Monte Rosa Circuit
Starting in Zermatt, Switzerland at the foot of the Matterhorn, the Tour de Monte Rosa is a challenging and varied trail around the Monte Rosa and Mischabel mountain ranges. We love this trail for its rugged beauty, and for the different landscapes and cultures through which we pass, from cozy Italian mountain huts, to famous Swiss mountain villages like Saas-Fee. The route crosses in several high passes, including 3,295m high Theodule Pass, which we’ll reach via a memorable glacier crossing that takes us from Switzerland to Italy!
Max King, Salomon trail runner from Bend, Oregon, joined our inaugural tour in 2025. “The Monte Rosa Tour has views for days,” Max says. “If you like doing hard things, it’s one of the most scenic circumnavigation routes I’ve ever trail run! It’s an incredible mix of high alpine terrain, runnable traverses, and technical trails!” We’re excited to continue sharing this wild and challenging experience with our guests.
Please note that this level 4 tour includes back-to-back long days, often on technical trails with over 25 km of running, and over 1,500m of climbing. We’ll cover big alpine terrain during full days on the trail. There is one night of fast-packing, when we’ll need to carry additional gear, to enable us to stay at a high mountain hut. We’ll have comfortable accommodations with showers every night.
On this trip, we’ve gone the extra mile to arrange to have two partner companies transport your bag around the mountain range, from Switzerland to Italy and back, enabling you to access clothes, gear, and personal effects on all but our special evening at a high mountain hut.
Most days will start with a hearty continental buffet breakfast– delicious fresh baked bread, local cheeses, cereal, fruit, coffee and juice. Our hut breakfast will be simpler, and usually consist of bread, jams, butter, cereal, coffee, and juice. We’ll provide partner nutrition and snacks for you to take on the trail. Every day we will pass a café or mountain hut where we can also buy drinks or snacks. In the evenings we’ll enjoy dinner together at our accommodation – a multi-course dinner featuring delicious local Italian and Swiss specialities.
Consider adding an additional day on to this tour, to enjoy Zermatt. We can help with booking your hotel, and will provide self-guided trail run descriptions if you’d like to get out on the trails.
We’ve long loved this tour as Run the Alps staff and are excited to be able to offer it to our guests. It’s destined to become a classic, and we look forward to sharing it with you!
Top photos: Sam Hill, Mark Brightwell, Max King
