Creating the Via Valais Trail Running Tour, 2018
One thing was clear after spending 5 months running around the Swiss Alps non-stop in 2017. The Valais region is without a doubt the best trail running in Switzerland, in the Alps, possibly (probably) the world. Nowhere else have we seen trails so good for running, with huts, and easy access all in such a dramatic landscape. As we started developing this website and adding more runs, we felt the Valais region needed a real showpiece in the form of a multi-day tour.
Then it hit us, skiers have the Chamonix to Zermatt Haute Route, hikers have the Chamonix to Zermatt summer Haute Route and the Tour du Mont Blanc, but runners don’t have a dedicated tour. Sure the Tour du Mont Blanc gets tons of attention thanks to the UTMB® race, but if we’re honest, the Tour du Mont Blanc is a terrible running tour thanks to long, boring sections, lots of dirt roads, way too much forest time, and especially overcrowding with all the trekkers. Trail runners needed their own multi-day tour. The Valais was the top choice for where to look. We got started.
Janine combined her deep knowledge of the Alps with loads of time scouring maps and together we came up with a line connecting Verbier to Zermatt. In September of 2018, with friends Kirra Balmanno and Bruno Schaub, we started working on piecing the route together. We quickly determined the ideal line between Becs des Bossons and Zermatt that would keep runners off the summer Haute Route, on the most runnable trails, and in super scenic landscapes. But, a few early connections weren’t lining up. Janine, Kim, and I spent a month working out the options but it wasn’t until the last dry mountain day before the first big snow came that we found the key link that would access the best trails, with the right amount of distance between overnights, and in the most scenic landscape. We called it the Via Valais and for the three of us, it is our most proud achievement.
Today, six years later, the Via Valais is considered one of the world’s great trails and people come from all over the world to run it.
Camera: Sony a6500
Posing Scale: 3 – I was putting the team to work to get just the right images to help draw attention to the Via Valais. As a result, there was a lot of “one more time” when I saw something good. This image was a favorite from the first go on the route when we ran six consecutive days to Zermatt.
Read the stories behind our other selected Best Trail Running Photos.
More from the Via Valais:
I’m not exactly sure what’s going on here, but they seem to have had a good time.
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