Sierre-Zinal, the Race of the Five 4,000-Meter Peaks: 31 km Under the Giants

01An idea people call crazy

The race is born on August 11, 1974. Its father, Jean-Claude Pont, is a mathematician and professor. He links Sierre to Zinal through the Val d'Anniviers, at a time when mountain running races are rare. Many take him for a madman.

Pont's pitch, in his own words: “The opportunity to rediscover the virtues of physical effort.” He opens the door to others too: women run the same course as men, and a “tourist” category lets you go all the way without being ranked, with your time on a diploma.

02422 finishers

The gamble pays off: 422 runners cross the line in the first edition. Two founders of Spiridon magazine, Noël Tamini and Yves Jeannotat, back the adventure. In 1975, Pont and Tamini launch the International Mountain Cup.

03The skier and the Olympic champion

At the 1974 start there is one star: Belgium's Gaston Roelants, Olympic champion in the 3,000 m steeplechase and world hour record holder. A track champion against the mountain.

He doesn't win. The winner is Edi Hauser, a Swiss cross-country skier. The first name on the roll of honor comes from the snow, not the track.

04Five giants along the way

Why “the race of the five 4000s”? Because five peaks above 4,000 m come into view from the course: the Weisshorn (4,506 m), the Zinalrothorn (4,221 m), the Ober Gabelhorn (4,063 m), the Matterhorn (4,478 m) and the Dent Blanche (4,357 m). The runners, for their part, mostly have their noses in the slope: 2,200 m of climbing, 1,100 m of descent.

05A mountain race, not a trail

Jean-Claude Pont has little love for the word “trail.” The race's website presents Sierre-Zinal as “one of the most beautiful mountain races in the world.” And on the clock, everything is decided to the second.

In 2019, Kilian Jornet wins in 2:25:35 and erases Jonathan Wyatt's record, which dated from 2003, according to World Athletics. Among the women, Maude Mathys runs 2:49:20: it is still the record.

In 2024, for the 51st edition, Jornet claims his tenth win in 2:25:34. He beats his own record by one second according to iRunFar, by just two hundredths according to Outside. Kenya's Philemon Kiriago arrives barely two seconds behind. Long before them, Angela Mudge had been the first woman to break three hours.