Tour of Mont Blanc - A trekking guide

Guidebook to the Tour of Mont Blanc (170km, 105 miles) is a classic walk, circumnavigating the Mont Blanc massif in about eleven days. The guide follows an established route around the massif, taking the walker into France, Switzerland and Italy. The tour is described in both anti-clockwise and clockwise directions.

View Sample Route Map

STAGE 4:

RIFUGIO ELISABETTA – COURMAYEUR

---

Distance: 18km or 20km via Rif. Monte Bianco
Time: 5–51⁄2hrs
Start altitude: 2195m
High point:    Mont Favre spur 2430m
Height gain: 460m
Height loss: 1560m
Accommodation: Col Chécrouit (33⁄4hrs) – privately owned gîte-refuge
Val Veni (2–21⁄2hrs) – camping, gîte, hotel (Val Veni option)
Val Veni (41⁄4hrs) – CAI refuge (Rif. Monte Bianco option)
Dolonne (5hrs) – hotel
Courmayeur – hotels, pensions
Transport options: Bus (La Visaille – Courmayeur)
Cablecar (Plan Chécrouit – Courmayeur)
Alternative routes: via Val Veni all the way to Courmayeur – a bad-weather ‘escape’ route (see below).
Col Chécrouit – Rif. Monte Bianco – Courmayeur (see below)

---

It’s a wonderfully varied walk among scenery of the highest order. It begins by dropping into the lower Vallon de la Lée Blanche, where a tracery of streams combine to create the so-called Lac Combal, backed by the monstrous wall of moraine thrown up by the Glacier de Miage that spills into the valley between gateways of rock. On gaining the foot of this moraine wall, the TMB then swings to the right and climbs steeply up the right-hand hillside, passes two groups of derelict alp buildings and continues until reaching a high point on a spur coming from Mont Favre. From here to Col Chécrouit the route follows a balcony path of immense appeal – every step further unravels a sumptuous view of ‘the disordered and magnificent cluster of the great peaks, and of Mont Blanc itself’, as Roger Frison-Roche once described it. Two or three small pools lie along this hillside to create a mirror image of the aiguilles and snowpeaks opposite.

At Col Chécrouit the main route as described descends to Courmayeur via the attractive village of Dolonne, while an alternative option (also described) invites walkers down into Val Veni to skirt the northern base of Mont Chétif, and then to approach Courmayeur from the north.

Finally, should the weather be very bad, you are advised to ignore the ‘high route’ as described beyond Lac Combal, and remain in the bed of Val Veni throughout – a walk of about 31⁄2–4hrs from Rifugio Elisabetta; outline details given below.

Out of the refuge descend to the buildings of Alpe inférieur, where an unmetalled road, built by the Italian army, comes up from Lac Combal. Footpath shortcuts enable you to avoid most of the road-walking until you reach the valley floor, but thereafter you can swing easily along, either on the road itself or its grassy verge, almost as far as a stone bridge at 1950m at the northern end of the milky-blue Lac Combal below the wall of lateral moraine. This is reached in about 45mins. Despite the road (which can be horribly dusty following a spell of dry weather), the landscape is of such value that your attention is likely to be anywhere but on the road itself.

The TMB turns off shortly before the bridge. However, should you need refreshment there’s a small buvette on the other side of the river off to the left. The bridge is also crossed if you decide to catch a bus, or plan to walk all the way to Courmayeur through the Val Veni (12) – see section below.

TMB BAD-WEATHER OPTION: VAL VENI TO COURMAYEUR
From the bridge at the northern end of Lac Combal, walk down the road for about 30mins, then take a footpath on the right descending briefly through larchwoods to rejoin the road a little lower. About 10mins later enter the hamlet of LA VISAILLE from where there’s a bus service to Courmayeur. A few paces beyond Chalet del Miage (refreshments) a signed footpath descends on the left, leading downvalley in another 30mins or so to CAMPING  LA SORGENTE and its gîte (8 dortoir places, 22 beds, open June to mid-Sept (Tel: 01 65 86 90 89 info@campingsorgente.net). Continuing down the road, when it makes a left-hand hairpin just out of La Visaille, note a path/track which goes straight ahead for another 45mins to reach RIFUGIO MONTE BIANCO (1666m 14 dortoir places, 50 beds; open mid-June to mid-Sept (Tel: 01 65 86 90 97). The road snakes downhill with footpath shortcuts, and comes to two large campsites, before passing a side road on the left going to PERTUD (Peuterey; 1502m), Camping Monte Bianco La Sorgente, the gîte mentioned above, and two hotels. About 20mins later you pass below the pilgrimage chapel of Notre Dame de la Guerison, and in another hour reach COURMAYEUR (see main route for details).

MAIN ROUTE TO COURMAYEUR

For the TMB high route take the path which you will see on the right about 50m before the bridge. It angles up the vegetated hillside and in a little under 20mins brings you to the ruins of Alpe inférieur de l’Arp Vieille, then more directly up the slope before crossing a stream, and climbing again to Alpe supérieure de l’Arp Vieille (2303m, 13⁄4hrs) – another abandoned building with an outlook across the valley directly onto the Miage glacier. The whole southern face of the Mont Blanc range is being revealed now, and the higher you climb the more of it you see and the more one gains a true impression of the vast scale of these mountains. In the Himalaya one would need to walk for many a long day to capture such a vision as you will see from this high path.

Above Alp supérieure the way rises further to pass above a small pool, then angles leftward up a spur projecting from Mont Favre. Rounding this about 20mins or so above Alp supérieure, you attain the highest point on the walk at 2430m. From here the full sweeping majesty of crag, spire, snow-dome, rockface and nosing glacier that makes up the north wall of the Vals Veni and Ferret is laid before you. Yet this is just one vantage point among many to be visited on the walk to Courmayeur.
Moving on, the path slopes down into a combe, crosses a stream on stepping stones where the water has cut a groove, then rises over a grass bluff to pass another small pool off to the right (a photographer’s delight). Mostly over grass slopes, but sometimes among trees, the path meanders on, passes below Lac Chécrouit, and continues towards Col Chécrouit, which is found at the foot of a minor wooded slope.

COL CHÉCROUIT (1956m, 33⁄4hrs, accommodation, refreshments) is a wonderful location with a view across the valley into the armchair-like hollow known as the Fauteuil des Allemands on the face of the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey, and south through the narrows of Val d’Aosta to outliers of the Gran Paradiso range. Overnight accommodation may be had in the privately owned

RIFUGIO MAISON VIEILLE 50 dortoir places; open from mid-June to end Sept (Tel: 01 65 80 93 99; info@maisonvieille.com; www.maisonvieille.com).

Nearby the slopes have been laced with cableways, and bulldozed pistes scar the hillsides as a direct contrast to the untamed landscapes walked thus far.

---

TMB VARIANTE: COURMAYEUR VIA RIF. MONTE BIANCO

Turn sharp left at the Maison Vieille refuge, and walk across the meadows to where a path leads steeply downhill among trees to a ski-lift in a clearing. Go down the bank, then turn right onto a broad slope running down to the CAI-owned

RIFUGIO MONTE BIANCO (1666m, 41⁄2hrs), accommodation, refreshments; 66 places in dortoirs and beds; manned from June to mid-Sept (Tel: 0165 86 90 97 info@rifugiomontebianco.com).

Here you come onto a road which is followed all the way into the Val Veni, with the Grandes Jorasses and Dent du Géant looking splendid ahead. About 25mins or so beyond the refuge the road is joined by another coming through the valley. Keep right, and 5mins later draw level with the little 19th-century chapel of NOTRE DAME DE LA GUÉRISON (1444m, 43⁄4hrs) opposite the entrance to the Mont Blanc Tunnel.

Curving round the base of Mont Chétif, Val Veni is left behind and you enter the upper reaches of Val d’Aosta. When the road forks, with the left branch crossing the valley to La Saxe, keep on the right-hand option as far as ENTRÉLEVIE (1226m, 51⁄4hrs). Now cross the river (the Doire Baltéa) and the main road, and turn right into Via dei Bagni which leads into

COURMAYEUR – see main route via Dolonne.

---

There are two ways for the walker to proceed from here:

•    descend leftwards to Rifugio Monte Bianco and Notre Dame de la Guérison in the Val Veni, then round the base of Mont Chétif to Courmayeur (see box opposite), or
•    go ahead and right to Plan Chécrouit on tracks and footpaths, then down to Dolonne and Courmayeur (see below).

The first takes a little longer than the second and has more close views of the big mountains, but at the same time has more roadwork to contend with. The Plan Chécrouit/Dolonne option descends at first through ski terrain, but as a ‘plus’ visits Dolonne, which is a truly charming village. This route also gives an opportunity (for those who want it) of a cablecar ride down to the valley.

MAIN ROUTE TO COURMAYEUR VIA DOLONNE

Passing the refuge at Col Chécrouit bear right on a track signed to Dolonne. Shortly come to a junction of tracks and bear right again, and when the track forks about 4mins from Maison Vieille, turn left on a TMB footpath. At first contouring, it then descends a steep slope, peppered with ski machinery, leading to the few buildings of PLAN CHÉCROUIT (1701m) and onto a dirt road. (For cablecar descent to Courmayeur bear left.) Turn right on the road, and 10mins later a TMB waymark sends you left on a footpath shortcut down a grass slope. Rejoin the road and continue downhill. About 50mins from Maison Vieille the dirt road makes a right-hand hairpin, at which point a TMB footpath descends left into woodland. Winding down the steep wooded slope, eventually come onto a narrow tarmac lane just above DOLONNE (1210m, 51⁄4hrs, accommodation, refreshments), an attractive stone-built village with crowded, narrow alleys.

Walk into the village along the Strada Chécrouit, and bear left into the main street (Via Della Vittoria) where it crosses. Take the first narrow street on the right and this will lead out of Dolonne to the road linking the village with Courmayeur across the river. A splendid view shows the Aiguille (or Dent) du Géant soaring above the head of the valley. Walk down the road and across the river, and soon after go beneath the main road and out to a major junction, the Piazzale Monte Bianco, in COURMAYEUR (13) which rises in tiers above you. Both the tourist office and post office are located in the large building ahead on the left. The bus station and public toilets are also on the left, while just ahead there’s a drinking water supply and telephone kiosks. Check at the tourist office for accommodation.

COURMAYEUR (1226m, 51⁄2hrs) hotels, pensions, restaurants, banks, ATM, shops, PTT. Tourist information: AIAT Monte Bianco, Piazzale Monte Bianco 13, Courmayeur (Tel: 01 65 84 20 60; info@aiat-monte-bianco.com; www.aiat-monte-bianco.com) Lower-priced accommodation: Pensione Venezia (Tel: 01 65
84 24 61); Villa Bron (Tel: 01 65 84 23 90) in Villair about 15mins along Stage 5; Hotel Select (Tel: 01 65 84 66 61; select@courmayeurhotel.com;
www.courmayeurhotel.com); Hotel Edelweiss (Tel: 01 65 84 15 90; info@albergoedelweiss.it); Hotel Svizzero (Tel: 01 65 84 81 70; info@hotelsvizzero.com; www.hotelsvizzero.com).

Despite the lively crowds who gather here, Courmayeur has a restful atmosphere, and with the soaring mountain walls blocking the northern horizon, it has an attraction all its own. ‘All the great climbers of the Alps have been at Courmayeur,’ wrote R. L. G. Irving, ‘and probably none has learned to climb there, except the many guides it has produced. It is a haven whence men set out for great adventures and return from them… The turning of the corner out of the deep trough below the great mountain wall, from whichever end of it you come [the Vals Veni or Ferret], brings you into a different world.’

Note i: Should you need to cut short your TMB circuit here, buses run daily through the Mont Blanc Tunnel to Chamonix.

Note ii: If you plan to have a day off in Courmayeur, the weather is clear and you have sufficient funds, consider riding the Funivie Monte Bianco (cablecar) from La Palud to Point Helbronner at 3462m for tremendous high mountain views. It’s then possible to continue by gondola across 5km of the glaciated Vallée Blanche to the Aiguille du Midi (above Chamonix) and back again; a truly memorable experience.