D24 Courmayeur 9 Sep

Friday 9th September: Weather: 1°C to 11°C until 3.30pm then 18°C in Courmayeur: Blue Skies, sunny all day

Day 24 Rifugio Frasati to Courmayeur: 19.6k: 10hrs: 7.40am to 5.40pm: 2 x 30 min stops + 2.5k extra when lost

Ascent/Descent: Ascent 1,017m, Descent 2,338m, Total up and down 3,355m

Accommodation: Hoten Crampon Courmayeur

Tdg Rifugio Frassati to Courmayeur

Day 24, our last day of our hike of the Tor des Geants, was probably our best and biggest day yet, with highlights all day. Starting with the ascent of the Col Malatra at 2,936 metres to see the magnificent Mont Blanc in full view the other side. We had magnificent views of Mont Blanc most of the day, especially the balcony walk above Val Ferret, meeting hundreds of Tour du Mont Blanc hikers coming towards us. Then descending into Courmayeur to finish a magnificent 24 day Tor des Geants hike. And to finish the day with another highlight, we watched the start of the Tor des Glaciers, a 450k Ultra Trail at much higher altitudes than the 350k Tor des Geants.

It’s freezing cold when we wake at 6.15am, and pack ready to go down to breakfast at 7am. The Rifugio Frassati has been fantastic, meeting Alessandro and the young staff are very friendly, but I’m afraid they needed lessons on how to boil water. The tea and coffee was Luke warm to go with the bread and jam.

We leave at 7.40am on a freezing cold 1°C morning, but the skies are blue apart from a few small fluffy white clouds. The track is steep to begin with then cuts across a scree field, before the last steep climb with ropes to the col. On the way across we see Ibex high above. It takes us just over one hour to ascend the 400 meters up to Col Malatra at 2,925 metres and as soon as we peer through the pass, Mont Blanc looms in all it’s glory. We don’t stay long, as it’s still freezing cold.

1°C ready to leave Rifugio Frassati

1°C Blue Sky Morning at Frassati

Ibex on the ridge near Col Malatra

Trail across scree to Col Malatra

Freezing start 1°C to Col Malatra

Jan on the ropes to Col Malatra

Col Malatra with Mont Blanc in view

Col Malatra 2,925 metres and 1°C

Down from Col Malatra

Mont Blanc in full glory

Goats on track in Vallon du Malatra

Morning tea in Vallon du Malatra

Mont Blanc in view most of day

The first 50 meters descent on the other side is steep and slippery but soon becomes easier as we descend into the Vallon du Malatra looking for the U turn back to a smaller secondary Col called Pas enter deus Shuts, but the fork in the path never appears. We’d been walking for 3 hrs so time to have a coffee and re-check the map. We find a spot we think is marked Malatra and enjoy the last of our Arnott’s Spicy Fruit Rolls with a very hot coffee,

We come to the conclusion that we’ve missed the turn off, and that we’re half way to Rifugio Walter Bonatti, so we back track looking for the turnoff which never appears. But we can see the correct path on the other side, as we had been this way in 2009, and it looked familia but we had to hop skip and jump through the cow paddocks to get back on the right track to Pas enter deuce sauts. This is not a high col, and soon we’re down to another path junction when we come across an Australian Couple sitting having lunch and chat to then for a while. For teh past hour, we’ve seen more hikers than we had for teh past 3 weeks. They have a recent 1:25,000 map which shows the path we need to take more clearly than my Tor des Geants stylised map. We also see that there never was a connecting path coming down from Col Malatra, and we think teh Tor des Geants would have just flagged a small detour across from one path to another.

We’re not even half way of our 19k day, but the weather is absolutely amazing and teh views all round are stunning. Down to Armanaz, where we turn on to a Tour de Mont Blanc (TMB) track connecting Courmayeur and Walter Bonatti, and meet a stream of TMB hikers coming our way - hundreds of them many in large groups. We haven’t done this track before, despite doing the TMB almost 4 times, and it’s a most stunning balcony walk with views to Mont Blanc for teh next 2 hrs. And dotted along each bare knoll come to are more hikers sitting hab=ving lunch adoring teh views across to Mont Blanc.

It’s 3.30pm when we reach Rifugio bertoni at te end of teh balcony walk and teh start of the sharp descent down into Courmayeur. We’re hungry so we find a spot just down from Bertoni for the last of our bread, cheese and tomatoes. Then the descent starts. 700 meters of zig zagging dusty stoney track with more TMP hikers coming up towards us. The last 1k of the track is on a road leading into Courmayeur, a welcome relief to walk on more gently sloping even path. Finally at 5.30pm we’re in the centre of Courmayeur, bustling with hikers, tourists, and adorned with Tor des Geants posters.

Heading straight to Hotel Crampon, we do a bit of washing, then go to the small Carrefoures Express to buy some dinner of ham, mace, cheese, fresh bread and 4 beers, to have on our balcony with a view to the mountains - at last we have some fresh greens. Dinner is a bit rushed, so we can go to see the start of the Tor des Glaciers multi trail race starting at 8pm in the centre of the town. By the rime we get to the start, it's teeming with people and the runners are already lined up. The atmosphere is exciting as they countdown to the star, and 200 runners with headlights trot off to start their 450k run. They run a similar route to the tour des gents but much higher into the Alps at Glacier level, last years winner taking 138 hrs 18 mins. It’s described as:

Most of the trail's 450k route is along the forgottent Alte Vie 3 and 4. It crosses ridges that are largely unknown and touches on ancient glaciers far away from the usual trekking routes. These paths are frequented only by people who are in their element in Alpine landscapes, adore solitude and appreciate the grandeur of the high peaks.
A truly exclusive, unique and unmissable trial that you will undertake completely alone, with only the magnificent high-altitude lodges for reference points and support.

https://youtu.be/_BOcAbTrOi0

Being at the start of this race was a fitting end to our 3 week 3 day hike. We return to sip a wine on the bed while sorting photos, contemplating the past wonderful 24 days.