If these lunatics did it, so can you
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My father was 72 years old when he did the TMB with me the first time I hiked it. He hiked the entire 170km in Teva hiking sandals, but then he has run a dozen half-marathons and marathons in Five Fingers as well, so he's pretty rad that way. We quickly established that hiking and trekking in the Alps is our favorite place to spend quality time together, and we know it well now. We hiked it anti-clockwise, which is the traditional way the TMB is done, and we divided up the variants between us, so that we could have a good knowledge of the various ways you can complete the TMB. If you have questions about variants, I can be a good resource.
When my girlfriend and I did the TMB most recently, we did it clockwise. It's completely different when you hike it clockwise; generally first thing in the morning, you're all alone, then around lunchtime it gets really busy - you'll be passing dozens of hikers going the other way. Later in the day, it's really quiet again. So if you like hiking alone, clockwise is the way to go. It's also a different way to hike, so you hit some of the refuges at different times than when you're hiking the other way; some of them may be closed or not serving food during certain times of the day, as we found out. One day we ended up eating nothing but a can of Pringles and some M&Ms to carry us for several miles - that was a lesson in planning! So if you're weighing options, again, I can help.
A word of advice; when you hike it clockwise, the conventional wisdom is to start in Champex, because the first day is really flat that way, and you have some time to work yourself into trail shape. We started in Chamonix when we hiked it, and leaving out of Les Houches to Le Brevent means the first five hours of your day will be a big elevation; you'll put in 1,500m (5,000ft) of elevation before lunch. So our first day when we hiked to lac Blanc was 27km and 2,200m (7,200ft) of elevation - that's a BIG day. Like several of the variants, if you're planning to make lac Blanc a part of your trip (and I highly recommend you do), you'll need to plan your accommodations, meal stops, and distances to make everything fit. It's a bit like Tetris.
When my girlfriend and I did the TMB most recently, we did it clockwise. It's completely different when you hike it clockwise; generally first thing in the morning, you're all alone, then around lunchtime it gets really busy - you'll be passing dozens of hikers going the other way. Later in the day, it's really quiet again. So if you like hiking alone, clockwise is the way to go. It's also a different way to hike, so you hit some of the refuges at different times than when you're hiking the other way; some of them may be closed or not serving food during certain times of the day, as we found out. One day we ended up eating nothing but a can of Pringles and some M&Ms to carry us for several miles - that was a lesson in planning! So if you're weighing options, again, I can help.
A word of advice; when you hike it clockwise, the conventional wisdom is to start in Champex, because the first day is really flat that way, and you have some time to work yourself into trail shape. We started in Chamonix when we hiked it, and leaving out of Les Houches to Le Brevent means the first five hours of your day will be a big elevation; you'll put in 1,500m (5,000ft) of elevation before lunch. So our first day when we hiked to lac Blanc was 27km and 2,200m (7,200ft) of elevation - that's a BIG day. Like several of the variants, if you're planning to make lac Blanc a part of your trip (and I highly recommend you do), you'll need to plan your accommodations, meal stops, and distances to make everything fit. It's a bit like Tetris.