170km and 10,000m of ascent in 8 days
This
was the natural continuation of the Matterhorn Ultraks. Zermatt is
not that far away from Chamonix, and the TMB has been in my bucket
list for a while. Now it felt the right moment to go for it.
Thinking
the route would have been packed with people (as it was indeed) we
booked the sleeping places in advance, so that we had no alternative
but to reach the destination every day. At first we thought we were
too optimistic doing it in 8 days, but we had great weather and felt
good all the time, so that it can probably be done in 7 or even 6
days (the UTMB runners would do it in within 21 to 44 hours...)
Leaving Zermatt was far from heartbreaking, the place was such a rip off that the idea of affording food in France was quite appealing...
The
transition from runner to trekker was quick. I threw away my worn
running shoes and put on my boots and rucksack. Paul had a 30l one and went
through some trouble rearranging the packaging, at some stage we
thought he would have trekked all the route with the Coop bag...but
after some cursing everything fit.
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| Some re-packing problems |
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| On the Mont Blanc Express |
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| Ultimate solution: Coop bag around the TMB? |
After
a stroll in Chamonix we got the bus to Les Houches, where the day
after we would start the tour. We spent the night in the very nice
Gite Michel Fagot in Les Houches, where Paul introduced me to the
lady running it as “elle es fumé” (= she is stoned, while meaning
"she is outside smoking"...) Our French was soooo good! Good stuff everyone speaks English.
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| Gite Michel Fagot |
Les
Houches to Les Contamines – 18Km and 1500m elevation gained
We
first climbed to Col de Voza, then up again to get the path at the
feet of Glacier de Bionnassay, and then up to Col de Tricot. We waited 1 hour for an expensive and tiny sandwich at the crowded Refuge de Miage, and
happily got a move away from the crowd up to Auberge du Truc (no
electricity = no ice-cream) and finally down to Les Contamines. The day was
extremely hot and not used at the heat we arrived at the
Chalet CAF de Contamines burnt and tired.
But a shower did the trick and brought us back to life.
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| Col de Voza |
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| This was the descent |
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| Getting to Refuge de Miage |
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| Somebody misses cycling |
Les
Contamines to Refuge de Mottets – 20km and 1579m elevation gained
The
first few kilometers were flat and chilled in the early morning, then
it was a steep climb to Refuge de la Balme and up again to Col de
Bonhomme. By that stage it was midday and we were starving, so that
we went to the Refuge for the best omelet ever and a slice of chocolate cake (I found being vegeterarian hard as it was either bread, cheese or eggs, if you are vegan you will starve!).
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| Col du Bonhomme |
The views from the Refuge were great and it would have been nice to
spend the night there, but the day was still young, so that we kept
going up to Col de Fours and finally a long and extenuating descent
(we got the wrong path) to the welcoming and huge Refuge de Mottets,
were an equally huge beer was waiting us. We shared the dorm and the
table with a very nice American couple from Steamboat Spring, who
reminded us of the Great Divide times. This was indeed a very
pleasant evening.
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| Col des Fours |
Day 3 - 25th August 2016
Refuge
de Mottets to Courmayeur – 28km and 2000m elevation gained
The
day started early to beat the toilet queue and the heat. At 7am we
were on the go and started the climb up to Col de la Seigne to enter
ITALY! And what an entry, the views were the finest and the paths
were still empty, apart from the first marmots that were lazying among the rocks. After some moments of contemplation we went down
towards Rifugio Elisabetta to grab a sandwich for later (bread and
cheese for a change) as we would not find any other refreshment
places for a long while.
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| Col de la Seigne |
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| Rifugio Elisabetta |
The
sandwich didn't last long as at 11am we were already starving, and
another big climb was waiting for us. We stopped to contemplate the
views and eat and then slowly went up in blazing sun to the
Alpe superioure for a great view of all those ragged peaks, just
perfect.
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| the skull |
The
long way down to Courmayeur was the worse part of the day. By that
stage we were already overheated, dehydrate, probably burnt and dead tired. We
were tempted to get the cable car but we missed the turn and were
deemed to keep walking down. At least we were in the forest and the
sun was not so merciless. Once in Courmayeur, it took another good
hour to find our hotel and finally relieve ourselves of the dust with a very long shower. And since Italy is not Switzerland, we got
rewarded with the biggest pizza ever, honestly it was so big it
didn't fit the table. Good, cheap and huge plates, we love Italy!
Day 4 - 26th August 2016
Courmayeur
to Chalet Val Ferret – 19km and 1120m elevation gained
When
we planned the trip we didn't realise that the UTMB would have been
in the same period. For good or worse, there we were sharing the tiny path
with 2000 runners! The CCCC (101km from Courmayeur to Chamonix)
started that day in Courmayeur and we could hear the Italian anthem leaving town,
for the first time after ages I felt slightly patriotic.
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| singing the anthem |
As
usual we started the day climbing up, this time to Rifugio Bertone, and from there the
flattish path would go nicely along the side of the mountain, at
which stage the runners catched up with us. At first it was fun to
cheer thm up, but when we realised it was a never ending line we started to worry we would never make it to our day
destination, but slowly slowly we made it to Rifugio Walter Bonnatti, what an honor to stop there!
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| Adventure is inside us |
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| Guess what luch was? Yes, bread and cheese! |
The Rifugio Bonatti was packed with trekkers and runners,
there was almost not even space to lay down outside on the grass. As
usual we got our sandwich (...bread and cheese, again), waited a
while but more runners would come, so that we joined the line and
with patience made it to the Chalet Val Ferret, beautiful place with
great food and right in front of an Aid Station. The UTMB started
that day at 6pm in Chamonix, so that the first runners were expected
there the day after at 5/6am. I originally wanted to wake up early to
cheer them up but I slept like a log all night and barely made it at
8...
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| tan or dust? |
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| Getting inspired |
Day 5- 27th August 2016
Chalet
Val Ferret to Champex – 17km and 900m elevation gained (were
supposed to walk 30km but opted for a handy free bus from la Fouly)
The
runners situation was improving, coming from Cahmonix they were more
sporadic and didn't cause much disruption, on the contrary, today it
was a pleasure to stop and cheer them up. They had run all night and
really deserved all our respect!
After
an abundant breakfast we started the climb to Rifugio Elena, and then
up again to Grand Col Ferret were with much sorrow we said goodbye to
Italy and entered Switzerland.
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| Gran Col Ferret |
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| Bye bye Italy :( |
Last glimpse to the Italian Val
Ferret, and down we went to La Peule, where a 20cl cold tea from a
cartoon was charged 3.60CHF...better not ask for bread and cheese ah?
The views were not as outstanding as usual, kind of boring really,
and slowly we reached La Fouly, grabbed some food in a supermarket
and found some shadow behind a bus shelter for our lunch break. It
was another 15km to Champex, our day destination, and in between the
heat, the runners, and the boring path we thought of getting a bus
there. We then decided to keep walking, and started to walk, when a
bus arrived. It turned out that it was a free shuttle for the UTMB
supporters...oh well, if it's free it's not really cheating right?
We were left in Champex, when
we realised that out hostel, Gite Bon Abri, was not really in Champex
but a 20 min walk after the lake, in Champex d'en Haunt, but since we
saved 15km we couldn't really complain.
We
had dinner with a few cheerful German/Hungarians that were staying in
the hostel, and were introduced to the “Uber Cow”, kind of
breeding cows that can fight hard... Anyway, still puzzled, after
dinner, when dusk was entering the wood, we went to cheer up the
never ending line of runners. By then they had run for 26hours and
their face was not the happiest, but on seeing that bunch of nutters
with wine and cow bells nobody could help smiling back. That was a moment
in life when you think “how did I end up here?”
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| Go go go! |
And
after 1 hour the miracle: a thunderstorm!!!! it was great, so loud
and threatening, but I felt so sorry for the runners who were still
running with their headlamp. Still, the view of their headlamps
and thunders in the night was quite something.
Champex
to Refuge Col de Balme – 21km and 1700m elevation gained
The
Swiss bit was really uninspiring for me. No ragged peaks, just forests
and Alpine pastures, which may be pleasant but are certainly not
dramatic and after a while get monotonous. Thinking of France we
started the easy climb up to Alp Bovine and then down to Col de la
Forclaz, where we met a road busy with the Sunday traffic of cars and
motorcycles, we really didn't miss that.
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| the Uber cows... |
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| boring... |
We
grabbed some food and then headed down to Le Peuty where we found a
nice lunch spot in the shade (yes, still sunny with 30 degrees) and
got some energy back before the 900m elevation gained climb to Refuge
Col de Balme, at the border with France yeah!
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| Post lunch motivational talk |
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| Almost at Refuge Cold de Balme |
The
place is idyllic, you can see all the Chamonix valley and it was not
too busy, you see again high snowy ragged peaks and glaciers, and we finally felt COLD!! We thought we booked 2 beds there, but it turned
out we booked 2 beds in Chalet Col du Balme in Contamines, 50km
away!!! Anyway, good news was that the refuge was pretty much
empty, and only another couple would arrive later to stay for the
night, Ben and Viera from Belgium. Malcolm,the guy working there was
quite a character and we all had a few good laughs over dinner, great
company to end the day!
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| creepy |
The
views were just too good, so that after dinner we went out for a
stroll and the feeling of beauty everywhere was just overwhelming.
Day 7 - 29th August 2016
Refuge
Col de Balme to Chalet du Lac Blanc – 18km and 1100m elevation
gained
If
the company was great, the Refuge itself was very modest (no showers
no water) and food scarce, so that despite the morning fog we were
quite happy at the idea to reach Tres-Le-Champ down in the valley for some
food stock.
Problem being that there was no shop there, so that we
went further down the valley to Argentiere were we raided the
Supermarche...croissant, bread, FRUIT!!!! Paul become again “le
garçon avec la baguette'' and climbed th 1100m elevation gained to
the Chalet du Lac Blanc, delicate passage included (200m drop climbed through ladders), with this half
meter baguette popping out of his rucksack, brilliant!
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| After the delicate passage |
The weather was not great so that we were quite disappointed to reach the Refuge and see nothing of the amazing views we were told about. The Chalet itself was super packed and we felt like battery chickens. Still no shower so that by then we were filthy beyond description, but the thought that the day after we would be back to civilization cheered us up. Plus, a few ibexes were strolling around the lake showing off their climbing skills which in itself was worth being there.
Chalet
du Lac Blanc to Chamonix – 20km with 800m elevation gained.
We
finally got the views we were promised.
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| The joy of sleeping in a 20 people dorm |
The sunrise on those
mountains was just stunning, but we soon left the crowded refuge and
headed down to Refuge La Flegere, and then up for our last climb to
Le Brevent, where by chance we met again with Ben and Viera who would
keep going through the TMB path to Les Houches. We decided time before
to get the cable car to Chamonix and popped into it to be left at
Plan Praz. You then have to change cable car in
Plan Praz and feeling guilty we decided to walk the last 2hdown to Chamonix, with
almost no water... Finally in the main square we declared the tour
finished and went to celebrate with the longest shower ever, and the
thought that the day after there would not be a mountain to climb.
All
in all, it was a great trip, weather was great, landscapes were
stunning, we always felt good, we enjoyed every single climb
and we would strongly recommend it. However, please no more bread,
cheese and omelets!
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