The route
Next edition9-11 July 2027
158.5 km around the San Juan Mountains, up to the summit of Handies Peak, 9,820 m of climbing in all.
Drawn with a pen, line by line
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Indicative figures computed by Plotrek on its illustrative route, with altitudes from a terrain model. They may differ from the organiser's.
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Direction switches every other edition on this loop: clockwise one year, then counterclockwise the next, over the same route through the San Juan Mountains.
6 am, in Silverton: that's the start, whichever direction the year calls for. The terrain mixes high passes and ridges, snowfield crossings and icy stream fords, with exposed stretches above drops of more than 300 feet.
The route passes near Telluride, then through Ouray, before climbing toward the summit of Handies Peak.
It then drops through Sherman, then Pole Creek, before returning to Silverton for the finish line. 48 hours separate the two passes through Silverton.
Paths and places: © OpenStreetMap contributors. Altitudes measured on the route.
03 · Your poster
The relief of the course, a loop from Silverton, takes shape as contour lines: our pen plotter draws it with a pen, line by line. Your finisher name and time go in the title block, in A4, A3 or A2.
Shipped from our workshop in Le Bouscat
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Updated Route and text: Plotrek workshop (Fabrice Jolivet)
Plotrek's illustrative route, redrawn on OpenStreetMap paths, measures 158.5 km and 9,820 m of elevation gain. It is a loop, with Silverton as start and finish, Ouray at km 68.9 and Pole Creek at km 120.7. The elevation loss measured on this route is 9,820 m.
Handies Peak, at 4,277 m, at km 99.2 of Plotrek's route. The high point lies between two landmarks of the course: Ouray (2,367 m, km 68.9) and Sherman (2,936 m, km 110.9). The start and finish are both at 2,840 m. Altitudes measured on the route, with a terrain model.
1,600 m of elevation gain in one go, from km 68.3 to km 83.1 of Plotrek's route. Landmark on the way: Ouray (2,367 m, km 68.9). No other climb on the 158.5 km loop is as long. Average gradient of this section: 10.8%. It accounts for 16% of the route's elevation gain.
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