How Difficult Is The
Tour du Mont Blanc?
“Is the TMB easy or hard?” Now that’s a question I’ve been asked a lot since our trek and the answer?
“Yeah/Nah, it depends”…on how much you train, and how well. So how difficult is the Tour du Mont Blanc?
Sure, you could do the walk on minimal training if you liked, but I can be pretty confident you wouldn’t enjoy it much.
TMB ascends and descends 10,000 metres, basically from the valley to summit and back every day, switchback upon switchback, so the more prepared the better the experience.
You can never train too much for anything, and this is definitely true for this magnificent walk through such stunning scenery.
Get miles in the legs, pick walks with plenty of hills, wear your packs for a few weeks before to get used to them, use trekking poles which take an enormous weight off your hamstrings and quads, and get GOOD SHOES!
If I can offer one piece of advice, spend the money and invest in quality hiking boots, it will repay you in spades.
Don’t wear runners! It will rain, and when it does your feet get wet…and when you have wet feet, guess what? You get blisters…and no one ever enjoyed the thrill of an 8 hour walk with razor blades in their shoes.
Walk in your new boots, do some hill repeats…do some more!
Practice going downhill as well as uphill, you’ll spend half the walk doing so and it can be murder on the quads, knees, and hips. Our group trained the house down, but we all agreed that more downhill work would have helped.
Speaking of which, train in a group, enjoy each other’s company; it makes training far more enjoyable.
So, basically…walk, walk and walk some more. Up & down!
Reap the benefits and have an awesome trip.