Following the beautiful Tour de Monte Rosa, the Ultra Tour Monte Rosa is a long-distance trail race encircling the second highest mountain in the Alps. As a one-stage race it is a serious challenge – bold, brutal and beautiful – and in stages, it’s a lot of fun.
The 170km features wild spaces, numerous 4000m mountains in every direction, and non-busy trails – this is where I chose to train for UTMB and other races. This is the format I trained in – going around Monte Rosa in long days, staying with my friends in villages and refugios along the way. It’s a tough trail, high and technical in many places – and prior mountain running experiences is needed – but so beautiful.
The stage race is a great format. You can enjoy the views across meadows and mountains in daylight, and socialise and dine with the competitors in afternoons and evenings. The stage race has a mix of great athletes running for the day’s podium alongside those looking to challenge themselves. The UTMR stage event is an immensely fun way to race the UTMR route.
As a one-stage race it is a serious challenge – brutal, beautiful and brilliant. The full route is tougher than UTMB.
A third option is the 100km Ultra 3 Passes, which offers 5 points for the UTMB.
The spectacular Monte Rosa massif, with 10 summits over 4000m, lies on the Swiss – Italian border. The race will follow the wildly beautiful trails of the Tour de Monte Rosa taking a challenging and diverse high level route around this magnificent mountain. The Monte Rosa massif has inspired not only mountaineers, but also poets, writers and explorers – we will let it inspire us too!
The Monte Rosa does not stand alone however. The Zermatt region is host to 38 4000m mountains including, of course, the iconic Matterhorn. Wherever you are along the route of the UTMR these beautiful mountains will be above you, beside you, behind you and ahead of you. It is an incredibly beautiful journey to make. We hope that you will enjoy it as much as we do.
We start in Grächen, a small village on a beautiful alp above the Matter Vispa, a tributary of the Rhone. We follow the Europaweg the length of the Mattertal, crossing the longest suspension bridge in the world before dropping down into the old alpine village of Zermatt. We climb high, beneath the iconic Matterhorn before turning away to the east. We keep scribing a circle around the huge massif of the Monte Rosa – a roller coaster of tough ascents and long descents and along high wild trails. Many hours and many kilometres later we cross back into Switzerland and reach a gem of a trail, the Saas Fee Höhenweg (high altitude trail) before dropping down to our finish line in Grächen.
Majestic mountains, wild high passes, spectacular valleys, remote hamlets, traditional villages, flower filled meadows, leafy forests, mountain tarns, demanding ascents, breathtaking descents and miles and miles of superbly runnable trails – the UTMR promises you a journey through an amazingly diverse landscape, through a region rich in history, culture and tradition. Come and be part of it!
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