@August 23, 2024
The Tour du Mont Blanc is among the most iconic hiking trails in the world, and now hosts the formidable L'Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB) race. There are many trails that have comprised the TMB over the years, but in short, the route circumnavigates the Alps around Mont Blanc.
We completed the TMB in six days, which was fairly leisurely at our pace. Hikers typically complete the tour in 10 days.
The route
Day 1: Les Houches to Les Contamines
12.54 mi • 2:38:08 • 2,938 ft
We took a bus from Chamonix to Les Houches, since that is the official start of the TMB. The race begins in Chamonix to make a complete loop, but the section from Chamonix to Les Houches is generally considered uninteresting.
The course begins with a climb to Col de Voza (1666m) before descending into the ski town of St. Gervais. The Col de Voza climb is relatively short compared to the later climbs in the course, and fairly runnable. You can stop at the Col de Voza ski lodge partway through the ascent. Most of the trail is on a wide, gravel road as opposed to single track.
Unfortunately, the weather was rough that day, so we decided to skip the descent and rejoined the course in La Villette. We followed the river with some gradual ups and downs until arriving in Les Contamines.
This was a light day in terms of distance and elevation, but it’s convenient to end the day in Les Contamines because it’s a slightly larger town.
Day 2: Les Contamines to Les Chapieux*
13.65 mi • 3:54:39 • 4,974 ft
There are a few flat miles after leaving Les Contamines, but the climbing begins in earnest here. After passing Notre Dame de la Gorge, the course ascends for about 8 miles to Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme, which is a great place to stop for lunch.
While the UTMB route descends eastward to Les Chapieux, we instead went west towards Cormet de Roselend on the Crête des Gittes. Places to stay are very limited in Les Chapieux, so instead we were able to sleep at the quiet Chalet du Berger.
Day 3: Les Chapieux* to Courmayeur
Because we ended the previous day near Cormet de Roselend (a popular spot on the Tour de France), we took a shuttle to La Ville des Glaciers to get back on the TMB. La Ville des Glaciers is one town beyond Les Chapieux on the official course.
There is a short flat section before reaching Les Mottets, which is the start of a 2-mile climb up Col de la Seigne. This col marks the border between France and Italy.
Shortly after the crossing the border is the Rifugio Elisabetta, which was one of my favorite stops on the trip. For added difficulty, UTMB turns north to climb around the Pyramides Calcaires, but we chose to continue straight on the Strada Lago Combal. We rejoined the race course at the end of Lago Combal, turning south to climb Arête du Mont-Favre. This climb is short but steep.
Arête du Mont-Favre is the start of a 6-mile descent into Courmayeur. The first few miles of this are beautiful and gradual, with some of the best running of the entire loop.
However, this descent starts to be steep and quite technical after reaching Maison Vieille, another great spot to stop for drinks. Fortunately, this day ends in the larger town of Courmayeur, where there are plenty of hotels and restaurants to choose from.
Day 4: Courmayeur to La Fouly
19.80 mi • 5:20:26 • 6,753 ft
This is perhaps the hardest day on the route, and where people say the “real racing” at UTMB starts. There are two major climbs: a 2,500 ft 3.5-mile climb out of Courmayeur, later followed by a 2.5-mile 2,500 ft climb up the Grand Col Ferret.
Despite the difficulty, this is also one the best days for refuge stops. At the top of the climb out of Courmayeur is Refuge Bertone. A few miles later lies Refuge Bonatti, a large lodge with elegant lunch options that looks directly across the valley onto the range. After Bonatti is a short descent to Chalet Val Ferrett, where they serve excellent polenta.
From Chalet Val Ferrett, the route climbs up Grand Col Ferret, marking the border between Italy and Switzerland. There is another refuge on the Swiss side during the descent (La Peule), and the course continues to drop into the town of La Fouly.
Day 5: La Fouly to Trient
18.81 mi • 4:32:22 • 4,278 ft
The course descends for 6.5 mi out of La Fouly before beginning to climb towards the town of Champex. The water in Lac de Champex is not too cold! There’s a gradual descent out of Champex until a brutal 2,500 ft climb to La Giète. Alpage de Bovine, a restaurant just before the top of the climb, is a nice relief.
The descent into the town of Trient is fairly steep—there’s a gradual section before reaching a kilometer of switchbacks.
Day 6: Trient to Chamonix
18.17 mi • 6:01:42 • 6,128 ft
The climbing starts immediately upon leaving Trient. We opted to stay on a higher trail instead of descending into Vallorcine, but rejoined the TMB in Tré-le-Champ.
While climbing out of Tré-le-Champ, the TMB trail descends onto the Chemin des Grands Bois. We decided to continue climbing, however, reaching the Grand Balcon Sud. This involved taking a series of ladders bolted into the rock. We followed the Grand Balcon Sud until rejoining the UTMB route at La Flégère. From there, it was a quick descent towards the river and into Chamonix.
Until next time
A group of friends run the tour in three days each year, which I would love to try. They generally follow this pattern:
- Day 1: Chamonix to Courmayeur, which could be made shorter by starting in Les Houches or Les Contamines.
- Day 2: Courmeyeur to Champex, which could also be shortened by starting in Arnuova.
- Day 3: Champex to Chamonix, which could be shortened by skipping the descent into Trient, or taking the train from Vallorcine to Chamonix.