Across Borders And Mountains: The Tour Du Mount Blanc
The Tour Du Mont Blanc (TMB) is one of Western Europe’s most scenic hiking trails, spanning 103 miles around the 15,766ft tall mountain, Mount Blanc. The route was first pieced together in 1767 by Swiss geologist Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, who circled Mont Blanc in search of a path to its then-unsummited peak.
In September of 2023, Sandro “Spinewalker” Gervasoni hiked the 103 miles of the TMB in nine days, and left with the thought that it was one of the most scenic hikes he’s ever trekked. Spinewalker is an accomplished thru-hiker having completed the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, Colorado Trail, Long Trail, and GR20 in Corsica. Spinewalker is a hiker who’s hard to miss on trail, his quick witted humor and endless stories fill campsites and trail towns with laughter. Very few others have a way of articulating trail life in such a way that has you doubling over from bursting out laughing so hard.
What countries does the TMB pass through?
“On this most famous Alpine loop, one gets to walk 103 miles through three different countries - Italy, France and Switzerland. While these are Alpine communities, they have their cultural differences. Once leaving France into Italy, the bread got worse but the meals got better.”
How many days did you do the TMB in?
“I completed it in nine days which included a “nero” (nearly zero mile day) in Courmayeur, an Italian Alpine resort town with food worth quitting trail for. Most backpackers seemed to be completing the TMB in twelve to sixteen days, but I have met a hiker who did it in seven. The ultra-runners in the Ultra Tour Du Mount Blanc (UTMB) race cover the whole thing in just over nineteen hours, which is either inspiring or deeply upsetting depending on how sore your legs are. The total ascent of the route is 32'687ft with several more challenging alternatives available.”
What was the weather like on the TMB?
“Crazy, especially for September. I started in a heat wave which saw the famous French town of Chamonix at 95°F (35°C), unusually hot for a town at 3,400ft. The nights were sweaty and restless. In one mountain hostel (called "Refuge / Refugio") it was so hot that I used my 1/8 inch sleeping pad as a blanket. The temperature was slightly nicer in the tent, however if the wind changed and came down from the snowy mountains, I’d freeze and quickly switch to my down quilt.”
“One day I’m climbing up a grass covered ski slope, on the verge of heat exhaustion, the next I’m battling a blizzard. I was trying to keep my fingers and toes as warm as possible fighting hypothermia while the wind was trying to push me back to France. Snow drifts were up to my knees. I actually wrapped that same 1/8-inch pad around my torso for insulation, which saved my butt.”
“In the blizzard, with the threat of losing trail, I realized it was too dangerous to continue by myself. In that moment I found a guided group that would have me. I ended up helping the guide once the second guide had to descent with a woman who was overwhelmed by the weather. The wind was relentless. The views were difficult to see with ice blowing into our eyes. My fingers were so stiff to the point I could not operate my mobile phone and towards the end even opening a Ziploc was difficult.”
“This group I joined was the only group that continued. Around fifty hikers turned around. I later met an English and a French gentleman who had weathered through solo. The French gentleman was still in shock saying, “it was the worst thing that had ever happened to me."
The Great Sheep Incident
“Haha, this was a memorable experience. After a long, sweaty climb, I’d stopped at a restaurant near the official start of the TMB, La Fré Mi, to recover from the heat. The owners were very friendly, and the food was delicious. I got vortexed and was given permission to camp next to the restaurant. I was all alone up there on the restaurant veranda to get Wi-Fi signal when a posse of sheep turned up. One sheep was eyeing me constantly for 10 minutes! Then it jumped onto the deck and started creeping toward me. My stomach started to get a bit of an uneasy feeling about this ridiculous situation. I grabbed the chair and put it between myself and the sheep, as a precautionary measure. “What was this sheep’s end goal here?”, I wondered. As it continued to get closer, I stomped on the wooden planks and the startled sheep retreated… only to take it’s anger out on the restaurant’s poor potted flowers. Still eyeing me down. Clearly, an act of dominance. I felt sorry for the restaurant owner’s flowers, but what can you do.”
“That same night at 2am I violently woke to the sound of something sprinting towards my tent! A kind of primal terror swept over me and I braced for a fight - it was hooves! The sheep had come back. It charged a few more times but was gone as fast as it had arrived once I was geared up sufficiently for a potential sheep fight.”
What gear did you carry?
“Since the TMB has minimal food carries between restaurants and refuges, I went ultralight — a 25L Atompacks Atom frameless pack, 20°F down quilt (30F is my recommendation if hiking in August) and a X-Mid Pro one-person tent. I left my cooking stove at home as there were multiple chances a day to splurge at mountain restaurants. And you can bet that’s definitely happening when I’m hiking 3,500ft of elevation gain every day. “
Is a cell phone worn weight or base weight?
Worn weight is weight from what you wear on your body, like clothes. Base weight is the weight of your pack. Hikers debate whether a cell phone that you carry in your shorts pocket or in your hip belt pocket is worn weight or base weight as hikers pride themselves on having the lowest base weight.
“Base weight. The only valid exception is carrying it in your prison wallet :-) ”
What’s your favorite hiking memory?
“Hiking north from Timberline Lodge in Oregon on the Pacific Crest Trail. Wildfires in Northern California had us leaping ahead after days of worrying about reroutes and locations of trail closures. To avoid one fire in Oregon, we took the Eagle Creek Trail alternate into Cascade Locks which was just stunning, so many waterfalls!”
“There's been so many unforgettable days on trail spent enjoying the scenery and comradery of other hikers. On one particular day my hiking buddy and I took a lunch break at a lake where a curious crustacean wandered over, probably attracted by our tuna lunch. We named him “Bacon” after the flower of the tuna packets we were eating and introduced him to the trail family. Everyone watched him fight off the other crustaceans who began to turn up attracted to the tuna. It was trail TV at it’s finest.”
You can follow Spinewalker on his website Spinewalker.net or Instagram @spinewalker