The overall route rises more than 10,000m cumulatively, falls an equal height and covers about 108 miles (173km) distance, but since our Garmin ran out of battery-power half way round, the following figures are only broad indicators of distance and time, using the main elevations along the path.
The table below captures our trip in outline form.
| Day | From, to | Rough distance | Height gained | Height lost | Time spent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day one: Monday night | Les Houches to Col du Bonhomme | 19 miles | 1885m | 560m | 8 hours 20 minutes |
| Day one continued: Tuesday | Col du Bonhomme to Rif Maison Vieille | 23 miles | 1595m | 1970m | 10 hours 45 minutes (excl 1hr lunch & 1.5hrs rest) |
| Day two: Wednesday | Rif Maison Vieille to Rif Elena | 16 miles | 1100m | 985m | 7 hours 30 minutes (excl 1hr lunch) |
| Day three: Thursday | Rif Elena to Ref Le Peuty | 26 miles | 1645m | 2355m | 13 hours (excl 30mins breakfast, 1hr lunch and 1hr dinner) |
| Day four: Friday | Ref Le Peuty to Ref La Flégère | 13 miles | 1575m | 1030m | 6 hours 30 minutes (excl 30mins breakfast & 1hr lunch) |
| Day five: Saturday | Ref La Flégère to Les Houches | 11 miles | 715m | 1680m | 6 hours 30 minutes (excl 1hr drink / view break) |
Starting at 8pm on Monday evening and finishing at 4pm on Saturday afternoon, our trip was 4 days and 20 hours in total (116 hours), of which around 53 hours was spent walking (including numerous water breaks) and 7 hours stopped for food & daytime rest.
It is instructive that, irrespective of the incline or decline of the path or the distance covered, our average speed declined during the week from 2.3mph the first night, to 2.1mph on Tuesday & Wednesday, to 2mph on Thursday & Friday and finally to 1.7mph on Saturday when I was favouring an aggravating knee injury and we no longer had the time pressure that is associated with uncertainty.
The course is marked off by time rather than distance and our 1.7mph pace was about right for the times in the Kev Reynolds guide book.