At this year’s Chamonix UTMB podium, Kailas FUGA claimed the first-ever title in the brand’s history. Looking back at the area beside the finish line, the brand’s global trail flagship store also opened in that central neighborhood, as if announcing a formal knock on Europe’s door.
However, a year of exposure only means European runners noticed this Asian name both on course and in the streets; visibility does not equal market acceptance. European trail-running choices are built on long-term use, cultural background and other factors, so even after seizing an UTMB first title, we still can’t help but ask,Has Kailas FUGA really entered the European market？
Into Chamonix
capturedtheir first-evertitle.
This year’s Chamonix UTMB was very different for Kailas FUGA. The brand came in force with multiple athletes, determined to field a more complete competitive roster on the Alpine course, and unsurprisingly produced striking results.
In the CCC category, Cristian Minoggio, after last year’s OCC runner-up finish, finally achieved his wish this year by crossing the line first, with Miguel Arsenio following to take second place.On the UTMB course, the much-discussed Ecuadorian runner Joaquin Lopez also finished inside the top five. As they crossed the line, the brand’s name echoed among runners via the on-site announcements.Kailas FUGA created this year’s finish-line moment—an image European runners couldn’t ignore—but how was it accomplished?Cristian Minoggio won the CCC category。
In fact, since Kailas FUGA’s UTMBstandout performance, it hasbeena full8 years.Back in 2019, Scotty Hawker, wearing the NASA Fuga Pro, on the UTMBmain race coursetook third place; it was the first time the brand had come this close to the UTMB podium.Two years later, in 2021,Scotty Hawker wearing the Fuga Pro 3, he finished second on the CCC course, extending the brand’s presence on top-level courses and further improving its historical placements.Until 2024, when Joaquin Lopez took third on the UTMB main course wearing the Fuga EX 330; besides further raising the visibility of the brand’s shoes on Alpine terrain, it also helped him becomeEcuadorianthe first athlete to stand on the UTMB podium.Over the past eight years of the UTMB series, KAILAS FUGA has stood on the podium six times.。
As for this year’s champion Cristian Minoggio, he officially became a KAILAS FUGA signed athlete in 2021 — and it was from that year that his results began to accumulate in the European trail-running scene.Looking back over the years following his signing,he won the 2022 Skyrunning World Championships Ultra SkyMarathon, and in 2023 again topped the European Championships.His run of strong form had raised expectations that he would shine again at UTMB events,Cristian Minoggio but in subsequent seasons he suffered from inconsistent form and injuries that affected his performances, leaving him away from the podium for a time.
Althoughhe experienced ups and downs, it wasn’t until 2025 that a new opportunity came: Cristian Minoggio finished second on the OCC course,stunning everyone again at 41 years old,and finally achieved a historic breakthrough on the CCC course in 2026.Cristian Minoggio and Miguel Arsenio crossed the line first and second respectively, wearing the Fuga EX PRO and Fuga EX PRO G, completing the brand’s long-awaited ascent to the top.In the post-race interview, Cristian Minoggio expressly voiced hisKAILAS FUGAhigh praise for the product. He said that this year’s 2026 champion and runner-up were bothKAILAS FUGASecuring the win was a "perfect result."He said he has been wearing the FUGA EX PRO for a long time; the shoe's carbon-plate design gives him a noticeable forward shift in his center of gravity and a strong sense of propulsion while running, and the model remains stable on complex course conditions such as wet, slippery roads and on climbs and descents.He also emphasized,Kailas FUGAwill listen to athletes' feedback and continuously improve, and he defined this CCC victory as the shoe successfully completing its test on an extreme course.The FUGA EX PRO helped several athletes complete UTMB races.
Cristian Minoggio's victory this yeargrowth trajectorywill be seen asKailas FUGA's performance receiving direct endorsement from elite athletes in top races.Such standout results are undoubtedlyelevatingKailas FUGA's standing in global top events, and also signify that after years of accumulation the brand's product strength has finally achieved a stage validation on the international stage.Success at UTMB can be seen as a milestone achievement for Kailas FUGA in elite competition.
However, overall, success in a single race still cannot be taken to mean that Kailas FUGA has achieved its long-term goal of going global.Currently the brand is still at the stage of building awareness in Europe, so how should it think about the next phase and what goals should guide it — continue to pursue higher-level results, or partner with more representative top athletes to establish longer-term, more systematic product validation?UTMB competition is showing
a breakthrough of rapid expansion
In fact, Kailas FUGA's competitive strategy has already shown a clear trend toward systematization: beyond the high finishes at CCC and OCC, the brand's contracted athletes have continuously delivered notable performances across the 2026 international racing calendar.
Kailas FUGA has been supporting many runners for years and quietly cultivating the trail-running market.
Among them, Joaquin Lopez finished second at the Ultra-Trail Snowdonia 100-mile race, delivering an impressive performance on high-altitude, technical terrain.Not to mention the brand's forward-looking presence in Asia: Nepal's Sunmaya Budha won the Lavaredo 120 km in 13:33:18, setting a new women's course record.Vietnam's Hau Ha Thi took the women's runner-up spot at Hong Kong 100 this season, finishing in 10:43:35.Examining athletes' race schedules shows the brand's competitive system is gradually moving away from reliance on a single event and developing a year-round structure; these results have quickly increased the brand's visibility on the global trail-running map and drawn more runners' attention.Additionally, the ambition to expand into Southeast Asia will improve the brand'sgrasp.This will allow it to better cover high-humidity forests, mud and mixed scree routes, accumulate more real-world usage data in tropical and humid conditions, and build a more concrete competitive presence within Southeast Asian running communities.Back in the European market, the technical Alpine terrain demands that shoes and gear perform consistently on wet rock, long downhill sections, and at high altitude; years of accumulated usage data have helped shape the product line's current maturity.A first UTMB victory has indeed signaled that Kailas FUGA's goal of achieving symbolic brand recognition on the international stage has been met.Looking at Chamonix's geographic and cultural significance, any brand move here carries high symbolism: this is the start and finish of UTMB Chamonix and the traffic hub of the global trail-running industry.Brands able to open a flagship store here have typically built long-term trust in the European market, and their product lines and cultural narratives are already deeply integrated into the lives of runners in the Alps.So what gave Kailas FUGA the confidence to open its global trail-running flagship in Chamonix?Hints of this store's opening were detectable years ago. For many years Kailas FUGA has run pop-up shops during UTMB events to reach different runner groups and observe their preferences.That history supports brand director Nina's clear answer to "Why Chamonix." She pointed to the rapid growth of trail running locally — "it's about to become the number-one sport."Those judgments led the brand to realize that to fully enter the global trail-running ecosystem they had to start in the toughest place. "We hope this store can be a window for people to learn more about all our products and athletes."。Chamonix is precisely the place where products can be directly tested and where runners can form concrete perceptions.What truly gives strategic significance to this store is the structural flow of runners.Chamonix is a cradle of mountaineering — not just the stage for UTMB but also a core year-round training venue for European runners. Kailas FUGA's global trail flagship is located in the central streets around the Chamonix UTMB finish line, an area every runner passes through.Putting the brand into both races and the streets to reach European runners also means choosing to directly face European runners' aesthetics, usage habits and technical standards, rather than continuing to expand within Asia as a regional brand.At the same time, KAILAS FUGA's penetration of international markets is not just about opening stores; its deeper significance is a more instinctive immersion into the European market. Over the past few years the brand has steadily arranged overseas partner events, now numbering more than fifty, mainly in France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland.Crossing Switzerland 400K Trail©KAILAS FUGA
These events cover Europe's most representative technical terrains, fromCrossing Switzerland 400K Traillong-distance endurance races, toDolomiti Extreme Trailofextreme mountain racesetc., cross-border long-distance technical events.These events share complex terrain, variable weather and high-caliber runners, making them the best scenarios to test product stability and durability.Italy's Dolomiti Extreme Trail©KAILAS FUGA
If the brand appears at these events, combined with the brand's own global trail-running stores, allowing European runners to repeatedly encounterKAILAS FUGAproducts on real courses will also enable the brand to accumulate large amounts of usage data across different terrains.The clear strategic value is also reflected in the simultaneous expansion of the brand's overseas runner communities.For example, FMC (FUGA Mountain Club) currently has more than 150 members, primarily from France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland; community activities range from weekly training and technical sessions to pre-race training camps.The community includes several high-level runners with UTMB Indexes of 800–900; they provide long-term feedback across different terrains, enabling the brand to continuously refine products in real-world environments.For a brand newly entering the European market, building a community is a crucial step in internationalization. It brings the brand into everyday use and keeps runners continually exposed to the brand's products and story.In August 2026 a Giant Camp was held in Italy, with 'Giant Journey' four-time champion Franco serving as head coach. ©Kailas FUGA
Therefore, opening a direct store in Chamonix is not only the brand's first entry into the heart of Europe's trail-running ecosystem, but also the starting point of Kailas FUGA's internationalization strategy.Starting in the toughest place makes sense: it most quickly builds concrete recognition among runners, places the brand into European runners' everyday contexts, sparks discussion and word-of-mouth, turns exposure into penetration, and gradually clarifies the path to internationalization.The test for Kailas FUGA
From "being seen" to "being trusted"?
At present, Kailas FUGA's technology already has the capability to enter Europe, but before this year's UTMB the brand narrative and long-term usage experience were still missing. European runners' decision logic still tends to rely on brands that have accompanied them through countless long-distance runs, and they are used to depending on proven shoe models in extreme weather and technical terrain.For a brand, the real difficulty, apart from the product beingseen, is to also consider how to make runners willing to entrust their next 100-kilometer race to you.However, over the course of this year's efforts, exposure and expectations of Kailas FUGA in the European market have quietly changed.According to candid interviews with runners during UTMB week, some admitted they had only "known the brand for a year," indicating brand awareness is still at an early stage and runners lack concrete understanding of its history, positioning, and technical direction.But when runners described their initial feedback after trying the shoes, another picture emerged.Runners trying the EX PRO G for the first time described it as "really comfortable to run in and very stable," while another said, "these shoes are cool, and feel soft and secure." This indicates the product itself has appeal, but lacks the opportunity to break into the mainstream spotlight.According to statistics from Paoye Dabaozha and Trail Stand, Kailas FUGA showed a strong brand presence in both major categories at this year's UTMB.In the CCC category,Kailas FUGAaccounted for 7.1% of shoes, ranking fourth with 131 pairs.And in the OCC category,Kailas FUGAalso entered the top four with a 5.9% share, with 115 pairs appearing on the course. This means that on both main race routes,KAILAS FUGAhas firmly established itself within the mainstream choice range of European runners, becoming one of the few brands to place in the top five across two categories simultaneously.Behind these figures isKAILAS FUGAan increase in exposure in the European market, and more importantly it indicates that actual usage rates among runners are growing rapidly.For a brand from Asia, this achievement is highly symbolic; this spontaneous rate of usehas alreadyshifted from being noticed to being trusted, signaling that the product's performance and technical direction have gained international recognition.Discussions on overseas social media have also begun to focus increasingly on it, with many international review outlets mentioning the performance of the KAILAS FUGA models and conducting in-depth analyses of specific technical details— for example whether grip on wet rock is consistent, whether the outsole's torsional resistance is sufficient on long downhill sections, whether forefoot support diminishes after repeated climbs, etc.—and producing targeted reviews.These discussions have no doubt boosted the product's overseas visibility; beyond media attempts to understand the product's positioning and technical direction, they also make the brand clearer about European runners' usage needs.These reviews have given the brand a first layer of technical recognition on the international stage, and fuel the imagination that the brand can continue to stand at the top in future seasons. Building this kind of trust depends not only on the product but also on time, and this is preciselyKAILAS FUGAthe critical incline it must climb in the next phase of internationalization.
From international exposure
to market recognition
KAILAS FUGA's starting point comes from Asian training environments and R&D systems, and it tends to tell a shoe's value through structural innovation, materials experimentation, and speed performance.This mode of expression creates a different dimensional product narrative compared with Europe's long-established mountain tradition. Local European runners will judge its core by the product line's design logic and how athletes use it.They try to pin clear labels on each brand: is it a brand rooted in mountain culture, a brand driven by technological experimentation, or a brand centered on competitive performance?But currently, in the eyes of European runners, KAILAS FUGA's label is still not clear enough; the vague sense of identity leaves runners without a reliable framework for choosing, and this is a gap it must fill early in its internationalization process.Also, when European runners evaluate gear, they treat top athletes' performances as a validation under extreme conditions; they remember which pair of shoes is still being worn on the podium.The presence of a shop in Chamonix now acts like a key that opens another path; for local runners, the store is more than just a simple retail space.Within this setup, the KAILAS FUGA places the product into European runners' daily routines, allowing them to drop into the store before and after training so the shoes are repeatedly used across different terrains, distances, and weather conditions, collecting concrete data on durability, changes in support, grip performance, protective feedback, and more.On one hand, this data flows back to R&D to drive adjustments for the next generation; on the other, it gradually accumulates as word-of-mouth among runners, shifting the conversation from "What brand is this?" to "How does this shoe perform on a specific route?"At the same time, it encourages more high-level athletes to choose it for key races, using top competitive results to fill representative gaps and unify the narrative across different markets, narrowing the gap between Asian perspectives and European contexts.As these paths gradually converge, the KAILAS FUGA will have the chance to be chosen — as this year's CCC category winner Cristian Minoggio said, "A true champion is someone who can win tomorrow, not just today."The internationalization of the KAILAS FUGA: the current highlights are only the starting point; what will truly determine whether it can establish itself in Europe is whether, over the next few years, runners place their trust in this shoe as it goes global.Only when runners are willing to entrust their next 100 km to this Asian brand will the KAILAS FUGA truly demonstrate the leap from exposure to acceptance.
Text/Editor: Jim
Image source: Paoye Dabaozha
Visuals: Max
