Tour du Mont Blanc | Stage 6 - to La Fouly | TMB 2016

[@noboundaries845]

you've done a great job with these videos. I've watched them all. I had to choose a section for a shorter version of this trip and I was able to do it by seeing what each stage looks like.

[@GermanDiManzo]

Hi Tricia! Thank you for your comment. I´m really glad it help you with your planning. :-)

[@saifulpolash03]

Dear German, thank you for sharing your lovely videos. I can watch these all day long. Please can you give me some ideas on how expensive the accommodations are? Do I need to book in advance? I am thinking to plan & do it by myself . I do not know how fast or slow I would be in trekking that’s why I do not want to do it with a group or with a tour operator. Really appreciate your help. Much love.

[@GermanDiManzo]

Muhammed, thank you!!!! Accomodations are around 60-70 euros pe night including dinner and breakfast. If you go on summer is better to reserve in advanced. Only a few mountain refuges, like Elisabetta will let you stay if they are full but that might mean sleeping in the boots room, literally. montourdumontblanc.com is the oficial site for most refuges and you can see the prices there too!

[@charlesm2357]

Hi German, great videos. They look incredible. Im doing the tmb next month and was wondering how much you would roughly spend in each refuge for meal's etc?

[@GermanDiManzo]

Hi Charles! Dinner and breakfast are included in all refuge. In average per person per night is around 60 Euros + drinks. Some also offer pre-packed lunch for the next day. I think they were around 10 Euro but we never took that option, most of the times we had something we were carry with us. We bought some food at the supermarket in Les Contamines, Courmayeur and Argentiere.

[@charlesm2357]

That's brilliant information, thank you. Also, are there possibilities for people who may be camping close to a refuge to have dinner in these places?

[@GermanDiManzo]

I will guess here as we don't have the experience but they will probably take you for dinner, I would try to find out before going or let them know ahead of time when you arrive. The way the refuge work (when you are staying in) is that they assign you a fixed dinner time so they can server soup, dinner, dessert to everybody and move to the next dinner time if needed. I remember being 'kicked out' of Elisabetta to make room for the next group of people. I'm sure they figure it out how to accommodate walk-ins... business is business, even in the mountains :-)

[@charlesm2357]

German Di Manzo thank you for your time and information, German it was very helpful.

[@astralloner]

Hi, thanks for your series of videos on tour du Mont Blanc. I would like to ask, how cold does it get? Is it necessary to pack winter clothing? I'll be heading there in early July.

[@GermanDiManzo]

That's a tough question! Weather in the mountains is unpredictable. From our personal experience: our 'worst' day I would say was in the 2-5 C (35F) so having a double layer jacket and light gloves was good. You are going later than what we did so I wouldn't believe you will need more than that. Hiking pants were enough too. Also, cold mornings might turn into full summer afternoons, so dress in easy to remove layers :-)

[@astralloner]

Thanks!

[@jenniferbrown509]

Could you have kept going to relais d arpette that same day? Or was it best to stop in la fouly?

[@GermanDiManzo]

In my opinion it would be a very long day. Fouly to Champex is about 4hs according Cicerone’s TMB Guide but you are coming from 6.5hs already until Fouly. I guess us doable if you are fit and able to maintain a good pace. Also the day after Relais d’ la Arpette was the hardest climb for us, that can be avoid using the alternative route, but it was good to be rested.

[@GermanDiManzo]

If you happen to do the tour, and you remember, please have a thought for our friend Pierrine as she sadly passed away last night. I will always remember this trip together and how much we enjoyed being out there in the trail.

[@noboundaries845]

Hi it's me again. I'm now planning out our water. I would rather not carry a lot and filter water along the way. Do most refugees have water fountains or do you have to purchase? About how much is a bottle of water? Is it likely that I will have streams and lakes along most stages?

[@GermanDiManzo]

tricia sullivan I don't recall about the cost of water, I think most of days we manage with what we get from the refuge. There are some water fountains along the way and of course many streams. The only day we were 'looking for water' was coming down Fenetre de l'arpette. I refilled a bottle from the river coming from the glacier. That was a long hot day so we drank a lot. We didn't carry a water filter either.

[@noboundaries845]

Hi again. What paper map would you recommend for this trip?

[@GermanDiManzo]

We had one called 'Pays Du Mont-Blanc 1:50K (Hiking Map)' by Rando... we just opened it once for fun. The maps in the trekking guide plus the routes I kept in my phone using Viewranger were more than enough to navigate the whole route.