Hiking the TMB with my son - Part 4: Tré le Champ - Les Houches

In the summer of 2019, my 14 year old son and I hiked the incredible Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB), camping all the way. This is the final part and sees us hiking along the side of the Chamonix valley from Tré le Champ to Les Houches.
Watching this video makes me quite emotional. Firstly because, since finishing the TMB, I've wanted to tell the first two minutes of this video and now I have. And then secondly, the achievement of the hike, the adventure of the ladders, my son doing such an incredible job, the scenery, my desire to just hiking for a few more days....the list goes on.
As previously, pretty ropey camera work - it's my family video but I thought it was worth sharing and it will definitely give you a sense of this part of the TMB.
#tmb #tourdumontblanc

[@relaxingsilentfilms-LosAngeles]

Congrats. Beautiful. Now subscribed

[@maijaglazjeva]

Amazing. Thank you for sharing.

[@GavinMetheringham]

Thank you for watching!

[@whenyoutravel7612]

Such an adventure!👍👍

[@GavinMetheringham]

It really was! Thank you for your comment. 🙂

[@andrewsmith131]

Great video, thanks for sharing.

[@GavinMetheringham]

Thanks.

[@joaoleiteneto668]

HI guys. My name is João Leite and I live in São Luis-Maranhão, Brazil. I've just seen your video about the TMB and I confess it was one of the best I've seen so far. I hope to do it as soon as possible and discovering how beautiful this place is in every corner of the route. It was such an inspiration for me to do it quite easily and much important with no rush. It was terrific, epic and what else? Just unforgettable. Congrats!

[@GavinMetheringham]

Thank you! It's definitely worth doing and taking your time over.

[@charlottethomas204]

Well guys how brilliant was that. I too have been looking for an adventure to mark my 40th. I’m a keen active hiker but not all that experienced. I found the TMB and have since been familiarising with the trail. You videos are brilliant and your relationship with your son is just beautiful. Well done guys on your achievement , such wonderful memories made together!! and thank you for the inspiration it now seems ever more achievable for me too 🌎 🥾♥️🥾

[@GavinMetheringham]

Charlotte, thank you for such kind words. It was such a great experience and one we'll never forget. Glad you enjoyed the videos and found them helpful. I would say being an 'active hiker' totally qualifies you for the TMB! It's the key ingredient. The rest is planning and a little courage. Go for it!

[@charlottethomas204]

@@GavinMetheringham Thank you ♥️

[@ervinslens]

Shots, editing, sound everything here just cohesively turned this into an amazing video. Congrats my friend, epic!!!

[@GavinMetheringham]

Thank you so much!

[@rockbeetle]

Loved it! I want to go! The ladders bit of stage 10 looked terrifying!

[@GavinMetheringham]

You need a bit of a head for heights for sure!

[@elenna1237]

From what I've heard it's quite doable unless you have vertigo or a fear of heights - but if you want, there's an alternate path that skips the ladders.

[@vanhallaadventures]

I can relate. My knees act up on downhills. Do you have any advice for those with knee problems? Anything that helped you? I was thinking of trying a brace. I have hiking poles I’ll bring.

[@GavinMetheringham]

Poles, poles, poles. Absolutely. And then it depends on the knee problem. As I was advised that doing the TMB wouldn't worsen my knee issues I felt that knee braces wouldn't do me any harm. All I can say is that with them the TMB was doable. Without them I'm not sure I would have finished. They really did help loads, especially the right one which was a patella support rather than just a knee brace. Other than that, and more important, is to build up the muscles that support the knee. Weirdly, the TMB did that for me and for 18 months after I didn't have any knee aches or issues! (It was just inactivity in lockdown that started to impact negatively again). Hiking, ascents, descents, with weight on your back. Sorry if the answers are a bit wordy but feel free to ask anything else. Happy to help if I can.

[@ROPname]

Just finished your TMB series. Really awesome adventure with your son :). I just discovered this a few days ago and now I start the planning phase :D Also, I have 2x Questions, if you are willing :) My son is 7y, have been with him on a few easy trails, but what would be the recommended age? in your opinion, or... what have you seen on the trail. Also, what was the total cost for both of you? (excluding only the plane tickets) Thanks and Happy Trails!

[@GavinMetheringham]

Hi, sorry for being slow to reply. Thanks for watching. Really good question about ages etc. We went three years ago and didn't see many children on the trail and we were almost a novelty camping it! But things have changed a bit possibly. We did go warly in the season so that might have made a difference. The best recommendation I can give you is the TMB Facebook group. There are two TMB groups, both called Tour du Mont Blanc but the one with about 30,000 members is the most helpful I think. If you put 'kids' into the search you'll see a whole lot of posts, including one family who recently completed it with six year old twins and a 2yr old! They put some good information on there about their hike. They also did 4 variants! They hiked every weekend and had done multi day hikes previously so were pretty prepared already. We weren't! We were just determined and ploughed on! So it is doable but just depends on fitness and experience. On the cost question that obviously depends if you're camping or staying in refuges. Camping is definitely a far cheaper way of doing it. We didn't keep a running total but roughly the Alpybus was about E25 each - it's now E35-40 per person each way Geneva to Les Houches. Campsites were about E15-20 per night. I think Les Fouly was about E20 and the most. I took so much food with us! I liked the idea of really not being reliant on needing to buy food but ended up bringing meals back with me!! We took bags of oats/fruit mix for breakfast for everyday, wraps/peanut butter and energy bars for lunch and freeze dried meals for 6 nights (planned to restock a bit in Courmayeur and Champex). It kept costs low but was extra weight and there were loads of food options on the trail at towns/refuges along the way. So really our only costs could have been campsites, alpybus and the cable car at Les Houches with some food top ups. But then, when you're in the midst of the hike you realise how much of the enjoyment is experiencing eating with others, or eating breads/cheeses, enjoying food at a refuge or restaurant. We ended up drinking coke wherever it was sold, cakes, lunch and a few evening meals!! Sorry that's not a definitive answer but hope it helps.

[@ROPname]

@@GavinMetheringham thanks a lot for the info and your costs :) will definitely check the FB group. Wow to complete the trail with a 2yo :O quite the challenge. Keep it up! And gl with the KZbin journey too :)