Desert Peak Ultra is a mountain and desert trail competition held in Oracle, Arizona, USA.
Run by Everyday Ultra, it combines the hike from the desert near Tucson to Mount Lemmon and the singletrack of the Arizona Trail into different categories.
The change of scenery from lowlands with cacti to mountains with pine trees is at the heart of the competition.
The purpose of creating a long-distance race and running festival together is also included in the official introduction.
The Desert Peak 100km and Desert Sky 50km climb Mt. Lemmon from the beginning and head to Summerhaven.
You can see downtown Tucson and the desert mountains from the steep and rugged climb into the highlands of the Santa Catalina Mountains.
After coming down, there is a long uphill climb again before returning to the start and finish, so the journey over the mountain does not end in one trip.
The desert terrain, pine forest, and ridge landscape are connected within the same course.
After finishing the mountainous section for 100km, you run an additional desert course in the second half.
This section mixes open desert views, smooth singletrack and short climbs, and is also used by the Desert Dream 50km.
The Dream race is designed around gentle desert terrain, compared to the Sky race, which involves climbing Mount Lemmon.
Even for the same 50km, the type of terrain you run on makes a big difference.
The organizers add music and a speaker program to create an event where trail runners gather to share the different course experiences of the mountains and desert within one weekend.
