Hotel La Valle Blanche (Chamonix) - 08/28

The flight landed at Geneva International Airport 15 minutes early, at 9 a.m. I had booked a transfer with Alpybus to take me directly to my hotel, La Vallée Blanche. Because of the UTMB race, I wasn’t sure what to expect—many people had already left the day before—but to my surprise, I was the only passenger in the van.

I ended up sitting in the front seat and had a great conversation with the driver. He was originally from Ireland and had moved to the area so he could rock climb during the summer. In the winter, he lived in Spain.

As soon as I arrived at my hotel, I could already hear the sound of drums celebrating runners finishing the race before the cutoff time. It was hard to believe that the first runner, Kilian Jornet, completed the course in just 19 hours and 49 minutes!

I spent the entire afternoon watching the race—it was such a vibrant atmosphere, full of energy and excitement, unlike anything I had experienced before. It also helped me stay awake and fight off jet lag.