I am helping my twin sons research their TMB trip and had a few questions. If you choose not to fastpack the TMB, you should consider spending a day here. You can even cut more time off by riding the bus further to Lavachey and then taking the trail straight up to Bonatti, but I’d only do this as a last resort in bad weather since the views from the upper trail on the way to Bonatti are fantastic. It was a nice finish to a big meal and while many people were grabbing their stomach and throwing in the towel from being overly full, I was finally just full. The route passes through seven mountain valleys (Val d'Arve, Val d'Montjoie, Vallee des Glaciers, Val Veni, Italian Val Ferret, Swiss Val . To our surprise, the entire trail network near Flégère was closed and since night was falling we thought we should play it safe and stay on the road. We orders two pizzas to eat right then and six sandwiches to go which ended up saving us big time in the day to come. I hesitated to even share this post because I know it’s a little rambly but all the mistakes I made on our trek were because there wasn’t enough information on the internet for me to know ahead of time. There is a free shuttle bus that takes you from the tourist office in Les Contamines to Notre Dame de la Gorge, a beautiful church in the middle of rolling green countryside. After you take in the views, which do tend to be clouded in from this high of altitude, it’s time to start the hike down to Les Houches. It is considered one of the classic long distance walking trails. First of all, you should absolutely just ride the gondola down from Charamillon and Le Tour then walk the last bit to Tré-Le-Champ. Visaille can reached in just under 2 hours from Rifugio Elisabetta or just under an hour from Cabane Combal. WARNING: This itinerary takes several variants routes. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. You can pay 75 euros for half board if you’d like a private or semi private room. Thankfully we were rewarded with one of the best nights on the trail. Blogs that appear on this website may contain affiliate links. We chose to skip the first 45 minutes of hiking stage 2 since it’s mostly near the road and while the scenery is pleasant, it was nice to just cut out this section of town. It wasn’t a big deal, but probably set us back in time by 20 minutes or so. The density of stars just blew me away and my girls may never forgive me for not waking them up at 2 a.m. to soak it in. It’s cheap and runs often throughout the day in July and August. The dorm style room that we slept in here was different than the semi private room we had at Elisabetta but like Elisabetta, it was a fairly comfy bed with actual sheets and a warm down comforter (and I happened to get lucky and get the bed by the window that looked out at Mont Blanc). The Ultimate Planning Guide to the Tour du Mont Blanc (coming soon), Tour du Mont Blanc Camping Guide (Coming soon), The Best Stages on the Tour du Mont Blanc (Coming soon). These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Meaning, they are unsure how to break the trip up. From here you’ll trace the contours of the south flank of the Val Veni, following the rise and fall of the mountain side with jaw dropping views of sawtooth peaks and Monte Bianco opposite. Read on to find more information on booking accommodation for the Tour du Mont Blanc! The closest major city to the TMB is Geneva, Switzerland. The Tour Du Mont Blanc runs for 105 miles around the Mont Blanc Massif, passing through France, Italy and Switzerland. According to the book, when you get to the zoo, there was a road to the right that put you on the TMB trail right away, however, we totally didn’t see it and walking the road for awhile was a nice break for our feet. I’d definitely cut off the downhill section from Col Chécrouit but note that the cable car only runs until 5:30 p.m. Normally the owner recommends trekkers go down a bit from the refuge just because of the weather. It’s almost 6 pm and I’m beat. What started as a gorgeous day with views under Dolomite-like spires of rock and a bad cup of coffee, turned into an athletic feat the two girls and I will forever be proud of, crossing two 2500 meter (8200 ft) cols, gaining a total of 1800 meters (5900 ft), and losing 1100 meters (3600 ft), all while experiencing culinary treats and epic views of glaciers, waterfalls, and the most textured and jagged peaks you can imagine. Because it was such a calm and clear night, we wild camped near the refuge and had the most incredible views of Mont Blanc and the surrounding mountains. We were camping though and not only was the camping free at Refuge de la Balme, but the views were some of the best and reminded me a lot of being in the Dolomites. This meeting with your guide will be an opportunity to review the details of the trip. That being said, if you had to pick only one refuge to stay at on the whole Tour du Mont Blanc, Bonatti is the one to stay at. This meant that we ended up combining stages, which made it even more exhausting. My goal is to help you learn from my mistakes . Find TMB inspiration & news on our Instagram. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Use the free shuttle (picks up right in front of the Tourism Office) to go from Les Contamines to Notre Dame de la Gorge. Instead, I looked at Google Maps and it says 2 hours walking time to get to the closest town of Les Bois, which is right next to Chamonix. Trek the Tour du Mont Blanc | Much Better Adventures On a clear day, you get views of the jagged mountains towering above the crystal clear lake. We hobbled into Praz de Fort and we’re overcome with joy and gratitude when the one restaurant in town was actually open. If the cable cars are running, I highly recommend skipping this section and taking the ride into town. Vistas around the Tour du Mont Blanc are superlative and, with a lung-busting 10,251m (33,631ft) meters of ascent, they will, quite literally, take your breath away. You will need to hike the traditional route around if the weather forecast predicts a thunderstorm. If you are trying to fastpack the TMB and you really want to experience Bonatti, then skip Courmayeur and either start your stage 4 early in the morning so you have time to get to Bonatti on the main trail, which is about 4 hours after Courmayeur or hop on a bus to cut off some of this time. After reaching Refuge Nant Borrant press for almost a further 3kms before reaching Refuge Le Balme. Or as we would suggest catch the navette (shuttle bus) which ferries you in 30 minutes to the parking area of Refuge Les Mottets (you’ll then have to walk down the hillside to the refuge in the valley bottom). We had already climbed so much and had great views from the Col de Fours. I had the best night sleep that I had had since arriving in Europe and woke up the next morning ready to charge. You may be up early this morning. Traditionally, the Tour du Mont Blanc starts and finishes in the Chamonix Valley and moves anti-clockwise through France, Italy and Switzerland and returns in to the Chamonix valley for the last few days of the trek. If you’re continuing along the normal TMB route the well marked trail will descend all the way to the valley of to Les Chapieux, where you can stop for a welcome refreshment at the friendly Auberge de la Nova and carry on a further hour up the trail to Refuge Les Mottets. Another thing to keep in mind is that you can skip the Col de Fours variant and hike downhill to Les Chapieux and then catch a bus from Le Chapieux to Ville des Glaciers (which is only a 30 minute hike from Mottets) or directly to Mottets parking lot. The traditional route however, goes right up a narrow trail and here you will get some of the best views of your life. It was more crowded here than I expected and we ran into fellow hikers that we had met at Bonatti who said we should stop here and enjoy these lakes because they are prettier than Lac Blanc. As you leave Elisabetta, prepare yourself for the most stunning section of the Tour du Mont Blanc. The next stage was a really, really nice stage. Day 1 Contamines - Col du Beaufortain. La Fouly sits at the foot of two mighty mountains, Tour Noir (3, 836m) and Mont Dolent (3,823m) which incredibly is the tri-point where all three of the Tour du Mont Blanc countries, France, Switzerland and Italy’s borders meet! Hiking the TMB was certainly a life changing experience for me. Walking, trekking, hiking the Tour Du Mont Blanc can be a challenge. This was one of the most memorable nights of my life. Look to the far end of the valley to spot Les Houches where you set off. Leaving Notre Dame de la Gorge the trail immediately begins to climb and doesn’t let up all the way to Refuge de la Balme, where we chose to camp that night. For lunch, we split the homemade chocolate cake topped with walnuts and a blueberry shortbread cake because even though the antipasto salad was better than any I’ve ever seen—prosciutto, apples, and cheese on a bed of spring mix lettuces—the cakes looked like something we couldn’t get again and so we gobbled that up and washed it down with a glass of house red wine, all making for a perfect way to chill out while staring at the glaciers. Since it was early in the day we decided to push on but doing so was definitely biting off more than we should’ve chewed as the next 4 hours of hiking is grueling. But we looked up?! Hiking sticks would probably be a good idea if you have any past knee issues. Never attempt this variant route if the weather is nothing short of perfect. The bottom of the descent puts you at a car park with toilets. The other negative was that this is also a main stage of the Haute Route and so, while we were descending, the trail was very crowded with people climbing up and many places where you’d have to stop and wait for people to pass because the trail just isn’t wide enough for two. Set off super early though and you’ll be in for a treat. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. At the top you’ll be rewarded with the beauty of Champex-Lac. If I skipped something or left any stone unturned or question unanswered, please, ask us in the comments section below. Champex is a much nicer area to rest in than Ferret or La Fouly in my opinion and having some time to rest your legs here before Stage 8 is highly recommended. A part of the Tour du Mont Blanc shapes the Walker's Haute Route as well. Hiking through the Aiguille Rouge National Park, you’ll have a good chance of seeing marmots, chamois or bouquetin. The pie wasn’t quite as amazing as the pastries we had at Bonatti but the atmosphere was nice and if we could have seen the entire mountain and glaciers across from the Refugio, I’m sure we would’ve been impressed however, the clouds were obstructing the view. Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. From here you get off the gondola and follow the signs with the picture of the cable car that in the winter, takes you to the black diamond runs in the resort. From here the signs point you left and it’s another 40 minutes of easier climbing to get to the Col de la Croix. When we started the weather was clear, but as it got closer to the top the storm clouds began condensing over the mountain peaks and the occasional boom of thunder kept up our tempo so that we’d get over the Col before the storm. In retrospect I should’ve paid for dinner and not cared how smelly I was. It’s a very steep descent that takes 2 and a half hours. Well done! OR you can choose to save the knees and take the traditional route from Champex to Col de la Forclaz and then come around to Chalet du Glacier from the opposite direction before heading up to Refuge Les Grandes. Today was the day that the UTMB runners had finally caught up to us (they started about 12 hours ago in Chamonix) and as we followed the continuous line of runners up the hill for an hour and a half climb, we were greeted with picture perfect views of the glaciers across the valley for almost our entire day. The Tour du Mont Blanc is bursting with epic alpine scenery—glaciers, mountains, rivers, lakes, meadows and wildlife. This area again is known for common sightings of chamois. When I first started planning the Tour du Mont Blanc, it was overwhelming to say the least and it was hard to find the right information to help me plan my itinerary, especially when it came to camping. The circular route is normally walked in a . The Tour du Mont Blanc makes for an excellent multi-day trekking holiday in the alps. Since stage 1 of the TMB, which goes from Les Houches to Les Contamines, isn’t as gorgeous as the other stages, we decided to skip it, but mostly because we wanted to get ahead of the UTMB runners who would be starting their race the next night, which meant we needed to get to Les Contamines so we could enjoy beautiful stage 3 without crazy crowds. The view was supposed to be incredible there and I wanted to get to the refuge as fast as possible to make sure we’d be able to get food because we only had that loaf of bread left from two days ago (yummy!). The most popular month to go is July, which has the most tour departures. Seeing the glaciers from so many angles might also have slowed our pace as we spent a lot of time stopping to try and capture the textures and gorgeous shades of colors of rock and ice. After grabbing pastries and cafe in town, plus some snacks for the way, we walked north out of town center to the cable car. Our 4hr timing includes taking the navette to Refuge Les Mottets. Spend some time here to admire the views over the Miage Valley and far off the Col du Bonhomme. I think we might’ve started off on the wrong trail though. We’ve included these because the scenery is spectacular however variants Col du Tricot (day 1), Col des Fours (day 2), Col du Fenêtre (day 6) should NEVER be crossed in bad weather. Our itinerary descends now to the valley floor just past the refuge via the chairlift and gondola to Le Tour. They say in the confirmation email that you are required to have sleeping sheet bag or rent one for 3 euros but that didn’t seem the case as I didn’t have one nor did anyone else in my dorm room. The closest airport is Geneva, with shuttles running regularly from the airport to the city center. Trekking the north flank of the Chamonix Valley, this itinerary divides stages 10 and 11 of the Tour du Mont Blanc with a detour up to the infamous Lac Blanc. Here's how you can explore this iconic Alps adventure in less than 10 days! Have a leisurely lunch in this small French town before either choosing to walk along the river to Notre Dame de la Gorge or pick up the free shuttle bus (navette) outside the Tourist Office to Notre Dame de la Gorge where the trail heads out into the wild once more. Hikers, climbers and mountaineers will greatly appreciate stop overs offered by refuges and gites along the Tour du Mont Blanc. If you are concerned about the ladders, my friend Mags at Family Freestylers has a great article about the difficulty of the ladders that you can read here. If you are contemplating staying here these are the things I’d consider. We were tired and it was easier on our sore feet. See why this town got its nickname as you explore the Alps on foot, wandering through peaceful meadows and taking in the sweeping . There is food here and the church is worth taking a peak inside of. The 2023 Tour de France will be the 110th edition of the Tour de France. We practically scooted down on our butts for the 20 switchbacks in the first 2 kilometers. You'll see churches still intact from the 18th century and walk the same paths that Roman soldiers used 2,000 years . It's no exaggeration to say the Tour du Mont Blanc is among the most iconic multi-day treks in the world. Luckily, there wasn’t much exposure so the worry was just in slipping, not falling to your death. Stage 7 of the Tour du Mont Blanc étapes is both the shortest and the easiest leg. Day 3 started out as a glorious morning and from the refuge you could see a line of UTMB runners coming down the hillside looking like a trail of ants. So with that, I will say that it is worth the detour to come here. I highly recommend this route. We decided to take the good weather when we could get it so we could guarantee amazing views on the iconic 11th stage. In fact, even though we only booked our beds a week in advance, we had to modify our reservation twice and they were able to change our dates easily. In our blog, Planning a Tour du Mont Blanc, I’ve included everything you need to know about getting to Mont Blanc, how long it is, how many stages, safety, and so much more. A post shared by Adventure Travel Family (@nomadswithapurpose) on Oct 3, 2019 at 5:41pm PDT. They are passionate about adventuring in the outdoors through surfing, climbing, mountain biking, and hiking. Your odds of having clearer weather are much better earlier in the day so if you really want to do this variante, then starting from Refuge de la Croix might be a smarter option. All of which you will pass through apart from the last when you will turn uphill for the last 90 minutes to Champex-Lac (pronounced Champay-Lac). You do get nice views of the glaciers which is wonderful but you spend most of the time watching where your next footstep will be. There isn’t a lot of exposure so fear of heights isn’t a huge worry but the amount of single leg squats you feel like you are doing is hard. The famous Tour du Mont Blanc is a 170-kilometer long circuit, which encircles the Mont Blanc massif and has 10 kilometers of ascent/descent. I thought about listening to their advice and even thought that it might be good to just set up camp here and then hike up to check out Lac Blanc but FOMO and hunger got the best of me. Luckily the campground we were headed to was supposed to have a restaurant so we left Courmayeur in hopes of some rest and relaxation…turned out the restaurant was no longer open .
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