ASICS has opened its first training base in the European Alps, a chalet in Les Houches, France, built for the runners on its ASICS Trail Team. The site, announced from the brand’s EMEA headquarters in Hoofddorp on May 19, sits a short drive from Chamonix and gives the company’s elite athletes direct access to some of the most demanding trail running terrain anywhere.
The facility, called the ASICS Basecamp, can host around 10 athletes at a time. It includes an in-house gym and a support team made up of local physios, medical experts and a data scientist, who will help athletes recover and track their training. ASICS describes the chalet as a “home away from home” for the squad, with the surrounding Mont Blanc massif acting as the training ground itself.
Santiago Martinez Ric, Head of Sports Marketing at ASICS EMEA, said the camp is an extension of the brand’s longstanding “Sound Mind, Sound Body” approach to athlete care.
“Rooted in ASICS’ ‘Sound Mind, Sound Body’ philosophy and reflecting our holistic approach to performance and sports marketing, the ASICS Basecamp has been created to support both the physical and mental wellbeing of our athletes,” he said in the announcement. “With the opening of the camp, we are expanding our commitment to the ASICS Trail Team by creating a unique space that allows athletes to connect, prepare and ultimately thrive in one of the most inspiring locations in the world.”
For trail runners, the location matters as much as the building. Chamonix is widely regarded as the spiritual home of mountain running. It hosts Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc each summer and draws athletes from around the world looking for vertical gain and high-altitude routes.
Les Houches itself is a stop on the UTMB course and connects to a web of paths that lead up onto the Mont Blanc massif. The 2025 race saw Tom Evans take the men’s title and Ruth Croft make history in the women’s race, on a course that was rerouted at the last minute due to landslides near the valley.
That access is what athletes are most likely to notice first.
Ben Dhiman, who runs for the ASICS Trail Team, said training in the area is not something most runners can sustain on their own dime.
“Training in a place like Chamonix changes everything. The terrain, the altitude, the energy, it pushes you in ways you can’t replicate anywhere else,” he said. “It’s not something all athletes can afford, but the ASICS Basecamp now gives us the opportunity to fully focus on our training and recovery, while also connecting with our teammates and other trail lovers. Being present in the mecca of trail running is exactly what younger trail athletes, in particular, need to reach the next level.”
ASICS has been steadily building out its trail running roster and product line over the past several years, and the Basecamp is the most physical signal yet of how seriously the company is taking the discipline.
The brand’s trail shoe lineup sits alongside heavyweight rivals such as Hoka, Salomon and The North Face, all of whom have run team camps in the Chamonix valley for years. A permanently staffed chalet dedicated to a single brand’s roster is less common, and the cost of running one in the Alps year-round is not insignificant. ASICS has not disclosed the budget for the project.
The camp opens ahead of a busy stretch of the trail calendar, with athletes already preparing for late summer races including UTMB Finals week in Chamonix and other stops on the global trail circuit. For runners curious about what draws athletes to the sport in the first place, the Mont Blanc skyline is as good an answer as any.
0 Comments