Trekking Mont Blanc
Hiking Tour in the Alps

Trip

Yurts facing Mont Blanc

We will leave from Saint Gervais for a 5 days Easy Trek, facing a spectacular view on Mont Blanc! Before or after the trek, you may be able to enjoy St. Gervais Thermal Baths for a week of sport&nature and well-being to recover your energies in an idyllic setting.

Walking in beautiful mountain pastures, every day we will enjoy an exceptional view on Mont Blanc: easy paths and short days for a beginner trekking in a magnificent environment. We add some spice with two nights in original Mongolian Yurts in the middle of the Alps ;) traveling in the Land of Mont Blanc.

Paths are easy and the difficulty slightly and gradually increases, but it will go together with the beauty of the landscapes to keep motivating yourself! A perfect route for your first mountain trekking! 

Program

WEEK TREKKING PROGRAM

DAY 1 
SAINT GERVAIS - MONT D'ARBOIS - REFUGE PAVILLON DU MONT JOLY

Vertical drop: + 500 m
Walking time: around 4 hours walk

Meeting at 8.15 am in front of the Saint Gervais train station Le Fayet. We will briefly check your backpacks and your equipment. We will start our trek by taking the Thermal Path to reach the cable car to go to Mont D'Arbois. We will therefore walk two to three hours to reach the refuge of the Pavillon under Mont Joly.

DAY 2 
REFUGE PAVILLON - COL DE VERY - NIGHT IN A MONGOLIAN YURT

Vertical drop: - 600 m and + 600 m
Walking time: 5 to 6 hours walk with breaks.

After a good night in this cozy hut from where, if we are lucky with the weather, we could enjoy an amazing sunset and sunrise on Mont-Blanc, we will start with a descent into the mountain pastures and into the forest before going up by gentle slopes to reach the Col du Véry where our refuge and our Yurts are located.
We will sleep in our Yurt, a unique experience for two nights.

DAY 3  
YURT - AIGUILLE CROCHE - TETE COMBAZ - MONT JOLY- PAVILLON

Vertical drop: - 750 m and +750 m
Walking time: around 6 hours

We will leave for the big day of the Trek and the most beautiful one for sure! We will leave early in the morning to walk in the cool air and enjoy the sunrise on the path of the Aiguille Croche.
At the top the view is amazing, here we will be walking on a magnificent ridge now that you are improving your technique and you are fitter: you will get used to this path which may sometimes seem dizzying, but ultimately the path is well laid out and wide. The view on Mont Blanc is great! We will be back at Mont-Joly before arriving at the Pavilion refuge which we will have left three days ago. We can take advantage of the last night to look at the stars ...

DAY 4 
PAVILLON - LE BETTEX - SAINT GERVAIS

Vertical drop: - 700 m
Walking time: about 4 hours walk

We will descend to the thermal city of Saint Gervais after a good night at the Pavillon, we will take the ski lifts so that the descent is not too long. We will arrive to eat all together at noon in Saint Gervais, then everyone can take his way by train or stay in the hotel of their choice for the weekend.

End of the Trek from 12:30 p.m.

Materiel

The backpack

If possible take a light backpack with good carrying, the backpack should not exceed 1.5 kg.

Backpack for 4 days:

• Small people: 40 liters max
• Tall people : 45 liters max

Your backpack must have 10 to 15 liters of space for picnics that you will carry for lunch.

Kilos to carry - It is better to wash than to carry:

• Small size: 6/7 kilos max, without water and food
• Large size: 8 kilos max, without water and food

Count 2 liters of water and 1 kg of food for the day.

Head-to-toe material for the Trek:

• one cap or hat for the sun
• one hat for the cold
• an optional buff or choker but very pleasant in bad weather
• a jacket type Gore Tex or similar windproof and waterproof
• one pair of gloves, waterproof if possible
• one warm fleece or thick down to withstand negative temperatures
• two sweaters: a light one and a warmer one, if it's cold you can put all the layers on
• three technical t-shirts
• 2-3 underwear and 2-3 warm socks, you can wash them in the torrents near the shelters (1 solid soap to wash)
• one warm pant
• one tight
• one lighter pant, there are pants that you can zip off to make shorts
• one short
• one waterproof over-pant  (Gore tex or other) for Trek with altitude passes around 3000m.
• one light rain hood or waterproof bag protector
• one waterproof bag to keep items dry inside your backpack
• one bag for dirty things
• one light sheetbag for sleeping at the huts
• one pair of light slippers for the refuge, in case you do not want to wear the hut' slippers or a pair of light Trail shoes.
• one pair of mountain shoes with Vibram type sole of good quality or similar: if possible try ans wear your shoes before the trek, watch out for old shoes which can deteriorate very quickly in the mountains.

Do not forget :

• sunscreen index 30 to 50
• one pair of sunglasses category 3
• one front lamp
• cash money for huts and documents

Toiletries:

• a lightweight quick dry toilet towel
• one body soap
• a toothbrush with small toothpaste or a started one
• one small shampoo (small format - specialized stores sell small bottles that you will keep your hiker's life).
• a pair of earplugs to better sleep at night in a refuge

Pharmacy & others:

• your usual or personal treatments
• one light survival blanket
• one nail clipper
• what to make small dressings
• some compresses and plaster or better Strappal

Your guide will have a more complete pharmacy in the event of a larger accident.

For realx time: A small book or Card game (less than 150 grams)…

Necessary for meals:

• an hermetic tupperware (approx. 400ml) for the picnic
• a light knife: Opinel type
• one fork or spoon
• a nice specialty to share with the rest of the Team, liquid or solid

The hiker's enemy is weight, but a frozen or soaked hiker is a hiker without pleasure, so take the time to properly pack your bag.

IMPORTANT: if a person is not properly equipped and dressed, the mountain guide may decide not to allow him/her to take part in the climb. We ask you to read carefully the equipment list provided in the programme PDF and to call us if you have any doubts.

Level

Physical level 1/5

We are taking it easy, without health concerns, motivation is enough, it's initiation! Effort corresponding to approximately 500-600m of elevation gain in trekking.

Technical Level  2/5

Quite easy mountain trekking, there can be dizzying passages where you have to be concentrated and if you don't feel dizzy it should be fine!
Learning how to start a mountain rescue and cartography.

Useful info

Useful Info to plan your mountain trip

Insurance

Cancellation and repatriation insurance is mandatory, as is mountain search and rescue insurance (minimum cover of 10,000 Euros).

Esprit Montagne offers the following insurance: https://www.assurance-multi-sports.com.

How to reach Saint Gervais les Bains

• By train, access by TGV to Saint Gervais les Bains - Le Fayet;
• By car from Annecy or Geneva, access by expressway to Saint Gervais les Bains - Le Fayet, which is 2.5 hours from Lyon.

Accomodation in yurts & hut

The Yurts are original from Mongolia! The group will be alone in the yurts (5 people per Yurt) and the Refuge du Pavillon is quite small, which will allow us to be often alone in the refuge.

The availability of the yurts is at the discretion of our accommodation, which may confirm whether or not they are accessible. Please do not hesitate to contact us for further details.

For those who would like to arrive one day earlier or leave one day later in order to enjoy the Thermal baths, here below some links to some Hotels in Saint Gervais to organise your trip as you prefer: 

Hôtel Le Terminus

Hôtel Des Deux Gares

Hôtel de La Chaumière

For les Thermes de Saint Gervais

Meeting on the first day

Meeting on the first day in front of Saint Gervais Les Bains - Le Fayet train station, at 8.15 a.m.
There is a free parking where you can leave your car for the week right next to the train station. 
For those arriving by train, you will find your Trekking Guide waiting for you in front of the SNCF Train Station. 

Last day - departure

You will be back at Saint Gervais train station around 12:00 a.m. The last day luch is not included in the price, each participant can eat wherever he prefers in Saint Gervais or make lunch with the rest of the group before saying goodbye and to the next adventure!

Do not take any transport before 2:30 p.m. in order to have some spare time just in case.

Parking

You can park your car for free in Saint Gervais les Bains at the Parking Gratis. A second option is to park in the Mattel car park, a little further from the SNCF station.

Car sharing

When you register online, you can choose whether or not you wish to take part in the car-sharing scheme to get to the starting point of your course. Once you have made your booking, you can log back into your Esprit Montagne account to access a section dedicated to carpooling. Here you will find the contacts of the other participants who are interested in car-sharing, so that you can contact them directly.