TMB Day 1: Planpraz to Les Houches - June 2023

After having arrived in Chamonix, France the night prior and gathering some food at the SuperU near our hotel at RockyPop Chamonix, it was time to get a short day hike in ahead of our scheduled trip to come the following day. This day hike filled in the remainder of the Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB) that our scheduled route did not cover, so that we could say we completed the TMB vs. having completed 90% of the loop. Given we opted for an aggressive, 6 day route through Altitude Mont Blanc, it was necessary to tackle approximately 9 miles and 2,000 feet of vertical gain on this day, before using our shuttle service for the remainder of our 7 day trip. You can see the section that is not highlighted in red that we needed to hike to complet the loop below.

Photo from Altitude Mont Blanc describing the 6 day route. Note the service does not include hiking from Les Houches to Planpraz, thus the need for this hike on Day 1.

Logistics

We flew into Geneva the day prior and met before using Flixbus to take a 1.5 hour bus ride into Chamonix. Our hotel, RockyPop Chamonix, sat between Les Houches and Chamonix, but was very accessible using public transportation. Our official start location on Day 2 was at Planpraz in Chamonix, which is a large gondola that carries hikers and rock climbers up a few thousand feet closer to the mountains. We decided to use this same gondola and hike the opposite direction we would be hiking the remainder of the trip (clockwise vs. counter clockwise) in order to save our legs and avoid the ~5,000 feet of gaining that would have been required had we started in Les Houches instead. To arrive at Planpraz, we took the bus from our hotel (Le Pont) to Mummery using the Red Line of the Chamonix Bus Network. From there, we needed to walk uphill to the gondola and await the opening time of 8:30. The gondola ticket was 17 euros per person, one way. It was an enclosed ride with magnificent views of the Mont Blanc Massif. From there, we largely followed the AllTrails route from mile marker 91.7 to the official start/finish sign in Les Houches.

Hiking

After taking some time to take in the views of the Massif, we decided it was time to start our short day hike. Day 1 consisted of more route finding and map review than the remainder of the days as we adjusted to the signage of the TMB. To add to the logistical overhead, portions of this day contained quite a bit of snow for mid-June. We knew this was a possibility and had each packed our micro spikes just in case, but we found ourselves quickly in need of their use as we ascended towards Le Brévent at 8,284’ and a prominence of 515’. The first challenge of the trip would be navigating the Col du Brévent in the snow. This Col was not overly exposed, however there was quite a bit of snow to navigate. Thankfully we started hiking as early as we could get on the gondola, and the snow was still relatively reliable. You can get a sense for the snow below.

Our first use of our micro spikes hiking towards Le Brévent from Planpraz.

The remainder of the path from this point forward to the summit of Le Brévent at would contain patches of snow that we navigated with our micro spikes. There were a few sections with increased exposure where focus and caution was required, however all-in-all it did not impede our ability to tackle the first third of our hike. Once having summited Le Brévent, we enjoyed new views of the Massif, watched hang gliders in the Chamonix Valley, and prepared ourselves for the major descent into Les Houches.

Hang gliders in the Chamonix Valley from our viewpoint at Le Brévent.

The initial descent from Le Brévent provided alpine views with frozen lakes, rocky terrain, and animal sightings including an Ibex. After navigating this terrain, along with some more snow, we eventually made our way into the forest. From here, the trail provided some much needed shade as the daytime temperatures approached the low 70s. We stopped to enjoy a remarkable view and grab a quick snack on our way down. This was one of the best views of the entire week and it was great to spend a little extra time soaking it in!

One of my favorite views overlooking Les Houches and Mont Blanc while enjoying an early lunch break.

From here, the miles came easy as we descended down into Les Houches and laid eyes on the official start and finish point of the Tour du Mont Blanc. This symbolized our primary reference point for the remainder of the trip as our shuttle service was centered around taking us from Planpraz to this point in the opposite direction. We now were in a position to complete the entire loop, assuming we could hike the remaining 6 days without issues. After having taken in the reality of the upcoming days and the significance of reaching our destination, we ate a late lunch at La Chavanne, which is the restaurant directly across the road from the TMB starting/finishing sign.

The official start/finish location of the Tour du Mont Blanc.

Photography

I took all of the photos shown here with my iPhone 12 Pro.