Tour of Mt Blanc
July 14, 2007
In September 2006 I did a walk around Mt Blanc. It was my dream for some time and the reality exceeded expectations. I will save you description of my enchantment and give some details which may be useful for people considering such a walk.
It is a very popular route, Google search for keywords “Tour of Mt Blanc” returns over half a million pages. I organized a tour together with my sister in law. Organized is too big word for it, we simply decided on a format of our tour. It was as follows:
- Start from Chamonix and follow the anticlockwise route as described in a book “Tour of Mt Blanc”by Kev Reynolds published by Cicerone – see www.cicerone.co.uk/product/detail.cfm/book/358/titl e/tour-of-mont-blanc”
- Accommodation, breakfasts and dinners in mountain huts ( gite, rifugio ).
- Be flexible, try to follow the plan proposed in the book but without any pain.
- Do not make any advanced bookings as our plans are not final.
It worked perfectly for us but we might have been lucky. Here are some main points which may be valuable for people who would like to make the tour.
The route
It is one of most spectacular mountain walks in the world. For me the beauty of it lies in fact that all these magnificent mountains are tangible, they are within your reach and at the same time I was not preoccupied with any technical issues or exhausted with too much effort. Some technical data: total length – 150 km, 11 days of walking, highest point 2760m, biggest daily ascent – 1320m.
Time
TMB is fully operational from June till mid September. Our tour started on 8th Sept and ended on 22 nd Sept. Many facilities were closed on 15th of Sept but it did not affect us too much. We expected cold weather but it was very mild all the time. We had only 3 days of rain, it was rather exceptional. Most of mountain huts where we stayed overnight were half empty but in July and August advanced booking is necessary.
Fitness
TMB is in the reach of any person of average fitness. There is absolutely no rock climbing, just steady walk. In my opinion the most important skill is patience and ability to enjoy world around you.
Equipment
Having accommodation in huts we took only clothes. We were prepared for cold weather and long periods of rain. So our backpacks weighed just under 13 kg. 99% of walkers met on the trip used walking poles. I did not use them, it was a mistake as they significantly reduce impact on joints and help to keep balance on narrow and sometimes slippery paths.
Food
We carried some food for lunches: mainly instant soups and muesli bars, plus a thermos with hot water. Food in huts consisted of continental breakfast (2 slices of white bread, tea or coffee, butter, jam) and good dinners. I was amazed that I was never hungry while during my normal working days in the office, I eat bigger breakfast, very big lunch and usually I feel hunger before each meal.
Language and people
This is definitely French speaking area. You can survive on English only but we felt that we were losing some personal touch with our hosts in mountain huts and with other walkers. Fortunately we met a good number of people from Australia and New Zealand.
Organized tours
There are many commercial operators who org anise TMB and provide variety of services. The basic one is just a guide and arrangement of all accommodation, at the other end is carrying of personal luggage by mules and accommodation in 4 star hotels wherever possible ( usually every third day of the tour ).
Alternatives
It is possible to make TMB in one week skipping less interesting parts. Skipping stages from Courmayer to Champex – saves 3 days.
If you are in hurry
It is possible to make TMB in ONE DAY!! It is an ultramarathon organised by North Face in the last week of August. So if you do not participate in Kangaroo Hoppet there is an alternative. See: www.ultratrailmb.com/accueil.php
Submitted by Lech Milewski.
This page was last revised on September 16, 2007