Tour du Mont Blanc Jun 25

Running the Tour in 6 days

Initial chats in May and by September the crew: Gary, Steph, Jenny, Louis & Jayne were ready to shop for any missing items (scroll for list and finer details):

I am a qualified International Mountain Leader and have been climbing, mountaineering, running and backpacking the area for nearly 30 years, (17 of those with Jenny) so was pleased to plan and lead the trail. Other logistics shared 🙏

We broke the long drive from the North York Moors to Chamonix staying over in Beaune. Next day Annecy lunch and a swim in the Lake.

View from cheapo apartment in Cham centre

.. which afforded being lulled to sleep by the hired busker in the bar opposite and slick access to La Gare

Day 0 – Acclimatisation 9km + 511m

Bubble and chair lift from Le Tour to Col de Balme then bimble up to Refuge Albert 1er for lunch

Day 1 – Les Houches to Refuge la Balme 24km + 1,433m

Cold water foot revival always worth the effort – also applying Leukotape immediately to hotspots prevented blisters

Snoring was interrupted by the fire alarm battery dying in the night above Jenny’s bunk – many helpful instructions relayed from bunk lower

Day 2 – Refuge de la Balme to Refugio Elisabetta 25km + 1,830m

Col du Bonhomme first tick-off after the hut

Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme bottom left

Late lying snow can require microspikes for col and couloir crossings in early season, unless you are confident on steep snow with consequential runout. You can see the track across this snow bridge before the melt. Check winter snow and spring thaw situation beforehand.

Day 3 – Rifugio Elisabetta to Rifugio Bonatti 26km + 1,193m

The first of many avalanche debris fields

Rifugio Bonatti 2,026m and The Grandes Jorasses

Day 4 – Rifugio Bonatti to Refuge Relais d’Arpette, Champex Lac 35km + 1,485m

Awkward snow couloir was fine for us but i did help a tourist negotiate this. Some of us carried spikes but never used them as the snow was reasonable angle or stepped out with only a handful requiring care
©️ Steph

Refreshing alternative to the Doire de Ferret bridge

Grand Col Ferret 2,536m the highest elevation on the standard route

Day 5 Relais d’Arpette to Col de Balme 23km + 1,664m

Les Écuries des Charamillons, where Jayne met us for the last day

Day 6 Charamillons to Chamonix 23km + 1,320m

New kid on the block – Jayne stage left
©️ Steph

Ladder route from Aiguillette d’Argentière to Lac Blanc

Refuge Lac Blanc a necessary evil because no real water resupply between Trelechamps & Chamonix (€5 for 1.5l here) Busy due to uplift to Flégère so not as chill as other huts

Flégère, the start of a fun run down the switchbacks to Cham (well, after the rubbley ski road)

Thanks Steph, (me), Gary, Jenny (L to R) & Jayne for great teamwork, company, banter, sharing and effort, making the trip fun and super smooth
©️ Obligated Random

Breakfast in TMB huts is typically 07:00 so assume on the trail for 08:00 – arrive next hut 17:00 latest, in time for shower, wash kit and relax before dinner at 19:00 gives 9 hours on the trail so we settled on 6 days

Demand is high so I booked the refuges in November.

Daily summaries of distance, elevation and tick-offs. Top of each image is mapping data (plotted as long distance hike but we ran some flats and downs), bottom is Gary’s Strava data for comparison (click for full size):