TMB Day 1: Chamonix to Les Houches

Distance: 7 miles

Elevation gain: 2,675 feet

Elevation loss: 5,900 feet

Calories burned: 2,300

What a day. There is so much I want to say. Not sure how far I’ll get, because frankly I’m dead. Didn’t train much, if at all for this, which, well, I may pay for in future days.

I didn’t speak of this trip much beforehand, because, unlike the Everest Marathon where I had more than a year to look forward to it and plan, I honestly didn’t really believe this would happen until I actually set foot on the plane. Probably explains the lack of motivation to train too. Let’s just chalk it up to 2020-2021 funsies.

Anyway, today was day one. When you look at it on paper, the distance is not much. And yet, it took us basically 8 hours including breaks to go seven miles. The elevation gain was not a lot either. At a maximum elevation of 8,200 feet, it really wasn’t that big of an effort. On the way up that is.

The descent was another matter altogether. With a nearly 6,000ft very steep descent, that is what took the longest amount of time. It was the most dangerous, and therefore the most strenuous part of the day.

There were also glaciers to be crossed. Speaking of which, on the very first one my foot broke through what was, unbeknownst to me, only a superficial ice cover. There went the leg, straight down and through the ice. Needless to say that leg is now totally cut up. Ah well. That was not too bad really. But the steel ladder bolted into the mountain, and the chains to hold onto as we made our way down some pretty interesting cliff sides made the day “a bit” stressful.

Mind you, it was stunning. Beyond stunning. I love the Alps. I was here for the first time during the Tour de France in 2017 and fell in love with the region. But that was before the Himalayas. I wasn’t sure how I’d react this time around, after having experienced first hand the highest mountains on planet Earth. Well, I’m here to tell you I’m still in love with the Alps. And even more so than before. The terrain is just as difficult. And in some parts more difficult to be honest. But being able to breathe makes a massive difference. Not to mention the real beds, indoor plumbing and electricity. Lol. Did I mention the wine, cheese and croissants? This is, to be sure, the comfortable version of an Everest Base Camp trek. Still very, very challenging, just much easier to cope with because of all the everyday niceties. Did I mention the cable car at the start? Because I mean, who needs to climb up a big ass hill to start the day when there is a cable car running overhead? 😂