I’m a pretty typical social media user. While my feed is primarily filled with cats, I also see plenty of climbing, Japanese food, 90’s grunge, and because of what I post – trail running. The thing I am realizing is that the term trail running is being used to describe a very broad range of activities. Because I provide a trail running resource, I feel like it is useful to have names for different types of off-road running. For traditional running routes, it’s a minor issue, but as we take running higher into the mountains, it’s important to define what someone might be getting into. Names help to categorize expectations.

Running (Unpaved Surfaces)

Dirt and gravel road running are what I see a lot of people doing in the US. For those training for trail races without access to trails, running dirt or gravel roads is good preparation for the trails they’ll run for their event. This is where we’re starting the conversation, not with road running.

Trail Running

The foundation of off-road running, trails are what we want to run. They can be twisty-turney things that take us to and through natural landscapes. Trails are everywhere from city parks to high Himalaya passes.

Ultra Running

I see ultra running as long endurance events starting at around 50km distance using all surfaces. But, nobody walks out the door for a run and says, “I’m going for an ultra run.” 

Mountain Running

While preparing this post, we did something in the mountains I have wanted to do for about 25 years — California’s White Mountain Traverse. But instead of the usual start on the crest, we started in the Owen’s Valley and climbed the West Ridge of White (4345m) just to gain the ridgeline. That’s a 2800-meter climb to kick off a 50km cross country ridge route. It was rocky, scrambly, slow, remote, high, and all off trail. There is no easy bailout and injury would be disastrous.

We called it a trail run. Why? Because we approached it as runners, in running kit, with a keep-moving attitude, zero luxury, and of course when we could cruise a little faster, we trotted along.

What a mountain run is became clearer to me; it’s taking on a multi-dimensional mountain objective as a trail runner.

Mountain running demands additional skills from a trail runner going into the mountains for reasons of safety, responsibility for themselves and their group, and to succeed. These skills include navigation, climbing, route finding, and a larger overall knowledge base for decision making.

Mountain runs might include very little running as running is not the point of the route. It’s the mentality of a trail runner that is taken to the mountains; to move quickly, to rely on speed and efficiency to get out of trouble, and to commit to big days with little gear in the style of “Light Alpinism.”

Mountain runs aren’t something you do all the time. For many trail runners, mountain runs are the days to train for. Mountain runs can be endurance or summit objectives, and they don’t necessarily need to go to a summit, but they will pass through more committing mountain terrain, i.e., the Glacier Haute Route or Nepal’s 3 Passes.

During Kilian Jornet’s 2025 States of Elevation project, he traveled 165km and summited all thirteen of the Sierra 14ers between Cottonwood Lakes and Bishop Pass in just over 56 hours. Was he running the whole time? Absolutely not. I know because we were with him for some of it. He just kept moving. But would we call it a mountain run? Yes, in fact it may well be the perfect definition of mountain run. He traveled as light as possible, he was in running kit, and he was very committed to the route. And while much of it is in very technical terrain, when it made sense, he did do some running.

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ALPSinsight’s Mountain Running Routes

For our ALPS trail runs, we’ve added a Mountain Run filter to our All Runs page. We currently have 134 trail runs spread throughout the Alps – 20 are what we consider Mountain Runs. 

Throughout our Sierra and Himalaya guides at All Mountain Collective : Trail Running Guides to the Great Ranges – we’ve tried to use the appropriate name when describing the runs. Interestingly, as a percentage, there are more mountain runs in these ranges simply due to their remoteness and the fact that the mountain terrain has not been beaten into submission with infrastructure. In California’s Sierra Nevada, 11 of our 30 guidebook runs are what we consider mountain runs. Wilderness, the remote nature of the range, lack of communication, complicated rescue potential, and abundant off-trail terrain are key factors.

How do we determine a Mountain Run for our Alps Guides?

We decided to create a list of characteristics of mountain running, and consider a route as a mountain run if more than one is present. The final decision was also somewhat subjective based on comparing it to all the other routes we’ve run. Also, a trail for the entirety of the route may prevent a mountain run classification.

A case in point is Pizzo di Claro which gains 2550 meters in less than 10km. Bonkers. It’s a big mountain! But we do not consider it a mountain route. It’s on a trail from the bottom to top, there’s no scrambling, it’s low elevation, and you can probably hear lawn mowers far below.

Of course there is room for debate, but we feel strongly that a mountain run should be something requiring more than a lot of vert or distance. A mountain run is also a mountain objective, which implies that it’s something special and will require all around mountain skills.

These are some of those skills and the characteristics we think define mountain running:

Navigation

If visibility were to shut down due to a whiteout or foggy/cloudy conditions, would the route become difficult to follow and potentially dangerous?

Climbing

More than just the actual climbing movement, if the route also requires extensive route finding and getting off route would have serious consequences – the route is a mountain route.

Climbing Gear

As soon as routes enter steeper mountain terrain, climbing becomes a possibility. With that might come the need for specific gear; ice axe, crampons, micro-spikes, helmet, and running shoes that climb well and hold up in abusive terrain.

Elevation

At higher elevation, weather can be more serious, it might be harder to drop to lower elevation depending on the terrain, and there can be serious health issues that must be understood. High elevation can also influence mental capacity, complicating decision making.

Remoteness

How remote a route is may not influence the difficulty, but when paired with some of the other more consequential characteristics, it can be a determining factor for safety.

General Mountain Skills

Some mountain routes require basic technical mountain skills; glacier travel, crevasse rescue, talus navigation, snow & ice climbing, rock climbing, terrain assessment, and weather knowledge. 

Mountain Experience

Sometimes safety and enjoyment come down to one thing: experience. The route up a mountain can be very easy and relatively safe, however there may be zero margin for error or bad luck. Experience can play a huge role in identifying issues before things go sideways.

An example of an easier route up a big mountain would be running the Bishorn above Zinal, Switzerland. The Bishorn often has awalkable trench up the low angle glacier. Following it to the summit on a sunny day requires little more than basic fitness, endurance, and some spikes on your feet. However, if it were to whiteout, losing the track and wandering off route may well result in falling into a crevasse or getting into steeper, icy terrain. 

What are Mountain Runs vs. Way Ups?

Mountain Runs require mountain skills and don’t have to include a summit. What we call Way Ups at ALPSinsight are huge amounts of vert to a summit and have a kilometer to vertical meter ratio of at least 1:100. Using Pizzo di Claro as an example again, it is a clear case of a Way Up as it gains 2550 meters in just under 10km, entirely on trail. 

Taking Running to the Mountains

As trail runners evolve, it isn’t always going further that is of interest, it can be going into higher terrain. With higher mountain terrain comes additional variables to manage.

Mountain Running has been defined by the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) as steep, rugged, terrain with significant elevation gain on what can be paved or semi-paved surfaces. But, they are competition focused and define the category accordingly. The term Sky Running is also a longtime race category and has the closest style to what I am describing. But again it’s competition focused and like the term ultra running, no one is going to say, “I’m going for a sky run.” It just hurts the ears.

When I click Trail Run to record an activity on my Coros, it’s not always what I’m up to. My passion and my work take me into the mountains. I’m lucky to live in two fantastic mountain ranges for running, peak bagging, and creative mountain objectives, the Alps and Sierra. It’s exactly that combination that I enjoy most – Mountain Running. I want to define exactly what that is in a non-trail-racing context. 

In my opinion, mountain running outside of competition is all about a mountain experience where much more than running is involved. We’ve added a Mountain Run filter to our ALPSinsight All Runs page to differentiate them from both traditional trail runs and what we call Way Ups.

Why is this important? In the big picture, it’s really not, but it is when you are providing an in depth trail running resource and accurate information is critical for people to judge whether a route is right for them.

By Dan Patitucci