Les Verti'Cimes

Les Verti'Cimes packs steep climbs of roughly 400 to 690 metres into short trail races around Lake Annecy in Haute-Savoie. The series is based in Doussard, with routes also listed for Duingt, Talloires, and Annecy/Seynod, and it runs in September. Most races are short mountain-trail efforts: about 4.5 to 5 km for the vertical-style courses, while some listings group Talloires, Duingt, and Doussard as 10K formats. The routes are simple on paper and hard on the legs. Talloires climbs 520m in 4.9km, Duingt climbs about 410-450m in 4.6km, and Doussard is listed with 690m of gain, so the challenge is the uphill rather than the distance. Runners looking for compact, steep trails show up, from regular trail runners to people testing themselves on a shorter mountain effort. The series also includes timed climbs, equipment tests, and after-parties, giving it more of a local trail gathering feel than a standalone race.