About Walserwaeg Trail
Walserwaeg Trail is the 43.0km trail race at Monte Rosa WalserWaeg by UTMB 2025 (Gressoney-Saint-Jean, Italy). The race starts on July 19, 2025.
Race strategy
Hold a steady pace and save energy for every section.
- Big early climb with 1.4km gain. Hold your pace, save your legs for later.
- 1142m descent. Go easy, save your quads.
- Steep 37% wall. Control your pace and stay focused.
- Final 601m descent. Save your legs to go all out on it.
- Control your HR on the first mountain, save your quads on the way down from it until 14.2km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 32.9km.
- Start · 0.0km–1.6km · Race-day nerves push your heart rate up: don't follow the crowd, find your own rhythm.
- Settle in · 1.6km–9.7km · Climb of 1360m. Ease in: hold back more than feels necessary. The race is still ahead. Climb by heart rate or breathing, not pace. At altitude your pace drops, and that's fine. Hike the steepest pitches.
- Work · 9.7km–21.5km · Descent of 1142m averaging 25%, high point 2635m, climb of 887m. This is where the race is built: steady, solid effort. Climb by heart rate or breathing, not pace. This descent is hard on the legs: short steps, stay in control, poles if you have them. At altitude your pace drops, and that's fine. Hike the steepest pitches.
- Fade · 21.5km–32.9km · Plus 1 more climb and 1 descent. Your energy fades, and that's normal: hold a steady effort and stop counting the miles. Climb by heart rate or breathing, not pace. Your heart rate drifts down on its own: don't chase your early-race numbers, go by feel.
- Home · 32.9km–38.9km · Descent of 601m averaging 10%. No heroics: settle back into your own effort and hold it to the line. Long descent: keep it even and let go only near the end. Hike the steepest pitches.
Course
The course climbs 3100m+. With 72m/km of climbing, the course is exceptionally steep, with long hiking-grade sections. By gradient, 35% of the distance is uphill, 43% downhill and 21% flat. The longest climb runs 9.7km at an average 14.0% grade (1360m of vertical). The longest descent runs 10.2km at an average 7.9% grade (808m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 50.2% over 0.3km. The steepest descent drops at 64.0% over 0.2km. Surface: 85% trail and 8% road. Flat-equivalent effort: 66.9 FlatKM.
Poles
Trekking poles are strongly recommended: about 7.9km of the course is steep enough for them to pay off.
Quad damage
Quad damage risk is moderate (index 31 of 100), with 48% of the load in the first half: 1 descent deserves a plan and a couple of downhill sessions before race day.
- Control your HR on the first mountain, save your quads on the way down from it until 14.2km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 32.9km.
- #1 · 9.7–14.2 km · 1142 m D−, -25.5% · 24.7 km ahead → control
- 21.5–31.7 km · 808 m D−, -7.9% · 7.2 km ahead → your pace
- 32.9–38.9 km · 601 m D−, -10.0% · 0.0 km ahead → even, let go at the end
Weather
On race day, start temperatures have historically ranged from 13°C to 20°C, with around 11°C at the highest point; the chance of precipitation is about 48%.
Results
1,079 finishers completed the 2025 edition. Men's winner: Petter Engdahl (Sweden) in 3:58:43. Women's winner: Martyna Mlynarczyk (Poland) in 5:00:10.
This page has the full results and splits, a pacing and nutrition planner, a gradient matrix, an interactive elevation profile and historical weather for Walserwaeg Trail.
