Best Tour du Mont Blanc route?

[AlanG]

In ten days time I'll be setting out on a Tour du Mont Blanc with some friends. We are definitely going clockwise from Chamonix and taking four days.
Is there a "Goldilocks" route that has neither too much road nor too much hike-a-bike?! At present we are planning on this:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/1592199
Is it really a carry from Col du Forclaz across to the Route du Champex? Is this route via Lac du Roseland/Col de la Gittaz better than the more direct Cols du Bonhomme?
Thanks, Alan

[jameso]

Hi Alan, by taking that route up the Roseland you do miss the tough but pretty climb to the Notre Dame des Gorges (past refuge La Balme) then some carrying and riding before a HAB up the Bonhomme but you also miss the descent that takes in the Crete Gites, remembered as one of the best bits of trail I've ridden in the Alps. Genuine dry-mouth, laugh out loud nervously at the end sort of stuff after trying to ride it at speed. The climb up the Roseland is nice enough but I was on a road bike when I did it : ) and whether the Crete is worth the carry I'm not sure, i'd say so but others might not agree.

Crete Gites -


Trail before it, after the Bonhomme -

[jameso]

.. has to be said, your route from Contamines to the Lac Roseland does look good and brings you onto the road near the top.

[AlanG]

Thanks James. From your description it sounds like you went anti-clockwise. Would it work clockwise? I don't mind a bit of uphill hike-a-bike but want to avoid extended downhill carrying.

[jameso]

Apolgies, I read clockwise then posted based on going the other way round - ignore my comments on the Crete. 'RTFM' to self. The Bonhomme that way would be a very tricky descent and a carry down in places, plus a section after the open meadow that's tricky but not beyond normal alpine tech. Getting up to it would also be a long slog. Given the choice knowing only one option the other way I'd go for your route there. The track above the Roseland looks much better for climbing on.

We passed through the area on the GR5-based ride. Used TMB trail southward between Les Houches and top of the Cornet Roseland. I've ridden the Col Joy / Nant Rouge area around that part of your route during a trip to Chamonix, then descended the Gorge de Notre Dame. Good riding in that area, nothing silly.

[gairym]

Alan, I'm just away but have a few bits to add so will message when I'm home tomorrow with more than passing intermittent t'interweb connection.

[boxelder]

When we did it (previous century.....), the highlight for me was staying at the Bonhomme https://www.google.com/maps/place/Refug ... 7?hl=en-GB
The descent from there was fantastic (except for Chris who'd tried to fettle his disc brake and dumped all the fluid)
It's the bit jameso is talking about I think. Don't remember the HAB being too bad - certainly worth it. We had been drinking in the village at the bottom though.
We went clockwise and from the Bonhomme hut, descended N to Plan de Dames. I can probably the route for you.

[AlanG]

Good news that you enjoyed the Col du Bonhomme going clockwise. You Lakes boys are a bit handy at the technical stuff though! I would prefer to go that way to stay closer to the proper route and I've been the Lac Roseland way before.
However I have just discovered from someone who was there last week that there is still tons of snow on the route.
http://www.autourdumontblanc.com/en/ind ... tions.html
If Gairym could confirm this we can start working on plan B, the Chemins du Soleil from Lake Geneva.

[Alpinum]

Good news that you enjoyed the Col du Bonhomme going clockwise. You Lakes boys are a bit handy at the technical stuff though! I would prefer to go that way to stay closer to the proper route and I've been the Lac Roseland way before.
However I have just discovered from someone who was there last week that there is still tons of snow on the route.
http://www.autourdumontblanc.com/en/ind ... tions.html
If Gairym could confirm this we can start working on plan B, the Chemins du Soleil from Lake Geneva.

I was about to point out that you'd have to embrace lots of snowfields. Besides hikr.ch and gipfelbuch.ch I tend to go by webcams from the area pretty much the hole year through. We just had some snow down to 1500m last week.

Chemins du soleil vtt looks like a great alternative!

If you're looking for a plan c, I've got a ca. 320 km route from Basel to Geneva through the Jura. A rather technical 320 km though.

[Alpinum]

If you haven't already come across it, check geoportail.fr for the carte topo (called IGN). A handy online resource

[AlanG]

Thanks Gian. The CdS to Grenoble was what we originally had planned to do on this trip before it morphed into the TMB, so plan B is actually plan A!
http://www.visugpx.com/?i=1372759738
It looks like a great four day trip and it never goes above 1500m so should be completely snow free.

[voodoo_simon]

Saw on a Facebook a video at 2000m from Friday, looked like Scottish winter conditions

[AlanG]

I rode this last week over four days in beautiful hot, sunny weather and thought it was absolutely fantastic. Highlights were the Col de Grand Ferret which was incredibly spectacular with a very technical "don't fall off" sort of descent and Col de la Seigne which was much more fast and flowing. These both had a few patches of snow left, mainly on the climbs. We decided not to do the Cols du Bonhomme and Croix de la Bonhomme as walkers were reporting up to three hours of walking in snow which would have been mainly on our descents. Instead we took the Cormet du Roseland and the Col de la Gittaz which was good and really quiet after the busy trails of the walkers route.
In answer to my own question about the route from Col du Forclaz to Champex, there is a lot of hike-a-bike (50%) but it is totally worth it for the views. One thing to be aware of is just after the Chalet de Bovine, we took the higher track to the right which was marked on my 1991 map (and GPX track) as the TMB but which has since been replaced by an easier track which is signposted TMB. The way we took included a steep, rocky, overgrown and little used 300m descent which would be best avoided especially in the wet.
Overall a great route, a must do trip.

[Dave Barter]

We decided not to do the Cols du Bonhomme and Croix de la Bonhomme as walkers were reporting up to three hours of walking in snow which would have been mainly on our descents.

How long did it take for the others to win the argument against you.....

[gairym]

Sound route choices and you're lucky you rode it last week as it's hoofing it down now!

Looking forward to 'researching' some alternative TMB route options later in the summer.