Haizi Gorge.photo by LiuHui.

Where The Trail Ends !? Ultra Tour Mt Siguniang 2015 race report Altitude Challenge at Ultra Tour Mt Siguniang www.utms.com.cn

6250 meter Mt.Siguniang photo by Harem Ali Hassan.

Withanaveragealtitudeofover4,000m,andthehighestpeakoftheevent reaching 5,038m, Ultra Tour Mt Siguniang is a race that is more about conquering the elevation than the distance.

Mt Dafeng 5028 meter near summit.photo by Yuan Xiaojin.

Trail running is a mountain sport, Altitude should be considered starting from the classification proposed by Bartsch and accepted by the UIAA:AMS: Acute Mountain Sickness Acute mountain sickness can progress to high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) or high altitude cerebral edema (HACE), which are potentially fatal.Also in high altitude the recovery time it decreases, the decisions taken is less lucid and we have less precision on the movements.

where the trail ends.photo by Harem Ali Hassan.

The first editon of UTMS, is set in Mount Siguniang (literally Four Girls Mountain, in Chinese) located in Sichuan Province, China, is known for it’s ethereal views of it’s four peaks standing between 5,038m to 6,250m, and enjoys the reputation of being the “Alps of the Oriental.” It’s inaugural edition welcomed more than 200 “altitude challengers” from 11 countries in its 3 race distances of 60km, 42km, and 50km (team of 2).

First edition races seldom have high quality fields but here in UTMS six elite runners toed the line:

60km

Justin Robert Andrews in 60km 3 place.photo by Yuan Xiaojin.

Justin Robert Andrews–recent 1st place at the Trans Lantau 50km，3th place at the MSIG HK50km 2014.

Duan Yong in 60km 4 place.photo by Liu Hui.

Duan Yong-recent finish 37:28:28 GRAND RAID RÉUNION 2015.

Qiu Zu win 60km.photo by Ma Xiaona.

Qiu Zu- Mountain guide from team Chuan-Zang,recent with Yegesiji record from Basecamp to summit 6178m Queershan on 8:20.

42km

Siguniang Alpine Marathon 42 km winner.photo by Ma Xiaona.

Yegesiji- Mountain guide from team Chuan-Zang,recent with Qiu Zu record from Basecamp to summit 6178m Queershan on 8:20.

Graham Zimmerman in 42km 7 place.photo by Huang Jizhou.

Graham Zimmerman-Alpinist,in May 2013, Graham and Mark Allen made a first ascent of the Northeast Buttress of Mt.Laurens in the remote southwest fork of the Lacuna Glacier. Their climb 59 hours up and 8 hours down—earned them a Piolet d'Or nomination.

Jon Otto in 42km 4 place.photo by Ma Xiaona.

Jon Otto- Alpinist,Jon has lived in China for over ten years climbing and doing adventure tours. He ran a mountaineering school based out of Chengdu for several years. He now splits his time between San Francisco and China, is a dad, and works for Leading Guide work.

Gear check.photo by Ma Xiaona.

In the 60km race, only 7 – all men – out of the 50 participants managed to finish the entire race, with Tibetan mountain guide Qiu Zu winning the race in 11h 49min. Qiu Zu lead from the front and had a stunning day on the trails and first Summit Mt.Dafeng. Despite a fall,he arrived in DafengBasecamp looking strong. Justin Andrews played the bridesmaid and as the latter stages of the race unfolded he obviously decided to take his foot of the gas and save some energy.

60km runner Wu Haizhong in Lake Rhino.photo by Jizhou Huang.

trail-running-label said,Trail runners mostly think about physical capacities (“I can run 20km, 80km or 200km” or “I can make 4000m elevation…”) but rarely they think about the difficulty (“it demands some climbing, it demands to know how to put the feet, rocks, snow…”) the experience (“need to navigate out of trails, need to use and know to use extra gear to protect myself because is a storm, need to stay on the middle of a mountain for some hours waiting for a rescue….”) and the exposition (be injured here is difficult to evacuate, “if I fall from here I can die…”)

Runner forward Check point 6.photo by Liu Hui.

Lake Rhino view NW FACE of Mt.Siguniang 6250 meter photo by Jizhou Huang.

leave Check point 6.photo by Liu Hui.

Ultra Tour Mt Siguniang 60km Top 3

1：Qiu Zu（China）11:49:14

2：Ruqiao Ren（China）12:44:13

3：Justin Andrews（US）13:58:41

Beaty star photo by Tang Zheng.

In the 42km race,Yegesiji raced lead around 30km, he pulled away and took a strong victory on a course that he said was, very tough challenging and technical!

Left:Hard climb and Many Stone in summit route. photo by Xiaojin Yuan

Right:Technical route.photo by Xiaojin Yuan

The race started by following the main streets of the town and then up to 5038 meter Mt Dafeng. Following trails, technical at times they head to the climb 1800m summit Mt Dafeng and then drop like stones to Basecamp.

Long climb near summit. photo by Xiaojin Yuan.

At Absloute Alpine Trail steep climb awaits, unfortunately this is the nature of Alps trails; they go up and down! From High lake they drop downhill towards the lake and stunning views of 6250 meter Mt.Yaomeifeng.

Runner summit and down hill.photo by Xiaojin Yuan.

Left:Down technical route.photo by Yuan Xiaojin.

Right:looking stone shard.photo by Yuan Xiaojin.

Siguniang Alpine Marathon 42 km - Top 3

Male

Emanuele Fornale from Italy,looking very strong.photo by Huang Jizhou.

Left:Christopher Langhout in 42km 8 place.photo by Huang Jizhou.

Right:Follow trail,paths and horse track.photo by Harem Ali Hassan.

1.      Yegesiji（China）  06:14:20

2.      Tang Zhengliang（China） 07:26:57

3.      Emanuele Fornale（Italy） 07:45:07

4.      Jon Otto （USA）    08:10:48

5.      Liu Zaijun  （China）  08:16:54

6.      Pietro Adamo （Italy） 08:51:10

7.      Graham Zimmerman（USA）   08:57:28

8.      Christopher Langhout(FRA) 09:09:41

9.      Bao Yifei   （China）  09:11:31

10.    Wang Shili （China）   09:30:27

Female

Left:China female Zheng Dan win 42km.photo by Huang Jizhou.

Right:Finish Plate.photo by Harem Ali Hassan.

Left:Check point 6 pre hotwater,GU energy,apple etc.photo by Liu Hui.

Right:Doctor check runner SPO2.photo by Liu Hui.

1.     Zheng Dan（China） 10:25:47

2.     Cao Pin（China） 11:02:45

3.     Hongyu Lai（China） 11:26:23

50 km Duo runner in Check point Shuanghaizi.photo by Laura.

The 50km race was all about fun and in many scenarios it provided a first race opportunity for outdoor fans. No doubt, they will be inspired to look ahead to 2016 and maybe move up to the single race.

Results 50km Duo

1.        Chen Lijia/Hong Wenxun   (China)    9:51:47

2.        Wang Xiaobo/Bao Mingsheng（China) 10:53:27

3.        Tang Wei/Ye Ziyun （China) 12:18:32

Beaty star photo by Zeng Fanrong.

Although Qiu Zu won the 60km event and Yegesiji won the 42km race, the UTMS is much more than elite names racing and setting records. The race is all about motivation and inspiration. The race, the people and the mountain rely on tourism and without doubt, UTMS race adds a great boost.

Team Vibram-Kalias training Alpine Trail.photo by Harem Ali Hassan.

Trail Running in China Mainland fast growing,On 7 Nov,Krissy Moehl visit Vasque mountain running race in Hangzhou. Asia Trail magazine key China mainland have 73 trail race around 2015.but,trail race is more close to the city's suburbs mountain,And not really the western high mountains. Western China is the real mountain kingdom,Mountain knowledges are not just about the altitude: High mountain can be at 1000m on Scandinavia, 3500m on the alps or 5000m on Himalayas.

Mt.Siguniang photo by Tang Zheng.

At the time of writing results are slowly but surely coming in as all races have not finished. We will update this post with information as and when Available.

Runner Luo Xiaowen in Dahaizi.photo by Harem Ali Hassan.

Thanks title Sponsor Kailas for race warm jacket and outdoor gear,and Julbo,KINETIK,GU energy supoort race.You can view Ultra Tour Mt.Siguniang Website.http://www.utms.com.cn and http://www.sgns.gov.cn/