STAGE 1 (ULTRA / CHALLENGE)

STAGE 1 (ULTRA / CHALLENGE)

Stage 1 of the Ibex Multi-Day is the technical stage, with steepest gradients and mountain trail, making it perfect to tackle on fresh legs and with a clear head.

Within one kilometre of the start line, you’ll be heading hard uphill on a firebreak trail, before a gentler descent and rolling trail for a couple of kilometres. The route sweeps back around Moclin, before descending on the Ruta de Gollizno. This technical descent breaks into a riverside trail and the famous swing bridge crossing. It’s then hard uphill in a possible ibex spotting area, and into CP 1.

The route then heads across olive groves and up what will feel like an everlasting firebreak. Hang in there, you can do it, pace yourself and remember to look back as you ascend to judge how far you’ve come!

Heading left at the top, you’ll be surrounded by open trail. Enjoy the wildness but keep a lookout for the left turn taking you downhill on a zig-zag woodland trail.

The trail will open out onto firebreak, descending steeply in parts, back into olive groves and the village of Tozar. Skirting the edge of the village, past the Arab cemetary, you’ll descend some more through olive groves and uphill to CP 2 (at the same location as CP 1).

It’s then back down the footpath you climbed earlier in the day. This time, however, you turn left to run along and downhill some more, further into the gorge. Crossing over the river on a fixed metal bridge, you’ll head along the river bank and descend into the village of Olivares (and CP 3).

Here we bid farewell to the Challenge runners, as they head up the old Camino and on uphill towards the finish line. Ultra runners will head further into Olivares and uphill to Majadillas, taking an old trail to Berbe Bajo, before looping around and heading back through the olive groves towards Olivares and CP 4 (at the same location as CP 3). Ultra runners will then pick up the same route as the Challenge runners, onto the old camino, the link track from Tiena, and then hard uphill on a woodland mountain trail back to Moclin.