Mountain Races in Valais

In Valais, the mountains don't just decorate the postcard, they set the pace 🏔️. From the Gornergrat to the Val d'Anniviers, the slopes are run vertically, often up to finish lines perched above 2,500 m, under the gaze of the Matterhorn. For a mountain race in Valais, you'd better love climbing. Here, the contour lines tighten as soon as you leave the village, and your thighs feel it quickly.

The terrain mixes scree fields, alpine pastures and ridge trails, between loose rocks, grassy slopes and simple tracks in the stone, to be adapted to the format you choose. The first hill climbs start in May on the slopes of the Rhône valley, the big high-altitude events run from July to September, and snowfields sometimes show up all the way to the start ☀️. The temperature difference between the plain and the finish can exceed 15°C, which justifies one more layer in your pack.

The Valais mountain race calendar lines up the classics. Sierre-Zinal reigns in August under the gaze of the five 4,000 m peaks of the Val d'Anniviers, and the Gornergrat Zermatt Marathon climbs to over 3,000 m 🚂. In Fully, the Vertical Kilometer of Fully and La Verticale 2901 test your thighs in September and July. InalpeDynafit, in Haute Nendaz, focuses on a festive atmosphere at the end of August, and the Défi des Muverans, in Ovronnaz, offers courses around the Muverans in early September.

Glaciers complete the picture. The Aletsch Half Marathon, in Fieschertal in June, offers a view of the largest glacier in the Alps ❄️. Between alpine cheese and trails that never stop climbing, choose the climb that suits you, and for less vertical formats, take a look at trails in Valais. Most events also offer short formats, open to children or beginners.