Walk in the park

Fuorcla Val Sassa is a pass in the Swiss National Park found south of Zernez. The tour starts at the railway station in S-Chanf (A), enters the Trupchun valley, goes to 2857m above sea level to the Fuorcla Val Sassa pass (B) and ends at the railway station of Zernez(C). The trail over the pass is alpine and marked blue-white (T4). However, only the part down from the pass is steep and qualifies from my point of view as a T4 in dry weather conditions. The rest of the way is T2/T3. Nonetheless, not everyone should go there because the tour is demanding.

This is my favourite training and testing route. I've been doing it for the last couple of years.

Distance: 26km
Meters up: 1800m
Meters down: 1900m

Measuring hardware:
[2012] Polar FT40 Series 1
[2013] Polar FT40 Series 1
[2016] Polar V800
[2021] Polar V800

Energy use:

[2012] 4700 kcal
[2013] 3800 kcal
[2016] 4300 kcal
[2021] not measured

Avrg / Max Heartbeat:

[2012] 138/min, 164/min
[2013] 136/min, 174/min
[2016] 131/min, 154/min
[2021] not measured

Time:

[2012] 5h48min, including 20min break
[2013] 5h32min, including 15min break
[2016] 5h43min, including 15min breaks
[2021] 6h44min, including 30min breaks & shopping at the grocery store in Zernez

Temperature:

[2012] moderate, ~22-25°
[2013] hot, ~30-34°
[2016] hot, ~30°
[2021] cool, 2-15°

Fluid consumption: [2012] ?
[2013] 3 liters during, 4 liters after
[2016] 1 liter before, 2.5 liters during, 2.5 liters after
[2021] 0.5 liter before, 1 liter during, 0.5 liter after, 1.5 litres after after, 0.4 liter of red wine --> headache

Time lost:

-

Pitfalls:

Possibility to loose the path in the gravel field north of the pass. The path is not always visible. Result is loss of time.

Remarks: Very light scrambling on the way up to the pass. Quite steep way down from the pass. Apart from the not so well visible parts the path is in a very good condition. A lot can be run.
[2021]  no running
Shoes: [2012] Adidas Formotion
[2013] Nike Pegasus 28 Trail
[2016] Brooks Pure Cadence
[2021] Hoka M Torrent 2