If you’re a keen follower, firstly apologies for the slight radio silence, secondly, you’ll know that we completed the first half of the renowned Tour du Mont Blanc two years ago. In an ideal world, we would’ve done the full route as planned in one, but life, jobs, covid… you know the drill. So here we are, two years later, ready to tell you all about the second half that we have just completed!
The Route
In case you hadn’t got the drift from the title, this time we started halfway around the traditional anti-clockwise route, where we finished last time, in the Italian town of Courmayeur. We had a relatively short time window and compressed some of our days into quite long ones. Some of the choices were also a little swayed by which refuge’s were available when. Our route this time was as follows:
Day 1: Courmayeur to Gîte Alpage de la Peule.
We managed to get an early start on the trail, having left Milan at 5:30am and arriving in Courmayeur around 8:20. We parked at the highest spot possible, in posteggio Bertone, which took us straight onto the uphill climb. Winding up through the forest, the climb first passes Rifugio Bertone, where we paused for a quick coffee and wee, before opening out into the open balcony path through the valley, past fields of wildflowers and with views across the Mont Blanc massif and its glaciers to our left. We briefly paused again for a sandwich at Rifugio Bonatti, where some kind Americans warned us of an incoming storm, which was driving our haste. We ploughed on along the path, eventually winding down into the valley, before beginning the ascent to rifugio Elena.
We were aware of the forecast and had an experienced Italian weather man on the monitoring throughout the day, to ensure that we would be safe to climb the last Col of the day to descend to our booked refuge for the evening. Upon stopping at the last exit point, Rifugio Elena, we decided that the weather was clear enough to push for the Col and our evening stop. The number of people that stopped to let us know that the view at the top was worth it gives away the strain our faces must’ve expressed, but they were right. The views back over the valley were breathtaking, giving away some of the expanse that Mont Blanc oversees. Peering over the other side, however, the cloud whipped up like a Christmas meringue. We donned waterproofs and began to jog the descending, albeit gentle path, as the thunder rumbled over our heads and started to gently rain. Our refuge appeared out of nowhere on the path, and we ducked inside, narrowly avoiding a violent hail storm.
Day 2: Gîte Alpage de la Peule to Champex-Lac
We had prepared for a wet, flat day. As two Brits, our waterproofs are no strangers to us, and we set off in full gear. The valley winds quickly down towards La Fouly, but a large landslide had blocked the road, requiring us to use our poles to scope out the terrain. It was a little alarming to see the first-hand effects of the storm and what could’ve happened if we hadn’t picked up the pace. The route continued through the valley and into the small, quaint village of La Fouly. The supermarket in the town could offer an opportunity for a lunch stop but prepare for Swiss prices. The heavens really opened as we trudged through to Issert, crossing another landslide and commencing the ascent for the day up to Champex-Lac. I’m sure the town would’ve been very pretty but we were a little too soggy and fed up to stop and contemplate. Pushing onwards we went through the town, past the ski lift and potential variant option, into the woods and to our refuge for the evening, Auberge Gîte Bon Abri.
Day 3: Champex-Lac to Les Écuries de Charamillon
Another long day was on the horizon, but thankfully the sun was shining and our bellies were full. We wound briefly through the valley, before beginning the first climb of the day, up Col Forclaz. As Kev promised us in the guidebook, it was relatively manageable and we rewarded ourselves with a coffee and cake at the top accordingly. The descent was a little more arduous and mostly forested. By the time we crossed the bridge to descend to La Tour, our knees (I know, I promise we’re still young) were crying out for some flat. A brief pause for lunch in Trient to recharge before the huge push of the day up Col de Balme. This one was endless, zig-zags through the woods that felt like they’d never end. We appreciated some Aussie optimism, less of the American realism from groups descending. Finally emerging into the open Col, we got a glimpse of the views of Mont Blanc, as well as the retreating valley. A chamois also crossed our path, giving us a brief space to breathe and admire the quirky white-bottomed wildlife. Reaching the top of Col de Balme was a relief, although high and windy. The view spanned both valleys and offered us a glimpse of our refuge for the evening. We descended the left-hand variant path of the two that split, to take us to Les Ecuries de Charamillon, our accommodation for the evening.
Day 4: Charamillon to Chamonix
Waking up on our last morning, our legs still felt a little heavy from the previous day’s climbs, as well as three days of hiking the ups and downs. We started the day with a gentle ascent, past goats and sheep into the town of la Planete. Guided again by the weather, we had intended to take the variant route to avoid the traditional route involving ladders, but were convinced by a more positive outlook online and a few guides corroborating. Don’t be deceived by the apparent brevity of this last climb, it was rocky and felt endless under the sun. As relatively experienced climbers, the ladders were fun and broke up the hiking. If you have a fear of heights, be prepared for some deep breaths or take the variant. As we were still quite early in the morning, we encountered very few queues and enjoyed the novelty of the ladders, eventually taking us to the top of our final peak. From here we descended to the ski lift at La Flegère, treating ourselves again to a final ginger beer on the mountains. Time was beginning to run a little tight, so we opted for the ski lift down, eventually catching a bus across to Chamonix for our final stop.
Accomodation
Day 1: Gîte Alpage de la Peule
This is a dairy farm, with some beds in a moderately insulated cow shed. It was rustic and sweet, although not one for those looking for a little more luxury, as going to the toilet means popping outside and waving to the herd before ducking inside. There was a gorgeous fire in the dining room which kept us warm and the storm seemed to have wiped out most of our fellow overnighters, meaning we slept like logs. One thing to note is that there is no signal at Alpage de la Peule, they did kindly let us use their landline phone to make a call to our loved ones to say we weren’t trembling in a storm cloud still. The lack of signal also means that they only accept cash, so make sure you take sufficient Swiss Francs.
Day 2: Auberge Gîte Bon Abri
A little beyond the holiday town of Champex-Lac, the refuge of Bon Abri is nestled in the woods in the middle of a small collection of buildings. We’d highly recommend this accommodation, everything was clean, and there was a big dining area where you can relax and unwind after your hike, and they also have separate male/ female bathrooms, which we always appreciate. We paid 10 CHF more to have a smaller dorm and ended up being the only ones in it, which was a big plus for a good night’s sleep. The staff were super smiley and we polished off a well-deserved dinner of a hearty salad and a traditional Swiss cheese fondue.
Day 3: Les Ecuries de Charamillon
This refuge is found halfway down the variant route from Col de Balme. It is located directly above a ski lift, which was in the process of being developed when we stayed. Whilst the buildings for the bedrooms, bathroom and restaurant are all separate, the place had charm and a stunning view over Mont Blanc’s peak. As this was the only refuge we stayed in that was located in France, our pockets also thanked us a little after two nights in the notable more expensive Switzerland!
How we navigated
Last time we used a little yet comprehensive guide book Trekking the Tour of Mont Blanc written by Kev Reynolds. It didn’t fail us this time, other than for the amusing guidance to squat over our backpacks in case of an electric storm, which we indeed had very little appetite for when the actual storm blew over. In general the TMB is very well signposted, either by specific TMB signs, black diamonds with yellow outlines or red and white stripes on the trail. We did find that in Switzerland the signs for the TMB seemed to drop off a little, in favour of some of their own local trails. Nonetheless, Kev kept us on track, which made life easier.
Reflections
We both thoroughly enjoyed completing the full TMB and have already got our heads down to plan the next multi-day hike! The views were stunning and didn’t fail to disappoint. We knew that we had planned quite an intense route, which meant some big pushes on most days, however, we still never arrived after 4:30pm, which was more than enough time to shower and recover a little before dinner. Much earlier and we may have felt a little aimless, particularly on days where the weather wasn’t so great. With much more gear and poorer weather conditions, however, this might’ve crossed the limits into becoming secondary, not primary fun. As it was, the hike worked perfectly and we greatly enjoyed the privilege of being in the mountains.