A great test for the relationship

Trail Mt Blanc, play by play

Trail Mt Blanc, the data, locations and learnings. Let’s get into it.

Day 1

Chamonix Church to Les Contamines 

Distance - 34.22 km

Elevation - 1,471 m

Elapsed Time - 4:55:05

The first point I will make is that we made the full UTMB loop. For Michelle this was a non negotiable. For many looking to do this adventure, it’s common to start at Les Houches or even St Gervais. But no, and these are Michelle’s words - “If we’re going to do it, we’re going to do the full thing”. No offence to those that took the soft option… 

This first day was the gentlest of the four. 

Sometimes the hill between Les Houches and St Gervais is not even taken into consideration when racing UTMB. But it should. It’s still a hell of a climb (1000ish metres), but it’s the downhill that gets you.  The downhill meanders down a fairly steep ski slope. A real quad killer. But then the course levels out at the bottom as you pass through the town of St Gervais. Proceeding up the valley, through gradual climbs that undulate up towards Les Contamines. We ran into Vic Johnson (sports nutritionist to Rod Farvard - second place getter at Western States) and we shared nutrition chat and stories with him. It’s important to appreciate these moments and appreciate that our sport allows bumping into like minded individuals all over the world and randomly sharing the trails with them. 

Dinner at Les Contamines - Pizza and pastries

Day 2

Les Contamines to Courmayeur

Distance - 53.50 km

Elevation - 3,301 m

Elapsed Time - 10:42:26

Breakfast - A beautiful spread of everything we needed from home stay À la Ferme du Champelet

We knew this would be a big day. And it was. Leaving Les Contamines we were straight into our first big climb, up and over to Les Chapieux. 

Everything seemed fine and dandy, but we knew we couldn’t muck around. We put some consideration in it, but there was no time for a coffee at the Refuge Col de la Croix du Bonhomme. We pushed on and made good time up over Col de la Seigne. Amazing views of the Alps from these trails. Again we were able to share some stories with a group of guys gunning it across on their UTMB recce. One actually worked for Adidas France so that was a nice connection to make. Michelle wanted to do the whole hog of the UTMB so instead of the cruisy trail down to Lac Combal we veered up to the most technical section of the course - The Pyramids (Another 2,500+ m summit). It definitely proved technical. There was still snow covering the track and parts. Thankfully my Leki poles were put to good use (better than my shoddy pole technique) to ensure a safer crossing, than just relying on our shoes alone. Coming down past Elisabetta we could certainly feel the day in our legs and I made up stories of “it’s not too far to go… etc”. Michelle was definitely feeling it and so was I. It was a bit of a drudge to get the rest of the way to Courmayeur. That descent goes on and on, but we made it. We stayed at Hotel Centrale. Michelle put her legs up and I went and got food!

Dinner: Two big pizzas

Day 3

Courmayeur to La Fouly

Distance - 39.39km

Elevation - 2,730 m

Elapsed Time - 6:40:58

Breakfast: Pancakes, pastries, cold cheese and hams, coffee - we got through a lot. And grabbed some things for the trails

Despite cresting one of the highest Cols on the course, this would be an easier day. With that thought in mind, I took off up the CCC course for a bit of a recce (longer route). Michelle took my bag and went directly up the UTMB course to Refuge Betone (shorter route). The CCC route is not only longer but starts off with a helluva climb (Tête de la Tronche up to 2,500m+) and down towards Betone. Michelle beat me there by about 40 mins. We then carried on together on what is my favourite section of the course. Along the balcony, past Refuge Bonatti drawing closer to Grand Col Ferret. Just writing Col Ferret brings a flashback to last year's UTMB. An absolutely menacing climb, done at the back end of the night. It seemed like a nightmare at the time. 

But, on this day Michelle and I got to enjoy blue skies and more company up the climb. It was great to get in a much more positive experience, especially sharing this with Michelle and new friends. 

Sacha, a 4:40 1,500m guy, was feeling the previous two days of his TMB loop a bit. His downhilling provided a good rabbit for Michelle and we really got rolling into the long descent into La Fouly. In our conversations we discovered mutual friends. It’s a small world, cliche as it is, but for sure the running world is a lot smaller. Arriving into La Fouly really lifted spirits. We had plenty of time to chill out in the afternoon and meet some of our bunk mates. Interestingly we met a doctor who wrote the obituary for Joss Naylor (the King of Fells) who only recently passed away at the age of 88. The TMB is a great place to meet new people. 

Dinner: Put on by the refuge (Dinner and brekky included, called half board) - Potatoes, Beans, Ham (rolled up to look fancy), sauce.

Day 4

La Fouly to Chamonix

Distance - 63.66km

Elevation - 3,142 m

Elapsed Time - 12:40:49

Breakfast: Nothing fancy but plenty of bread, cheese, muesli, coffee

No matter what we decided to do on this day, it would be long. Our original thinking was to go from La Fouly to Montets leaving 15km for the last (5th) day. It was on the back of our minds that getting to Montets it would be tempting to knock the bastard off and finish the thing in four days. We decided we would make a decision when the time came.

The previous day and morning of our 4th day there was a lot of chat at the refuge about a storm coming in at midday. In this situation an early start is a good idea. But we needed breakfast to fuel the body, especially as our Precision Fuel was running low. Post-brekky we took off for our earliest start of the tour. We made good time down the valley and then for the climb up to the beautiful Champex Lac township. 

In a crazy twist of events we caught up with fellow Refuge members who had taken the bus from La Fouly - more haste less speed or something like that. The rain came in during the next section up to Bovine, I took out the adidas Terrex gore tex lightweight jacket. It didn’t rain for long, but the jacket kept me bone dry underneath. We just kept on trucking along and as it turned out we beat the worst of the weather. Sometimes those earlier starts pay off. 

The rest of the day was filled with the famous pink church in Trient. A fleeting visit. Not so much a spiritual experience, but more so a satisfaction for ticking off another course milestone. 

Into the steepest climb and descent into Vallorcine we were dwelling on our decision to push on and complete the loop. 

Cons:

• Four days of accumulative fatigue

• Running low on fuel

• Missing all the Chamonix bakeries because they would likely be closed on arrival

Pros:

• Completing the loop in 4 days rather than 5

• A relaxing day the next day

Pros won. We pushed on up the Montée de la Tête aux Vents climb. The more brutal but scenic TMB route to Chamonix. I’m downplaying events by saying Michelle had certainly had enough by La Flagere and the final 7km descent to the finish at the Chamonix church. I went back to my old tricks of “it’s not far now” and counting down the kms for her (I had forgotten Michelle’s watch charger, so she was running blind - this was an unhappy discovery on day one).

Coming into Chamonix it was like UTMB all over again. Minus the crowds. In a symbolic gesture, we shuffled down the final stretch as the church bells tolled at 7pm. It was a long day, but we made it. Michelle crushed it and proud is an understatement. No matter how long you take on this loop it’s going to chew you up and spit you out. Completing it in four days was absolutely massive. There were highs and lows, but the highs were over arching and the memories created will always stick with us. I can only recommend this adventure. Just be prepared and find someone that is comfortable with being uncomfortable with you. Happy adventuring and thanks for reading through.