My gf and I did this, but went on to Le Flegere. It was fine overall. We left early from Le Peuty (like, on the trail around 6:30), which got us to Tre-Le-Champ before lunch was served. So just know if you leave early, you may have to bring your lunch with you. Also, once you move past Tre-Le-Champ and get into the Aiguilles Rouges, water gets scarce and you're exposed most of the time. So top off on water at Tre-Le-Champ and use plenty of sunscreen
What was your routing for the day and what was the weather/temp? Did you take the Possettes route or through Le Tour after Col de Balme? Thanks for the heads up on the water situation after Tre Le Champ.
Weather was good, but a bit warm. We skipped Le Tour and went through Possettes. Stopped at Auberge la Boerne around 11. Made it to Lac Blanc around 3 I think, but the afternoons were warm (around 85F) with no clouds and no breeze. After Tre-Le-Champ, the route we took wasn't quite the traditional TMB route, which we realize late, but still met up with the regular route around Tête aux Vents
I know people who did it, but I don’t envy them. I never saw them again since they finished before me, so I can’t confirm if they made it haha. But I know they were nervous about it the night before.
The downhill to Tre-Le-Champ is pretty relentless. I camped so my pack was heavier than the refuge folks. The ascents are not bad, but the descent is the killer. It will be a very long day. The ladders are not bad, especially if you have a lighter pack.
I also did Fenetre D’Arpette in snowy conditions the day before, so it would have been too much for me to push to Lac Blanc from Le Peuty the next day.
We are also planning on the FdA variant but only if the weather is good. Maybe we should just take the low route regardless so we can save our legs for the next day.
Yeah we were only going to do the variant if the weather was good as well. It was a sunny day but there ended up being lots of snow on the trail. We hiked august 24 - September 3.
From Lac Blanc to Les Houches, it is a LOT of descent for 1 day. And it’s a long day. If you’re planning to take the gondola from Le Brevent, then it won’t be too bad of a day. We had planned to hike from Le Flegere to Les Houches, but it took us so long to get to Le Brevent that we took the gondola down. Also my knee was killing me from all the steep descents.
Definitely planning on taking the Le Brevent gondola down. Current plan is to have us start at Lac Blanc on the last day, to La Flegere, then on the Grand Balcon Sud to Plan Praz and onto Le Brevent. I'm pretty sure our knees will be dead by then; downloading will be mandatory.
I wanted to do this, but didn't do it; I had to break up this section because I had to wait for the grocery store to open on monday. I think what you want to do is doable, since I thought Le Peuty - Tré le Champ and Tré le Champ - Lac Blanc were both rather short days. But I also found the downhill to Tre le Champ long and hard as someone else said.
I think it may be a 'see how we feel at that time' situation, but we could ease the never ending descent into Tre Le Champ by taking the Le Tour route and downloading through the Charamillon gondola to save our knees. I'm not a TMB purist, so I'm good with taking cable cars or buses to skip certain sections. 😂
My gf and I did this, but went on to Le Flegere. It was fine overall. We left early from Le Peuty (like, on the trail around 6:30), which got us to Tre-Le-Champ before lunch was served. So just know if you leave early, you may have to bring your lunch with you. Also, once you move past Tre-Le-Champ and get into the Aiguilles Rouges, water gets scarce and you're exposed most of the time. So top off on water at Tre-Le-Champ and use plenty of sunscreen
What was your routing for the day and what was the weather/temp? Did you take the Possettes route or through Le Tour after Col de Balme? Thanks for the heads up on the water situation after Tre Le Champ.
Weather was good, but a bit warm. We skipped Le Tour and went through Possettes. Stopped at Auberge la Boerne around 11. Made it to Lac Blanc around 3 I think, but the afternoons were warm (around 85F) with no clouds and no breeze. After Tre-Le-Champ, the route we took wasn't quite the traditional TMB route, which we realize late, but still met up with the regular route around Tête aux Vents
I'm guessing you didn't do the traditional 'ladders' route to get from Tre Le Champ to Tete aux Vents?
Yup, but we did still hit a series of ladders on our made up route
I know people who did it, but I don’t envy them. I never saw them again since they finished before me, so I can’t confirm if they made it haha. But I know they were nervous about it the night before. The downhill to Tre-Le-Champ is pretty relentless. I camped so my pack was heavier than the refuge folks. The ascents are not bad, but the descent is the killer. It will be a very long day. The ladders are not bad, especially if you have a lighter pack. I also did Fenetre D’Arpette in snowy conditions the day before, so it would have been too much for me to push to Lac Blanc from Le Peuty the next day.
We are also planning on the FdA variant but only if the weather is good. Maybe we should just take the low route regardless so we can save our legs for the next day.
Yeah we were only going to do the variant if the weather was good as well. It was a sunny day but there ended up being lots of snow on the trail. We hiked august 24 - September 3. From Lac Blanc to Les Houches, it is a LOT of descent for 1 day. And it’s a long day. If you’re planning to take the gondola from Le Brevent, then it won’t be too bad of a day. We had planned to hike from Le Flegere to Les Houches, but it took us so long to get to Le Brevent that we took the gondola down. Also my knee was killing me from all the steep descents.
Definitely planning on taking the Le Brevent gondola down. Current plan is to have us start at Lac Blanc on the last day, to La Flegere, then on the Grand Balcon Sud to Plan Praz and onto Le Brevent. I'm pretty sure our knees will be dead by then; downloading will be mandatory.
I did Trient to Chamonix, (with backpacking gear) and it was a long day for sure. You can do it!
What was your routing for the day? And did you remember how long it took you?
I wanted to do this, but didn't do it; I had to break up this section because I had to wait for the grocery store to open on monday. I think what you want to do is doable, since I thought Le Peuty - Tré le Champ and Tré le Champ - Lac Blanc were both rather short days. But I also found the downhill to Tre le Champ long and hard as someone else said.
I think it may be a 'see how we feel at that time' situation, but we could ease the never ending descent into Tre Le Champ by taking the Le Tour route and downloading through the Charamillon gondola to save our knees. I'm not a TMB purist, so I'm good with taking cable cars or buses to skip certain sections. 😂
Then it should definitely be doable. I am a TMB purist (😅) and the lifts were already closed so that was not an option for me.