A bird's eye view of the Tor des Geants shows why the hike is called the Tour of the Giants. The trail travels across four of the highest mountains in the European Alps - Mont Blanc, Grand Combin, the Matterhorn and Monta Rosa. It’s a circuitous anti-clockwise route around the Aosta Valley, the southern half called the Alt Via 2 from Courmayeur to Pont St Martin, and the northern half from Pont St Martin back to Courmayeur called teh Alt Via 1.
The total Ascent is 33,000 metres and likewise for the Descent and since our hike is over 24 days, that equates to an average of 1,250 metres up and 1,250 metres down for a total Up and Down of 2,500 metres every and every day. Of course there is much variation in this, with some days being 3,500 metre days, and a few days just 1,000 meters up and down.