Here, as others have done elsewhere, we start by recommending Kev Reynolds guide Tour of Mont Blanc (new edition out Jan 2012), which provides excellent detail of the route and it’s variations. Our aim here is not to replace this in any way, but rather augment it with an account of the route accomplished not in eleven days, but in less than five, for those people who are more time challenged or just want an uprated workout.
Our trip might have been less than half of the normal hike time, but it doesn’t even begin to challenge Kilian Jornet Burgada’s 2011 winning time of 20:36:43 in the UTMB, which we think is just plain staggering. The competitors might be fully supported and have to carry less than 40% of our pack weight, but they are still totally amazing!
We completed the Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB) in an anticlockwise direction in 4 days and 20 hours, of which 53 hours were spent walking (including numerous water breaks), 7 hours eating or resting during the day and 56 hours overnighting.
The two of us (Daren Packham, David Foster) were in good health and at different ends of our forties, are regular runners and are well used to hills. We were both Boy Scouts when younger and as such welcome any donations in support of the Clive Packham Memorial Fund, a registered charity which exists to aid Scouts of West Sussex to travel on their way to, or as part of, an adventurous expedition. Any spontaneous donations, however small, are welcomed and based on a 20 year history of encouraging and empowering young people, will be well used.
There are three sections:
1. A narrative of the trip, in the hope of providing useful insight
2. Things to consider, including the rough contents of our packs
3. The trip statistics by day, albeit in only broad terms since our Garmin ran out of power
Ours was a life-affirming trip and we hope that yours will be too!
