Trip Report: Tour du Mont Blanc

https://www.reddit.com/r/TourDuMontBlanc/comments/1v9zfbh/something_you_wish_you_wouldve_known_tmb/?share_id=uXu0m-RvOHnCvqp2BYAiV&utm_content=1&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_source=share&utm_term=4

Intro

Deep in the middle of grad school, I reflected back on my trip to Patagonia’s O-Trek. Drifting away, I remembered the good parts fondly, like the beer each day after hiking, the beautiful vistas we’d see throughout the day, and being away from my laptop for two weeks. (Thankfully I failed to remember the horrible weather.)

I wanted a new trail, and lo-and-behold, the famous Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB) caught my attention.

TMB Overview

Brief History

The Mont Blanc Massif has been home to visiting adventurers since it was first cicumnaviagated in the late 1700s. While many in the Victorian era explored on the back of mules, nowadays trekkers explore the mountain range with most if not all of their gear on their own backs.

The trail was formalized into an established route in 1951. Many of the trail’s refugios have been built and retrofittied throughout the past century, such as the now famous Refugio de Mottes dairy farm at the base of Col du Seigne.

The full “trek” as designed takes around 10 days to complete. The typical route is around 160km (100 miles) with 10,000 meters of elevation ascent. During the near entirety you are treated to Mont Blanc itself, the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains.

“The Route of Many”

The TMB is interesting because there are many variations available in terms of day to day routes, as well as accomidations on the route.

For example, starting from Les Chapieux, you could hike to Refuge des Mottets, Rifugio Elisabetta, Cabane du Combal, or all the way to Courmayour for the night! This makes the planning phase both super interesting and a logistical challenge, as each section needs to be cross referenced against one another based on distances, availability, and preferrences for accomidations.

Logistics

Accomidations

Booking your accomidations is the most important step. Start thinking about the dates you want to book for in September-October of the year prior to ensure success.

Identifying common routes through guides online is a good starting place. I referred to the The Great Treks of the Alps Guidebook, and carried it along for the hike. We also used planning tools online such as this TMB Route Build site and the TMB Elevation Calculation to gauge lodging options and availability, as well as daily distances and elevation changes.

The main booking avenue is through the Official TMB group. This site is great in providing an intuitive route builder and clear descriptions of what options are and aren’t available each day of your route. I suggest using this as a main avenue for planning your route!

However, not all Refugios are available on this booking site, and many fill up quickly with offical TMB group given how intuitive and easy these accomidations are to book. Several Refugios we stayed at (Elisabetta, Elena, La Flegere) required going to their separate websites and or emailing them to book accomidations. These often have rolling release dates indiciated on their websites, so book the moment they become available!

In some towns, you will inevitably not find clear options or availability. Don’t fret! Shuttles and busses are available to take you to nearby towns. In Les Champieux, we took the shuttle to Bourg-Saint Maurice to stay at BaseCamp, which was a clear TMB spot and a nice change of pace from being in full nature mode. In Trient, a notoriously difficult booking spot, we stayed in the tiny town on Finhaut in an Airbnb. Many people on this day took the train down to the nearby Martiney which is larger and full of accomidations.

Transportation

Once you’ve booked your accomidations, you can plan transportation. The best way to reach the TMB is to fly into Geneva, a solid airport with lots of connections from across the world.

From there, you can book a bus from the city center to Chamonix and get dropped off in the middle of town. Book your Geneva <-> Chamonix connection somewhat in advance, as the busses do fill up during busy season. There are plenty of cable cars and busses in Chamonix itself to get around. There is a bus from Chamonix back to Les Houches, the, or you can take a nice 4 mile walk there as prep for the hike.

On the trail, confirm bus schedules ruthlessly ahead of time. Many especially in Switzerland can have weird schedules and bad connection times.

Gear

Here is a key list of gear I brought on the trail:

Main Gear

• Backpack: Osprey Aether 65 Pack
  • I took a larger backpack given the full strap support and familiarity and ability to travel with it before and after the trip. I do think if you aren’t camping, you should realistically drop down to a 40-55L pack to cut down on weight and overpacking.
• Sleeping Bag Liner: Ultralight Washable Sleeping Bag Liner
  • Required at most refugios, I sleep warm so this was good for me.
• Boots: Salomon Men’s X Ultra Hiking Boots
  • Spray your boots with water-repellent to ensure additional water proofness.
• Insoles: SuperFeet Hike Support Insoles
  • These were a last minute send and super helpful. I never had pain in my feet, though try to break them in as I did get a small blister after a downhill 18 mile day.
• Jacket: Columbia Bugaboo II Fleece Interchange 3-in-1 Jacket
  • Helpful on a handful of cool nights and during thunderstorms.
• Hiking Pants: prAna Stretch Zion Pants
  • Never wore since it was so hot, but glad for one or two chilly nights I had them!

• Hiking Shorts: prAna Stretch Zion Shorts

  REI Trailmade Shorts - Men’s

  • Only get the prAna if on sale, the REI is great value.
• Hiking Poles: Black Diamond Trail Back Trekking Poles
  • RENT THESE! They are a pain to fly with. We picked these up for around $60 at Skimium - SANGLARD SPORTS CHAMONIX
  • 199 Pl. du Mont-Blanc, 74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, France
• Sunshirt: REI Sahara Shade Hoodie
  • I never wear sunshirts. WEAR A SUNSHIRT! There is little shade on many stretches of the trail and you will want the protection and breathability. Wish I had brought more of these.
• Camp Shoes: Tevas Sandals
  • These were great to slip on every day after hiking. Saved my feet and vibes honestly.
• Film Camera: Olympus XA2
  • Shot film on Portra 400, Kodak Gold 400, and Kodak 200.
  • Lightweight and tough camera, only slight issues with light bleeding in at times. Can handle most of the exposures if the lighting is right.

Misc Gear

• Book: Paperweight Kindle (Dungeon Crawler Carl Books 2-5)
• Sun Kit: Sunhat, sunscreen, sunglasses, and electrolytes.
• Sleeping Kit: Eye mask, earplugs, beanie, pillow case, and quick dry towel.
• First Aid kit: General first aid kit, knee and ankle braces, extra shoe laces. And moleskin for blisters!

Additional packing and preparation tips

• Pack less than you think you need to. There is lots of support along the trail and you can always buy something if its really needed!

• Doing laundry on the trail is normal and suggested to lessen the weight in your pack. We used campsuds and small packets of travel detergent in sinks or hotel tubs.

• If you bring extra gear you dont want to bring on the trail, call your hotel ahead of time in Chamonix. They will likely store it for free or a small charge while you hike.

• Try to see if you can get cheaper poles from those finishing the TMB in Chamonix. Many will post on Reddit telling people where and when they will ditch them.

• Food is plentiful along the trail, and each refugio with half board will provide dinner and breakfast. Some will provide the option to buy a lunch to go the next morning, which I suggest taking on days when going over the Cols. Otherwise, a small supply of protein bars is all the food we brought.

• We find that compressing clothes into ZipLock bags is the best way to save on space and keep weight condensed.

• Download the AllTrails TMB Route to track your daily route and keep an eye on the trail. Plenty of markings for each country line the route.

• Final bag weight was around 23lbs, plus water. Ideally get your bags to 20lbs or less.

• Pack less than you want to. It’s part of the fun!

Learnings

• Expect the unexpected! Sometimes accomidations or bus routes don’t work out as intended. Stay calm and remember you are here for the adventure.

• Be mindful of your health throughout. Norovirus cases consistently pop up on the trail, routinely in the Itallian section. Most water is safe but be mindful of your surroundings and if its near livestock populations. Also treat your feet well and take care to avoid blisters.

• One thing I would consider as well if doing again is hiring a guided company to organize the schedule, as they can often help with these logistics and gear requirements in a more straigtforward way.

• I do want to encourage you to cut down on the overall mileage if desired though! Take a bus or tram on difficult days and don’t feel like you have to do the “pure” full walking distance like we did.

Get Outside and Push Yourself

This was exhausting. I had so much fun. Treat yourself to trying something new. See you out there! ~JW

Citations

https://www.whitemarmotte.com/the-history-of-the-tmb/ https://www.montblanctreks.com/tour-du-mont-blanc/trek-overview