Tour du Mont Blanc 2016 - a 9 day adventure - partly nostalgic - in the Alps. Part 1

So I've done the obligatory kit review in the last blog post and now comes the "report of the trip".

It's not going to be a day by day account - far from it - nor a diary. Those interested in times, distances, stats etc, can find me on Strava - Charlie Massey - or on Suunto Movescount - charliecoffee - and see the entries for June 25th to July 3rd inclusive. It's all there, including the extra bits that Lisa and I did, and showing the "gaps".

I / We (Lisa was there 2 days less than I) never completed the Tour du Mont Blanc, and we knew we had to make some compromises due to time constraints and the desire to spend at least 3 days walking with rest of our group.

Principally I left 3 gaps:

1. The Italian section from Courmayeur to the head of Val Ferret (Arp Nouva) below Grand Col Ferret. We took a morning off in Courmayeur and got a bus to the bottom of the Col.

2. From Col de la Forclaz in Switzerland across to Vallorcine in France (missing Col de Balme & Aiguillette des Posettes). I decided finally on the last day to walk down to Martigny rather than end up on the "wrong side". Frankly I just wanted to take the train around Lac Leman for sentimental reasons.

3. A small gap being the final part of the climb up to Champex Lac after walking the Swiss Val Ferret. We walked down to Orsieres together so I could say good bye to Lisa at the station there. I then got the bus up to Champex Lac before climbing the mile or so up the path alongside a torrent to my overnight stay at Relais d'Arpette.

The first 2 of these are in a way 'unfinished business' and I would love to go back one long weekend to complete these two sections, along with taking the high variant route over Fenetre d'Arpette at 2665m which was probably my only big regret of the trip.

On my first day (alone) in Les Houches, I decided on a start point for my TMB at the far end of the valley, and thought I would just try to cover as much of the northern sector as I could, retaining the option to take a cable car / ski lift down to the valley when I decided that I'd had enough. So I took the train up to Vallorcine and started. It was drizzling a bit and clouds were fairly threatening on the high peaks, but the sun came out as I began jogging from Vallorcine to col des Montets, so I decided to tackle the steep variant that goes directly up to La Flegere with an option to take in Lac Blanc as well. This also avoids the infamous ladder section on the main path up from Tre le Champ on the other side of Col des Montets. In my enthusiasm to get started, it turned out I was beginning to take some pretty stupid decisions. The path was very steep, and above about 1800m I pretty quickly became enveloped in thick fog, which then turned to steady rain. Snow patches began soon after as I continued to climb and it became less and less obvious where the main path went. Luckily I donned full waterproofs just in time as the rain got heavier (the first of several good decisions). I did contemplate turning back, but with my altimeter showing 2150m by now, and knowing the condition of the path I had just climbed, I decided to press on. I was buoyed by the fact that a walker in shorts and a light windproof top passed me just as I was procrastinating. He turned out to be Scottish and his "we're up here now, so we may as well get on with it" encouraged me also to get on with it. This showed blind faith in someone that I'd never met, but despite the fact that he was obviously ill-equipped, for some reason I deferred to his judgement.

So I followed him along what was now a much more obvious track up onto a ridge that disappeared into the fog. "Lac Blanc" was also clearly signposted. It was then that I heard a rumble of thunder, and then a few minutes later another one much closer. It was not until one followed with sparks flying on the rocks around me that I came latterly to my senses and assessed my predicament: on a high exposed ridge, in poor visibility, in an electric storm, carrying metal poles. What an idiot! Scottish man pressed on into the gloom. I threw my poles down as if they were red hot and re-assessed quickly. A repeat thunder - lightning - St. Elmos fire etc incident made my mind up. It's time to get down off this ridge and wait this out or change route! So I jogged back down to some relative shelter and headed back towards the junction of paths lower down.

After that I made better decisions. I met two Russians (older than me, heavier, huge packs and capes) who were heading the same way as the suicidal Scot. I convinced them to follow me back down and take a lower more sheltered route to La Flegere. After a bit of downhill scrambling through some heather, we were quickly on a more established path. About 15 minutes after this I could see the sky beginning to turn blue down the valley whereas to my left, in the direction of Lac Blanc, it was black and thunder continued to rumble. I pressed on, hoping to intersect the path taken in the Mont Blanc Half Marathon with runners suffering as they pressed onto the finish at 2000m up. Strangely there was no sign of them, just a drinks station being packed away as I reached the La Flegere lift station and cafe. After my pit stop I felt pretty good so my day ended at Planpraz after a mixed hike through forests and across some ski pistes, in great weather with the summits starting to clear across the valley.

In the midst of this I had my first encounters with the serious quantities of snow that remained above about 1900m, and thankfully I was able to deal with it easily. I had the right kit after all!

Later I read on the Mont Blanc Marathon website that they had re-routed the half marathon to finish in Chamonix town. The weather forecast had made it unsafe to be above 2000m that morning......

So that was why the finishing stretch was so deserted!

We had initially wanted to do quite a bit of running on the trip, but ultimately only really got to run 3 times. Frankly, with full pack, the joy was a bit lost and I personally did not feel so safe running down rocky paths with about 8 kg on board. However this took nothing away from the enjoyment, allowing us to look up frequently on the downhills, and enjoy the view, rather than being constantly in that zone of looking at the ground 2 footplants ahead. Travelling uphill it made little difference. Neither of us are in the category of runner that can get into a running rhythm on rocky paths or snow at 20% gradient above 2000 metres altitude.

We went on one run that we both absolutely loved, and memories of that will stay for a long while. We once again took the train up the valley to the last stop at Vallorcine. We then followed the TMB path back to Le Buet before branching off up the valley north of the Aiguilles Rouges, along the Berard torrent and past the spectacular waterfall of the same name.

The trail varied between steep rocky sections and gentler rolling parts where we could get a rhythm going. It was a beautiful day and despite climbing over 650 metres in 6 km or so, we just got warmer and warmer, as the valley rose towards the Col de Salenton at its head.

This run has a "reward" at the half way / turn around point, with the Refuge de Pierre a Berard nestling under a large boulder just before the trail heads up into the snow below the Col. So we just had to spoil ourselves with their take on Gateaux aux Myrtilles, watched over by a flock of young Bouquetins. A throughly recommended 13 km outing to get you inspired to do more mountain running.

Before our "easy day" running, Lisa and I had completed the section Planpraz to Les Houches - but in the reverse direction, turning a "mainly downhill" section into a "almost totally uphill" section.

The weather again started foggy as we wound our way up through the woods, climbing the 1200m or so to Bel Lachat. It was during this that the realisation started to dawn on me that any fears I had over Lisa's physical preparation and aptitude were unfounded. She was well able to cope with anything I could. Later on I would discover that she could have left me for dead at any point!

We found serious amounts of snow as we headed up towards Le Brevent above 2400m and onwards to Col de Brevent. Also the main path markings lost their meaning here, and whatever tracks existed on the snow became the de facto route. This is a big warning to anyone following a GPX track in these conditions. It could in fact lead you into trouble. The route on the ground and orientation by map, altimeter and compass might be far better. At one point, slightly confused by the snow tracks towards Col de Brevent, we asked a rock climber who was perched on one of the crags where the TMB main route was. He professed to have no idea. Either he didn't and was a particularly tunnel visioned sort, or he wasn't interested in offering help. Unusual.

We finished our day at the same point I had finished the day before, but this time we did get to see finishers of the Mont Blanc Marathon (at around 7 hours in) at Planpraz. Strangely it didn't put me off the idea, although one guy repeatedly drinking water and vomiting against a wall by the lift station didn't seem to having too great a time.

Evolved to run. Born to run. Older, greyer, still running. Follow @Nariokotomeboy

Tour du Mont Blanc 2016 - Mainly a kit review

As alluded to in previous posts, the Alps has an almost hypnotic effect on me.
I have spent enough time there, though little in the past 20 years or so, to begin to understand the rhythm of the seasons, the type of weather to be expected, the beauty of the natural environment and the unique human environment. I am fluent in one of the alpine languages. This helps.

But it was not until this trip of 9 days that I actually seriously got to grips with the Alps "physically. Ski-ing, which I did a great deal of until around the mid '90's, doesn't really count. Critically most forms of ski-ing mean you are mechanically transported up the mountains by one means or another, before sliding down on a pre-prepared, modified part of the landscape. Walking and running in the alps is entirely different - every metre of altitude gained is by muscle and sweat. Every view is "earned", not simply paid for in a lift pass. The paths sneak about, around and across landscape features, whilst fully respecting them. Rocks, tree roots and loose materials are not cleared for you. Critically what you are carrying in terms of personal weight and pack size matters - you look at others labouring under vast towering packs and feel smug, whilst others who made even more lightweight choices than yourself become objects of envy.

I was proud of my Ultimate Direction Fastpack 20 and my honed down contents (see last post), and was very sceptical of my daughter Lisa's decision to go about 30% less in volume and possibly 3kgs lighter. When early in the trip, she pulled a sun dress out of the pack to change into on a warm evening, I realised that I had, not for the first time, been upstaged by my wiser offspring.

So that would be the first of many recommendations to anyone coming across this blog and planning a similar trip. Take less. Take no duplicates. If you look at it twice, and wonder, don't take it! Buy the lightest, most effective kit in every category.

Reviewing what I took critically now, and to get the 'kit' issue out of the way, I would leave behind a fair bit and change some for lighter options.

Clothes:

Base layers / t shirts: 1 long sleeve (that is genuinely "tec", warm and light); 2 very light short sleeve that wash easily and dry quickly. Travel in 1 of course.

Underwear: 2 as per t shirts above. You are wearing 1 to travel.

Socks: my Merino blend trekking socks were excellent but took an age to dry. 1 other short pair, quick drying - wear these to travel.

Warmth: My thermal long johns were unused: ditch. Merino top layer: ditch. At all times when cold, put on micro down jacket. If legs are cold, don waterproofs. Keep warm running gloves and hat. My observation would be that your legs won't get cold in shorts unless they get wet!

Shorts / trousers: My Karrimor zip outs and 2 pairs of running shorts, one cycle type and one lightweight could be replaced by 2 pairs of lightweight hybrid trail running shorts.

Waterproofs: absolutely the single most important kit items. My jacket was perhaps 150g "too heavy" and I bought new lightweight breathable waterproofs in Decathlon. I never got wet even in torrential rain. Every other item of kit fails if it gets wet under inadequate waterproofs. I will replace my 'heavy' breathable rain jacket with a well-reviewed lightweight (250g max) with storm hood for the next expedition. Hopefully these will be carried most of the time in outside pockets on pack, so they need to be low volume also. The jacket needs to be big enough to cover 3 other layers if necessary.

Refuge / sleep / evening wear: ditch everything and make do with items from above. There is no 'dress code'.

Hat / Cap" I wore my 4.99 euro Decathlon peaked cap nearly all the time. It acted as swetband and sun visor in one

Equipment:

Poles: essential, but with a big but.... We had 14 euro a pair telescopic poles from Decathlon that weighed 420g a pair. They were totally fine and got ditched (to solve hand baggage issue - Easyjet would have charged us 3 x their value to take as hold baggage) at the end. Expensive poles are totally unnecessary IMO. It's weight that's the issue.

Shoes: when we walked in a group of 8, 6 of them were in high, heavy duty walking boots. We had Salomon hybrid running / fast hiking Goretex lined shoes. They were absolutely superb. Gave us a light, agile feeling that made all the scrambling much easier. Even in the large quantities of neve snow that we crossed, they were grippy and adequate.

Gaiters and extra grip for snow: we had Decathlon trail running gaiters and some Yak Trax type grips. These kept snow and grit out and added a bit of extra grip on long stretches of snow. On short patches we didn't bother with the extra grip. Neither of us fell over or slipped.

First aid / wash kit etc: I took too much. A toothbrush and some paste and a small bar of soap, plus a tiny first aid kit (including a Compeed pack)and some Rocktape would have been enough. Footcare is essential though and I used Compeed blister prevention stick every morning. I never got a blister. My lightweight microtowel was great.

Sawyer water filter: used frequently and saved at least 500g from carrying extra water. The stream water up high tastes delicious! Essential.

Dry bags: used for everything from food to clothing, maps etc. Great for compressing clothing. 6 would be a good number. I also had 3 of Decathlon's super-cheap, superlight waist and back pack products. Used frequently to supplement and avoiding having full pack all the time.

Maps and Tech: a had no transparent waterproof map cover. This was a 'miss'. The most used feature on my Suunto Ambit was altimeter - essential IMO. Having all the Kindle versions of the guides and my evening reading on an Ipad mini was also a weight saver. My Iphone 4s was my only camera. I never followed a GPS track, rarely had to consult the map en route (though once on the top of Brevent should have done) and generally knew where we were going. The markings on the TDMB, though variable, particularly in Italy, are generally very good. Learn the route first and it's easier on the ground.

Pack: My Ultimate Direction Fastpack 20 was very comfortable, expandable and worked well when overloaded. Lisa's Raidlight Lady 14 litre Ultra running pack was sensational.

Evolved to run. Born to run. Older, greyer, still running. Follow @Nariokotomeboy