Asia

Asia alone holds the extremes of trail running: the highest summits on earth in the Himalayas, the aesthetic rigour of Japan, the immensity of China, the humidity of Southeast Asia. Asian trails often impose altitude, heat or both, on paths shaped over centuries by local people, long before the word "trail" arrived.

The Ultra-Trail Mt. Fuji circles Japan's sacred volcano on forest trails maintained for generations. The MSIG HK100, in Hong Kong, crosses the territory's coastal hills by night as well as by day, a stone's throw from the skyscrapers. The TransLantau explores Lantau Island and its isolated temples, far from the urban bustle. The Yading Skyrun climbs into the sacred mountains of Sichuan, in China, above 4,000 metres. In Nepal, the Annapurna Circuit and the approach to Everest Base Camp remain the great Himalayan references, walked long before the age of timed trail running.

Sacred summits, volcanoes, tropical hills: so many landscapes that Plotrek turns into a topographic poster, contour by contour.