Monte Rosa Walserwaeg by UTMB
Monte Rosa Walserwaeg by UTMB – Monte Rosa Trail
Pont-Saint-Martin → Gressoney-Saint-Jean
Race guide
Updated 19 July 2026
The Monte Rosa Trail is the 82 km centrepiece of Monte Rosa Walserwaeg by UTMB, a demanding point-to-point line from Pont-Saint-Martin (349 m) up through the Aosta Valley's Walser country to Gressoney-Saint-Jean (1382 m). With 5645 m of positive climbing and a high point of 2657 m, it is a full high-mountain ultra that repeatedly launches you from valley floor to alpine col and back again. This is a race defined by its saw-tooth profile and its altitude. There is no long flat to hide on: the course stacks a series of huge climbs and descents between the villages of Lillianes, Issime, Gaby, Brusson and Champoluc, each linked by a passage over high ground. Runners come here for the raw vertical, the Walser heritage of the Lys valley, and the classic Monte Rosa backdrop that gives the event its name.
The Course and Terrain
From Pont-Saint-Martin at 349 m the route climbs early through the low villages of Lillianes (7.1 km, 647 m), Fontainemore (10.3 km, 774 m) and Issime (17.2 km, 952 m) before reaching Gaby at 21.5 km (1040 m). These opening kilometres ease you upward through the inhabited valley, but they are only the approach to the real mountain. From Gaby the course strikes up to Laghi di Frudiere at 28.4 km and 2248 m, a climb of roughly 1200 m that pitches you into the high country. Beyond that the trail keeps swinging between valley towns and alpine refuges: down to Brusson (40.6 km, 1344 m), up to Rifugio Arp (48.7 km, 2426 m), down to Champoluc (60.6 km, 1573 m), over the high ground past Sitten (69.5 km, 2289 m) and the 2657 m high point, down to Gressoney-La-Trinité (74.2 km, 1631 m), up again to Rifugio Alpenzu (78.1 km, 1777 m) and finally down into Gressoney-Saint-Jean at 81.9 km. Expect steep alpine singletrack, rocky refuge approaches, forested valley descents and true high-mountain terrain across the tops.
Where the Race Is Won or Lost
There are three defining climbs. The first is the wall from Gaby (1040 m) to Laghi di Frudiere (2248 m), a sustained 1200 m ascent that comes early enough to punish anyone who spent freely on the runnable valley approach to Gaby. The second is the pull out of Brusson (1344 m) to Rifugio Arp at 2426 m, roughly 1080 m of climbing in the middle of the race when fatigue is setting in. The third and most dangerous is the passage from Champoluc (1573 m) over Sitten (2289 m) and the 2657 m high point in the small hours of the night before the long drop to Gressoney-La-Trinité. The descents matter as much as the climbs. Each big col is followed by more than a thousand metres of drop into a valley town, and the accumulated eccentric load on the quads is what breaks runners late. The sting in the tail is real: after Gressoney-La-Trinité at 74.2 km you still have to climb back to Rifugio Alpenzu (1777 m) before the final descent. Getting to that last refuge with legs that can still descend is the difference between running and hobbling to the finish.
Pacing and Fuelling
The cut-offs are spaced to keep honest forward progress across day and night. Gaby closes at Fri 11:30 (21.5 km), Brusson at Fri 17:30 (40.6 km), Champoluc at Sat 00:00 (60.6 km), Gressoney-La-Trinité at Sat 05:00 (74.2 km) and the finish at Gressoney-Saint-Jean at Sat 07:15. The pattern tells you to bank time in daylight on the lower first half, because the back third over Sitten and up to Alpenzu will be slow, dark and high. Gaby, Brusson, Champoluc and Gressoney-La-Trinité are the crew points, so plan your resupply and warm-kit swaps around them. The fuelling challenge is the long, high gaps between staffed points. The stretch from Gaby up over Laghi di Frudiere to Brusson is roughly 19 km of high-mountain terrain, and Champoluc to Gressoney-La-Trinité is a committing 13.6 km over the highest ground of the course. Carry enough calories and fluid to cover a full climb-and-descent between aid, and keep eating on the ascents when your stomach still cooperates. At this altitude and over a night out, hot food and steady carbohydrate at the crew points do more for the back half than any pacing trick.
Conditions to Expect
With a 2657 m high point and repeated passages above 2200 m, this is a genuine alpine race where the weather at altitude bears little relation to the warm valley starts. Temperatures fall sharply on the cols, and because much of the high ground is crossed overnight, the cold-and-dark combination on Sitten and around the high point is the most exposed part of the day. Mandatory warm and waterproof kit exists for good reason here; pack for an alpine night, not for the mild valley you set off from. The valley towns of the Lys, from Gaby to Champoluc and Gressoney, sit in a deep mountain trench, so you will feel the swings between sheltered forest and open, wind-scoured alpine terrain again and again. Underfoot conditions range from dusty summer trail to wet, rooty descents and rocky refuge approaches that demand attention when you are tired. Come prepared for the full alpine spectrum of heat low down, cold and wind up high, and the possibility of rain turning the descents technical.
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Checkpoints & cut-offs
✓ Course data verified against the official source (2026-07-17) · official source
0 km · 349 m · —
7.1 km · 647 m · —
10.3 km · 774 m · —
17.2 km · 952 m · —
21.5 km · 1040 m · Fri 11:30
28.4 km · 2248 m · —
40.6 km · 1344 m · Fri 17:30
48.7 km · 2426 m · —
60.6 km · 1573 m · Sat 00:00
69.5 km · 2289 m · —
74.2 km · 1631 m · Sat 05:00
78.1 km · 1777 m · —
81.9 km · 1382 m · Sat 07:15
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