On the first morning of the “3 Peaks in 3 Days” the nerves had calmed and anticipation, excitement and passion had taken over. 

Let’s let the four Mountopia winners tell their own stories of their experiences atop the three highest mountains in Austria, South Tyrol and Germany...

"My summer was consumed of training, I thought it would never come to an end. When the day for the 3 Peaks in 3 days finally arrived, I was beyond excited and ready to take on the challeges that were about to come my way.

I climbed Grossglockner over the Spring to get an idea of what these 3 days would entail, but I was still anxious to see what 3 days in a row of climbing mountains would be like. 

"How about that for a crazy weekend? 3 peaks in 3 days with a total of 70 kilometers and a hefty 7,000 meters of vert, with little to no sleep. Shortly after Mountopia, I had trouble realizing what I had physically just done - only now am I starting to wrap my head around it...

I was pretty nervous in the days leading up to it, but was motivated beyond my means at the same time. When we finally began, we cranked out the first peak at a quick pace, and continued on at a similar speed for the rest of our journey. Admittedly, I had never been on any of the three mountains, so every drop of sweat and every meter of vert we ran was earned. Mountopia was a powerful challenge and a truly unforgettable project."

"For me, “3 Peaks – 3 Days” was not just about getting to the summit of Grossglockner, Ortler and Zugspitze, this entire project had a much deeper meaning for me. By participatiung in Muntopia, I got to know and appreciate the mountains from a different perspective, and I was able to meet “true” mountain sports athletes and learn about their passions for the mountains.  For me, this project was more than just running to the top of these peaks. It was about gaining a deeper understanding of mountain endurance sports, and sharing my passion I have for the moutains with others."

I am a motivated person – in sports, in my profession and with my family. Mountopia touched me deeply and inspired me in many ways.  My point of view of many things has changed, I look at the world a little differently now and know that I will forever be a part of the mountains.

It is in the wee hours of the morning and we are sitting together eating breakfast, in silence. The bread is drier than usual, but the coffee meets my expectation. I look at the faces of our four Mountopia winners and see an innumerable amount of emotions. They are nervous and tense, yet excitement shines from their eyes. Thoughts swirl in their heads - "What am I going to face?" "Have I trained properly?"  "Am I phyiscally strong enough to conquer three consecutive days of speed accents?"

High fives go around and words of wisdom are exchanged, the nerves of the winners subside. Our first goal, Grossglockner. The adventure is about the begin. 

None of the four winners had known each other prior to taking on the Mountopia challenge, but we quickly got acquainted once the journey begin. The four of us are totally different people, but we found that the passion we all had for the mountains united us and brought us together as a team.

Shortly after the "3 Peaks - 3 Days" adventure was over, I was asked by my friends if Mountopia was difficult. Without hesitation, my answer was, "No, it wasn’t for me!" I told them I pushed my physical limits, but, having the winners function as a group made the physical demands easy and enjoyable. The event was perfectly organized for the winners to enojy - all we had to do was run, eat and enjoy ourselves!

"On the way up Grossglockner, my body wasn't feeling 100%. Just a week before the Mountopia challenge, I had participated in a Spartan Ultramarathon and boy could I still feel it in my legs. Step by step up the mountain, I felt the burn in my legs more and more, but I fought my way through and felt like I came out as a winner. I can’t begin to describe what the Mountopia Project did for me. I arrived and didn’t know anybody, but after just 3 short days, the four winners came together  and built a unique team to reach our unified goal. 

Passion best describes what I felt during the challenge. I walk away from Mountopia feeling and knowing there are others out there that have a passion for the mountains as vast as I do. The Mountopia final gave me an enormous amount of strength I didn't know I had. It pushed my limits, helped me gain self-confidence and in the end it allowed me to feel so much positive energy from within myself and everyone around me. I hope that everyone can experience something like this, once in their lives."

Iga, Lucija, Aramis and Christoph are the winners of the fourth year of the Mountopia challenge, but now it is your turn. On Oct. 9th, 2018, Mountopia will kick off another round of competition, only this time the goal is the Mezzalama Trophy. Are you ready to become a part of the highest alpine skimo race in the world in April, 2019. We have reserved one of six starting spots for you.

We would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank-you to our Mountopia partners:

• Gore
• Primaloft
• Powerbar
• Zugspitzregion
• Zugspitzbahn
• Sport Quartier Garmisch
• Hindelanger Bergführerbüro