Straight off the top, we didn't complete it. We did about 150 of the 170km, although we did get in 9600m of elevation gain (and about the same of downhill). There were a few reasons for this: (i) we had to dodge thunderstorms on day 1, greatly curtailing that day's plan; (ii) we were cooked by day 7 and there was no way we were ascending 1200m from the valley floor after a 15k hike; (iii) we should have start/finished in Les Houches to minimise the extra elevation involved in getting on/off the trail; (iv) we are old and weak.
That out of the way, this was an awesome hike! A week of splendid scenery, hard, hard hiking, at times challenging weather, cozy refuges, local food, full immersion in everything Alps and hiking; a real feast. The generally accepted timeframe for hiking the TMB is 10-11 days which would give you around 17km and 1,000m of elevation change per day. Sounds just about right to me! The record for running is 22 hours which is simply inconceivable but I can imagine a super lightweight, fast-hiking 30km per day kind of approach. We gave ourselves 7 days and honestly found anything over about 20km quite hard. We had two days over 30km, one which we were not prepared for and that ended with a 2 hour route march to dinner, the other which we got our act together for and which was just long and hard but manageable.
So that's the bird's eye view. Here is a daily journal of sorts. I only managed to get some brief Strava posts (check those out for more stats) up during the hike, such was my general level of fatigue. I also made a little video about kit which I may get up onto YouTube one of these fine days... (or you ask me for it if you intend to do this hike, which incidentally I highly recommend you do!)
Day 1: Argentiere to Lac Blanc refuge
We stayed at Cosmiques hotel in Chamonix which was perfect, great location in the centre of town for last minute shopping and they do a decent breakfast to get you on your way. As we waited for our bus transfer at Geneva airport we were sweating in the hot sun but by evening in Chamonix storm clouds were looming. Tim bought another backpack because you can never have too many backpacks and we had a great dinner at Elevation 1904. An already restless night at the hotel was further disrupted by tremendous thunder and lightning and torrential rain, which at one point breached the skylight window and soaked Ed and Nick on the mezzanine.
In the morning, we decided to check in at the guide's office for advice because the forecast was apocalyptic. Lightning storms when hiking in the mountains are undesirable! The guide's advice was to go now and run... Our original plan was to hike kind of backwards out of Chamonix up to Bellachat and then along the top to Lac Blanc. We settled on a revised plan to get the cable car from Flegere and then make the quick dash to Lac Blanc from there. We walked along the river to Flegere, arriving in time to discover that they had just closed the cable car because of impending storms. That made the decision for us to jump on the bus and make the short 6km, 1000m climb from Argentiere. It was a little intimidating breaking out from the relative shelter of the treeline to gradually increase our exposure as we headed to the 2300m altitude of Lac Blanc. We made it to the refuge before the storm and after negotiating the 4 minute shower timers, enjoyed an evening of cards and deep breathing followed by another night of ferocious thunder and lightning. By now I think I had succumbed to the stress of the storm dodging and plan changing and a couple of nights of rubbish sleep and had a raging sore throat, body aches and general malaise.
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| Backpack shopping in sunny Chamonix |
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| The ever glacial Arve |
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| Dinner, in the shadow of the mountains |
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| Every good mountain expedition starts with a rainy trudge through the valley |
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| The start, proper. At the beginning of the trail out of Argentiere |
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| Out of the trees, fully exposed |
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| A bit of metalwork for good measure. There is very little of this on the TMB |
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| Late lunch, with a bit of a view |
Day 2: Lac Blanc to Trient
Day broke in thick cloud but sunny spells adorned our descent to the Col des Montets, where the trail crosses the road out of the Chamonix valley as it heads over into Vallorcine and on to Switzerland. Varying amounts of cloud came and went and came again, morphing into steady rain and wind after we had summited the Posettes and as we crossed to the Col de Balme. By now Ed and Tim were heads down for Trient, but Nick and I staggered into the refuge at the Col and had one of those "best ever" cups of tea that are only possible to come by when you are physically spent, cold, wet and weather beaten. Life force restored, we headed down the steep descent into Trient, Switzerland and our refuge at Le Peuty. The evening saw a series of rain showers of varying heaviness sweep across the small village. Hot showers were not on a timer this evening, so luxury abounded and we had a great dinner of chickpea curry in the yurt.
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Morning has broken, the cloud has not. Leaving Lac Blanc refuge
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As we descend from Lac Blanc, the sun shines
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| After the Col de Montets, climbing towards the Aiguillette des Posettes |
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| Col du Balme, cup of tea |
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| I'm a lot happier than I was 10 minutes ago |
Day 3: Trient to La Fouly
I woke up feeling that the worst of whatever was ailing me was behind me. We weren't particularly efficient getting into gear and getting out. The big decision of the day was whether to take on Fenetre d'Arpette, one of the highest and most challenging passes on the tour. The alternative Bovine route was a little longer but a lot lower and safer. We started off toward the Fenetre, changed our minds, retraced our steps, got half a kilometre out of Trient, sent Tim back for his forgotten shirt, reached a junction, passed it, changed our minds again, retraced our steps and got back on the route for the Fenetre. A lot of ill-advised faffing.
The walk up the valley was reward enough with glaciers hanging above us, mountain streams, forests and wonder in abundance. By the time we reached the Fenetre, over 2600m asl, the cloud had come in and there was not much view from the "window". Regardless, it felt like an achievement, the last several hundred metres involving clambering over boulders.
The way down was somewhat treacherous with steep terrain and loose rocks, the difficulty exacerbated by the cold and damp. The sun had shone and was popping in and out of cloud cover by the time we reached the town at Lac Champex. By now we had made contact with our refuge and established that they would not hold dinner for us and that they were serving raclette. Motivation established, we pounded out a long, steadily climbing 14km valley march, arriving a few minutes late. We were ushered through the dining room crowd of rosy cheeked hikers to collapse in delirium at our table. We managed to get hold of not just seconds of mushroom soup, but also thirds and fourths. Turns out salty soup is the magic potion of revival from a 32 km day with just under 2000m of elevation gain. More un-metered showers and a comfortable, spacious dorm room provided for one of the best night's sleep of the hike even though I woke around 4.30am with fever sweats, presumably a legacy of whatever bug was still lodging in my throat.
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| The view up the valley from Refuge le Peuty |
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| Classic Swiss-engineered "footpath" |
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| Aerial view of the Trient valley |
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| Beginning the ascent to the Fenetre d'Arpettes |
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| Final scramble to the Fenetre |
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| The cloud came in but the "window" was magnificent |
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| For all the ice and snow above us, we didn't see much beneath our feet |
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| The iconic trail marker and one of myriad Alpine flowers |
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| Cattle |
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| The long march to dinner |
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| This warning appeared a few hundred meters from the refuge. My own battery had depleted long before |
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| Raclette. Fives for the last slice of salami |
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| This is the best map for the TMB |
Day 4: La Fouly to Rif Bertone
Refuge Maie-Joie did a pretty darn good breakfast: granola, eggs, toast, tea, coffee, yoghurt, ham, cheese. And off we headed for a relatively easier day (still managed 1500m elevation gain over 24 km). Best weather so far as we hiked up to cross the border into Italy at the top of the Col Ferret. The descent on the other side was difficult over shaly ground made saturated by yesterday's rain but the views more than made up for it.
As we reached the valley floor and followed the river for a while, we came across a brand new flora, a kind of desert like forest. Soon after we climbed out of the valley through fields of cattle with stunning views of the mountains ahead of us. It was a bit of a slog to the refuge as the trail undulated along the edge of the valley, finally dropping to the refuge perched above Courmayeur. Dinner was a little later and this was a 4 minute shower kind of place which allowed time to enjoy the "sun deck", a patch of flat lawn with comfy lounger chairs.
At dinner we shared a table with some French folk and gobbled our way through a pasta starter followed by a local cheesy polenta dish with sausage stew and potatoes. This seemed to assure everyone had vivid dreams in the brief periods of sleep anyone managed in another cramped and noisy dorm which was bathed in flourescent light everytime someone went to the bathroom!
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| The view from our dorm room at Maya-Joie in La Fouly |
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| On the way up to Petit Col Ferret |
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| That's Ed sitting on the border marker, his feet in Switzerland, his back to Italy |
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| The steep descent into Val Ferret |
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| Savoyarde lunch |
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| This was an unusual landscape, a kind of spiny forest amongst the stony banks of the river |
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| Heading up out of the Val Ferret towards Courmayeur |
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| The long, spectacular traverse of the valley wall |
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| Refreshing |
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| When in Italy, pasta. Dinner at Refugio Bertone |
Day 5: Rif Bertone to Rif Elisabetta
Another nice sunny day, a descent straight down into Courmayeur, the biggest town on the trek, and then, you guessed it, a climb up the other side of the valley, some more sensational scenery, topping out at 2400m before descending into a high altitude valley with some more novel landscapes, a kind of wetland bordering the confluence of a clear spring-fed river with a milky white glacial stream. After a lengthy hike along a dead-straight dirt road directly into the wind, this day had a sting in the tail as we climbed a few hundred metres straight up to the Rifugio (still in Italy).
This was a funny mix of a refuge: the most sensational dining/communal area, all modern and classic, with panaromic windows making the absolute most of the views. And then what I imagine is the original part of the building which houses the dorm, a kind of cold, damp room behind a heavy metal door and adjoining the unviting bathroom. Anyway, let's focus on the positive. Lots of cards played in the splendour of the dining area (a little too cold and windy to enjoy the equally lovely wrap around balcony). And then dinner: a couple of rounds of mushroom risotta followed by some pork, sauce, potatoes and... greenery! A rarity. Something nice for desert too, a youghurty thing with a berry coulis I believe.
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| Another glorious morning as we prepare to leave Rifugio Bertone |
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| It's a long way down, especially on legs that haven't yet warmed up to the day |
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Walking through Courmayeur
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Me in Courmayeur with a bag of fruit
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| Some people took the gondola up, not us |
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| This ski station doubles as a UTMB aid stop during that crazy race |
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| Well obviously |
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| It really is just like in the brochure! |
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Me on a bridge
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Stream, trail, mountain, joy
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Me on the valley trek to Elisabetta
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| The glorious new addition to the Rifugio Elisabetta |
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That view again
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| Cheers |
Day 6: Rif Elisabetta to Auberge le Truc
This time we knew we had a big day and we got ourselves up, breakfasted and moving by 7.30am. And it was a glorious morning, all fresh breeze and new day weak sunshine to greet the early marmottes, the wild campers, and alpine meadows. We made good progress and we pretty much stuck with it all day long, stopping only to take in the big transitions from one valley to another as we were presented with a whole new vista, a picturesque river crossing or a necessary tea stop.
The day started high, headed straight up to a col, descended quite a lot then climbed back up to Col des Fours before descending 14km to Les Contamines. We re-fuelled with waffles under an awning during a rain shower before taking on the final 3km, 600m elevation gain up to Auberge Le Truc. Fair to say, we arrived pretty wiped.
Auberge Le Truc is a converted farmstead really, and once we had recovered from the shock of no showers and had done our best to wash in the sink, we revelled in the cozy dining room, rolling alpine pastures and mountain charm of our last accommodation. That was until the latest lighting storm crashed into the hillside and delivered a deluge. Dinner was another hit: vegetable soup, a giant omelette and a plate of Tomme de Savoie cheese from the farm.
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| An early start leaving Elisabetta for a long day to Auberge Le Truc back in France |
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| Plenty of time to take in a col or two |
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| Mountain farm animal bingo |
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| Traffic |
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| Naturally, one takes more photos when it's nice, but it's good to remember that it wasn't all sunshine and smiles |
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| A gorge |
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| Refuelling in Les Contamines before the final ascent to Auberge du Truc |
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| Cards |
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| Soup |
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| The calm before an awesome overnight lightning storm |
Day 7: Auberge le Truc to Les Houches
After the stormy night, the day broke kind and sunny and we probably felt a little de-mob happy, although any pretence of an easy day would be gradually undone as our accumulated fatigue, and in particular the effort of nearly 9 hours on the move yesterday, started to take its toll.
The day felt long even though it wasn't and this may have been compounded by the busyness of the trail. The start of the French August holiday, the weekend, and the general focal point of Les Houches and the Chamonix valley all contributed to much more traffic than we had been used to. Nevertheless we got some more treats as we traversed the high route over Col de Tricot and down to the ski slopes around Les Houches. We ended the day some 700m lower than we had started despite over 700m of elevation gain. By this stage, the downs are almost as hard as the ups!
Staggering through Les Houches, we jumped on the bus and headed straight for the Cosmiques hotel back in Chamonix to destroy the bathroom, stink up the bedroom and patronise the bar. Nick had to head to the bus station to be reunited with his family holiday. The remaining three of us went out for some long fantasised about steak frites, a little last minute gift shopping, a few games of ten pin bowling and finally a second dinner of kebab! Calorie deficit ameliorated, we enjoyed crisp white bed linens, more showers, breakfast and 2 euro coffees in the hotel. Just enough time to grab some mountain cheese and sausage for onward hosts, and it was off to start the journey back to England.
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| A couple staying at Auberge le Truc had rented a donkey for the weekend |
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| We ate a lot of good cheese on this trip |
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| Sometimes it's no secret where the climb goes |
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| The Mont Blanc Massif is, well, massive |
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| Some final Indiana Jones style treats on our last day |
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| Terra firma, Les Houches |
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| 150km later, little the worse for wear, socks and boots have done their job |
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| A little time to once more enjoy the charms of Chamonix |
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| The patio at Cosmiques, with views up to the Bellachat side of the valley |
Reflections:
First, injury report. Tim got a bruise/abrasion on his ankle bone caused by his boots on the first day. This seemed to stabilise and not get much worse despite having to buy new boots on day 4. Nick started to suffer a niggling left knee overuse kind of inflammation in the last couple of days. I developed achilles tendonitis on my right foot on the last day which stayed irritated for another couple of days. Ed maintained superhuman status.
I'm 45 years old and I have known these buffoons for more than two-thirds of my life. Not many people have friends for that long and those that do are rarely fortunate enough to be able to share seven days together, doing something that they are collectively passionate about. To say that this was a privilege is an understatement. Give me the friends and I am happy, give me the hike, all the better, give me both, well... aren't we lucky.
Four people was a good number. We often walked in pairs, or sometimes alone, managing our own pace, yo-yoing at times but generally not becoming overly spread out. All our bookings worked out, no real issues. We booked in January and already it was tricky to get the places we wanted on the dates we wanted. I have heard that Oct/Nov is not too early to start booking. Doing it again, I might try to book the private rooms where available and/or consider a night or two in village/town hotels or Airbnbs just to try to improve the sleep situation.
All in all, I don't have much more to say. Try it for yourself. Enjoy!
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Back on British soil in the capable hands of Great Western Railways
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