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Day 0
Vallorcine (1260m): The day before the first day of our trip we spend at
the Hôtel des Voyageurs, Plan de
l'Envers, F-74660 Vallorcine, a cool place owned by a friend of
mine, Bernd Schülke. He operated
the Des Voyageurs Mountaineering Services from there and was
happy to organize and run any customized Skiing, Snowboarding,
Telemarking, Ice or Rock climbing activity for you.
Day 1 At about 10:30 a.m. we're leaving Vallorcine (1260m) together with
Mike who accompanies us as far as the Col des Montets
(1461m) making the pace. We simply follow the road (N506) to
Argentière (1244m), Les Praz de
Chamonix (1062m), Chamonix (1034m),
Les Bossons (1012m) and Les
Houches (1008m), where we turn left at the Hôtel
Slalom to follow the Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB/E2).
We decided to take this fast
route because we travel fairly light and we want to make sure
to travel in good weather. If we were caught in
really bad weather really high up we would end up wearing
most of what we're carrying. We weren't far from it as we would see
on a day trip to Aosta by car which took us over the the Col du Grand St. Bernhard (2464m)
the day after our round trip when it had 10cm of fresh snow. Usually
you would join the TMB shortly after the Col des Montets to ride
via Hôtel La Flégère
(1877m) and Col du Brévent (2368m) to Les
Houches.
The ascent up to Col de Voza (1653m)
leads over La Friaz (1329m). From the col we have a
nice descent via Bionnassay to Bionnay (929m)
where we go along the TMB again towards Le Champel,
La Villette, La Gruvaz,
Tresse den Bas (Le Quy) and finally Les
Contamines-Monjoie (1164m). In Le Lay
we turn off the TMB and follow the little gravel road up to the
Col du Joly (1989m) alongside the
Télécabine. The following descent to Beaufort is
by far the longest on the tour: Le Planay - Belleville - Les
Près - Annuit - Hauteluce - Les Curtillets -
Beaufort. We make a total of 78km during the 1st
day. In Beaufort we drop into the first place we come along at
7 p.m.: Hôtel Mont Blanc (somewhat basic, bike clothes no
problem, double FF 300.-).
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Day 2
We're leaving Beaufort at 9 a.m. heading for the Cormet de
Roselend. Instead of taking the main road (D217), we take the route (D218) via Areches and the
Col du Pré (1705m) which offers better views.
No matter from which direction you're approaching the Barrage de Roselend, the
road on the dam wall offers great views of the Roselend reservoir
(1600m):
On the Cormet de Roselend (1968m) be prepared
for holes in the roadway from fallen boulders. On the descent to
the Refuge de la Nova without backpack top speeds of 100 km/h are
easily possible - if you dare. But do not miss the small
path down to the Refuge de la Nova. From here we
go via the Ville des
Glaciers (1789m) to the Chalet Refuge des
Mottets (1870m) where you definitely should stop by.
The following two hours mainly consist of carrying our bike to
the Col de la Seigne
(2516m) which marks the french-italian border and the
watershed between adriatic sea and atlantic ocean: It offers
breathtaking views of Montblanc de Courmayeur, Dame
Anglaise, Aiguille Noir de Peutéray, Peutéray- and
Brouillard-Ridge - places where Bonnatti and others have written history. The following descent leads us via the Alpe
infériore de la Lée Blanche (2156m), below the Rifugio Elisabetta
Soldini (2200m), Lac de Combal (2020m), Cantine de
la Visaille (1659m), Val Veny with Notre-Dame-de-la-Guérison to Courmayeur (1223m). We make a
total of 68km during the 2nd day. We stop for the night at the
first place we come along at 7 p.m.: Albergo dei Camosci, Fraz la
Saxe 7, I-11013 Courmayeur (2 stars, very comfortable, double EUR
65.-). If you still have ernergy left to visit a bar or or have a stroll, a hotel
at the center of Courmayeur is the better choice.
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Day 3
We're leaving Courmayeur (1224m) at 9 a.m. heading for
Arnouva. We follow the TMB via Villair Supérieur (1327m),
Rifugio Giorgio Bertone (1991m), Mont de
la Saxe (2348m), which offers an awesome view to the Grandes Jorasses and the
Rochesfort- and Hirondelles-Ridge, Testa Bernarda (2534m), Testa della
Tronche (2584m), Col Sapin (2436m), Alpe di
Séchéron (2260m), Arminia (2009m), Séchéron (1924m),
Lavachay (1642m) to Arnouva (1764m) in the Val Ferret.
 We make only a total of 24km during the
3rd day. The Hôtel Chalet Val
Ferret, Arnouva, I-11013 Courmayeur, Tel.
0165/844959, (2 stars, very comfortable, double EUR 62.-) is a very lovely place to spend the
evening/night.
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From there on we have to carry
until we
finally reach the Col du Grand Ferret (2537m)
which marks the italian-swiss border and offers great views of the
Aiguille de Taléfre, Triolet and Mont Dolent. The
following awesome 
to go along the TMB again. We pass L'Amône
(1537m) and at La Pourria (1319m) we dropp over the Crête
de Saleina down to the road on 1207m. Via Chanton (1187m) we
reached Praz de Fort (1151m). From there we go
via 
to Issert (1055m), Creux des Praz, L'Affe (1324m)
and Le Niolet (1319m) and finally to 
which consists of carrying 
In Trient we
follow the little road to Le Peuty (1326m) and further to the
Les Esserts (1549m) and the
Télésiège Tête de Balme we finally
reach Vallorcine (1260m).
