Brian Rowland

Solo 4 day attempt of the Tour De Month Blanc on opening day of the 2024 season.

Day 0: chamonix

Built in a down day in Chamonix to relax, source any last-minute items and gather trail condition information from La Chamoniarde.

Day 1: Les Houches – Les Chapieux

Woke up to misty rain and clouds hanging out in the valley. 7am start from Les Houches with a small 1,800ft climb first thing woke the body up. Came down into Bissony and spent a few miles on the road into Les Contamines.

Rain cleared as I left town and headed towards Col Bonhomme, moving quickly uphill. Snow started around 2,000m, spikes came out and Col Bonhomme presented the first real challenge, encountering much more snow than expected. Continued apx. 5 miles in snow, using the man made slides as much as possible on the decent.

Long windy decent into Les Chapieux for the first night. First signs of knee pain presented in the last 2 miles of the decent. Shoes and socks soaked through.

No reception or wifi at the refuge was a welcome treat. Unexpectedly enjoyed the best hot shower and water pressure I’ve experienced in a long time. Ate communal dinner in the refuge with the ~2 dozen of us staying at Refuge de la Nova Groups small and large (some solo like me, some guided), with different iteniraries (4 to 11 days) from all over the world (Brits, Aussies, French, Italian, Japanese).

Day 2: Les Chapieux – Courmayer

Woke at 6am to pounding rain with no end in sight. No time to waste, that’s why I brought good rain gear. Packed, had a quick breakfast and was the first from the refuge out the door. First 5 miles of the day was a steady climb up a dead-end road to La Ville des Glaciers where the switchbacks began. After a 4 mi 2,500ft climb I was at the top of Col Seigne, crossing into Italy and feeling strong and warm, but that was about to change. The decent was slow, slippery and long. Gloves and feet were soaked, and a chill started to set in as a storm rolled in. Moved as fast as I could to try to get warm through exertion and elevation loss. Finally regained feeling in my fingers below Rifugio Elizabetta at the base of Mont Blanc (which still hadn’t shown her face yet).

Then came what might have been unknowingly the most consequential decision at a fork in the road. Two options: (1) take a left down the well paved low valley road or (2) take a right, head straight uphill ~1,500ft and traverse across the hillside opposite Mont Blanc on the classic TMB route. I chose Option 2 and was rewarded with mind numbing views across the valley as the clouds moved in and out, several no-fall zones (hopefully my mom isn’t reading this) and crossing paths with plenty of middle-aged Italian men out on ‘casual’ trail runs.

The pain in my left knee and right ankle picked up as I got to the top of the Courmayer ski resort, perfect timing since I only had 3,500ft decent into town and then a 2,500ft climb back out to get to Refugio Bertone. Had a quick pizza (and a focaccia in town – another mistake) and then began the climb to Bertone. By the time I made it in I was hoping for the best with my knee and ankle but knew something was wrong.

Day 3: Courmayer – Champex Lac

Somehow was given a room with a perfect view of Mont Blanc from bed and woke to a perfect blue sky day. Ankle and knee had both stiffened overnight and besides the perfect weather, it was looking like it would be a painful day. As expected the pain and the views were correlated and after the first hundred yards it was looking like an unreasonably beautiful day.

Continued for ~4mi and 2hrs towards Rifugio Bonnatti, then down onto the valley floor and knew this was the end of the road (figuratively and literally). With ~20mi remaining in the day including a 5mi 3,000ft climb up to Col Ferret followed by ~5,000ft of slow and steady decent, the level of pain combined with the fact that I wan’t moving fast enough or with enough confidence forced me to stop the effort. Sitting and waiting at a bus stop in real physical pain, in the middle of the day when I should have been pushing through a col wasn’t exactly how I planned day 3 to go, but it is how it went. I’ll be back one day to complete the entire loop!

A Belgian hiker I met at Bertone named Eliza asked me what drew me to trail running instead of hiking, and to be honest, I hadn’t thought very much about it up to that point, it was just something I knew I enjoyed. This trip made me realize that the lighter, faster, more agile you are, the closer you are to the environment around you and the deeper the appreciation for what we are all capable of without the braces and crutches of daily life. When you strip down your pack to just the bare necessities it relieves a burden that for me feels more mental than physical. A day comprised with a singular focus (move from point A to point B) is rare these days for me. Modern life forces us to combat constant distractions, always keeping us on edge. These 2.5 days on the trail may have been physically demanding, but life became incredibly simple.

I told myself before I started that I would take what the mountains gave me. They gave me two long beautiful days, some new friends each on their own adventures and plenty of appreciation for the size and scale of this mountain range. They also gave me a strong desire to return as soon as possible with a stronger body and some valuable lessons learned.

Day 4 (Campex lac – chamonix)

N/A. Next time….