Val Saisera
An amphitheatre of ancient forest at the foot of Jôf di Montasio: home to Alpe Adria Ultra Trail's base camp, where every one of our races finishes.
01 An amphitheatre of forest
Val Saisera opens up as a natural amphitheatre between the rock faces of Jôf di Montasio and Montasio itself, crossed by the Saisera stream and covered by the ancient forests of Valbruna. There are no ski lifts or pistes here: the valley never developed mass winter tourism, which is exactly why it's still what it is — untouched nature, not a tourist infrastructure dressed up as a mountain.
02 Kile Alpine Resort: from gunpowder magazine to base camp
Alpe Adria Ultra Trail's base camp — the race's start and finish — sits within the former Military Base and gunpowder magazine of Valbruna: after over twenty years of neglect, the Del Bianco family brought it back to life, blending old and new without disturbing the site's wild character. The scent of larch, the silence of the mountains, the sounds of the forest: Kile Alpine Resort is both the race's base camp and a place to stay, with its own wellness area for recovery after the race.
Inside the Kile grounds are also the two buildings that once served as gunpowder storage, today the Alpe Adria Trail Foresteria: free accommodation in a shared space, in the spirit of a mountain hut, available during the summer season. Full details on where to stay →
«Once it kept gunpowder safe. Today it keeps safe the sleep of those who, the next day, will cross that same valley at a run.»
03 What you see when you run here
Those who cross Val Saisera on foot see forest roads and scenic paths, stretches along the bed of the Saisera stream, Rifugio Grego higher up, and, as a waypoint, the Austro-Hungarian Cemetery, a silent witness to the valley's history. The view opens onto Mangart and Monte Santo di Lussari, with Jôf di Montasio always present in the background. It isn't a single trail: it's an entire amphitheatre that our races cross from different angles — point-to-point, in a loop, or straight through.
04 Getting there
By car from the A23 Alpe-Adria motorway, Ugovizza exit; by train to Ugovizza-Valbruna with a transfer; by air via Klagenfurt, Ljubljana, Trieste or Venice. The Race Hub is reachable on foot only from the Kile's Foresteria: from anywhere else you'll need your own car or a shuttle. Full details on getting there →
05 The races that cross the valley
Whether you start here or in Dogna, every Alpe Adria Ultra Trail race — summer and winter — finishes at Kile Alpine Resort, in the heart of Val Saisera.
❄ Winter · 7 February 2027 — Dogna Crossing 25, Saisera Crossing 18, Valbruna 10, Grego 8.
☀ Summer · 18–20 June 2027 — Alpe Adria Ultra 120, Montasio 55, Jôf Trail 31, Lussari 24, Oitzinger 12.