the mind for everyone.

The final kilometers were the scene of true heroic epics. At the front, Alec and Ben could smell the finish line. Despite the heat, their morale remained high; finishing comfortably would be achievable. With the breath of pursuers on their necks, they decided to open the throttle one more time. On the descent, they launched a phenomenal sprint to secure their positions—there was actually still fuel left in the tank! With a fantastic feeling and an insane finishing time of 18 hours and 20 minutes, they thundered across the line in 30th place. Hitting the trail together with Alec worked like magic once again. There they stood ready with the ultimate grail: ice-cold sorbet, waiting for the rest.

Meanwhile, Femke sped towards her own glory. After almost 22 hours, enriched with eight blazing blisters and a head full of epic memories, she crossed the line. No man with a hammer could have stopped her. Her reward? An avalanche of hugs and finally that long-awaited double portion of Kaiserschmarrn. Amalia had also run a fantastic race, completing the success story of the early finishers.

And then there were Jimmy and Rik. With about 20 kilometers to go, tragedy struck Rik hard: his quadriceps were completely destroyed. Reduced to blocks of concrete. What followed was a true ordeal on the long, technical descents. But here, the ultra-spirit showed its most beautiful side. Jimmy, who had been forced to save his legs due to early breathing problems, took the lead on the descents, while Rik gave everything on the flat sections. In total symbiosis, they blasted through the last kilometers, overtook broken runners, and stormed across the finish line after 23 hours and 13 minutes in a brilliant 78th place. Proud, broken, and blissfully happy with the result achieved.

The Stubai 100 was no ordinary running race. It was a purifying transformation. It is a trail that breaks you with long climbs and technical root trails, only to put you back together as a stronger person. Six friends took on the challenge, and six heroes returned. The Alps are waiting... are you ready to push your own limits?