Looking for a Tour du Mont Blanc Conditions report? Well look no further! With our team of local guides, we’ll post regular updates from around the Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB). Follow this post for monthly photos, trail descriptions and weather reports. The information is provided by local experts, and is intended to help 2024 hikers prepare for a safe and enjoyable TMB.

Disclaimer : This blog is based on our own observations and experiences on the TMB trail. Conditions can change quickly in the mountains. It’s up to you to ensure you have the right level of skill, fitness and know-how to hike in the mountains!

TMB Conditions : How to use this guide

We’ve created this Tour du Mont Blanc Conditions report to help anyone hiking the TMB in 2024. The information is especially useful for self-guided hikers, because you can choose your route accordingly. If you’re hiking the TMB in June or early July, the high passes might be covered in snow, so being prepared is essential. In this way, we’ll help by posting early updates, with photos and information about the snow cover. We’ll organise our reports chronologically, with the most recent updates at the top.

TMB Weather and Nature

As well as snow reports, we’ll provide updates on weather patterns and nature. Forecasting alpine weather is increasingly difficult, as each year is different and there is increasingly less of a pattern. For example, it used to be fairly typical that June would be cool and fairly dry, July would be warmer, and August would be the warmest month with lots of afternoon showers – but these days, the months are less predictable! Because of this, we’ve seen flowers blooming earlier than normal, and animals coming out of hibernation. We’ll let you know what we see throughout the season!

For more information about typical weather on the Tour du Mont Blanc, read this post.

TMB When to hike the TMB?

You’ve probably already planned your TMB, so you’ll know when you’re setting off. But if you haven’t got that far, please note that you cannot hike the TMB until June. We’ve started our reports in winter to give information about the snow cover. This is useful for hikers starting in June, and some people just like to see what the passes look like in winter. It’s also fun to see how the snow cover develops.

For more information about the best time to hike the Tour du Mont Blanc, read this post.

TMB Which sections should I be most careful about?

You should pay particular attention to the following mountain passes, or “cols” :

• Fenêtre d’Arpette, which is a variant route option from Champex to Trient
• Col des Fours, which is a variant route option from Les Contamines to Refuge des Mottes / Les Chapieux
• Col de la Croix du Bonhomme, which is part of the classic TMB route from Les Contamines to Les Chapieux  
• Grand Col Ferret, which is part of the classic TMB route from Italian Val Ferret to Le Fouly
• Col de Balme, which is part of the classic TMB route from Trient to Le Tour / Argentière. This col is not particularly steep, but the North side (coming up from Trient) stays snowy late into the season.

These passes stay snowy late into the season, and most of them are steep. Another section to be wary of is the traverse to Lac Chercrouit, where snow lingers.

General Situation 

Spring 2023 – 2024 

In the Chamonix valley, we’ve experienced the warmest winter since records began in 1877! The freezing level has been at a high altitude, so not much snow has fallen in the towns and villages. For example, there’s been very little snow in Chamonix, which is at 1,035 metres.

Despite the warmth, we’ve seen a lot of precipitation, so there’s a thick snow cover on the high passes. We ended the winter with more than 300 centimetres of snow on northern slopes above 2,500 metres, which is quite a lot compared to previous years. To put this into context, all of the passes on the classic TMB route are above 2,000 metres. The highest point is Grand Col Ferret, at 2,537 metres. If you do the Fénêtre d’Arpette variant, this pass reaches 2,665 metres.

May has been a cloudy and cold month with regular snowfalls, so the high passes have remained snowy well into the start of June. In comparison to the last few years, the start of the season is proving to be very snowy on the high passes of the TMB.

Tour du Mont Blanc Conditions : June 2024

At the beginning of the month we went up to the high passes and checked snow conditions before our guests arrived. Our first trips started mid-June, so we now have reports from the full TMB circuit.

Early TMB hikers battled some full winter conditions; fresh snow down to 1800-1900 metres, and cool, cloudy days. Temperatures then picked up and we experienced several afternoon thunderstorms. High temperatures and heavy rain speeds up snow melt, which is good for those of you starting soon. However, be aware that the rivers will be strong, and the trails are still very wet and muddy. On Friday 21st June, the road in Val Ferret was closed due to a risk of landslide. A section of the river trail to La Fouly is closed because the river has burst its banks.

The final week in June (week commencing 24th June) will be warmer than the seasonal average, so these muddy trails will probably dry out. If you are hiking this week, make sure to avoid high passes in the afternoons, as high temperatures increase the risk of thunderstorms.

Our observations :

Col de la Seigne

This pass is easy-angled, but there is still snow on the descent. There is not much snow on the way up, except for this snow-bridge (see photo below), which is collapsing into the river. It is probably best to walk around through the river.

Col du Balme

This pass is still snowy, but it has a good, solid track in from so many people hiking up to it. Expect to be hiking in snow for between 1 – 2 hours.

Col des Fours & Fenêtre d’Arpette

These passes are still very snowy, and due to the exposure we would not recommend hiking them. Mountaineering equipment and a lot of experience is necessary!

Val Veny & Val Ferret

At the beginning of June we explored the Swiss and Italian sides of Mont Blanc.

On May 31 Grant and Joel hiked up Val Ferret to Rifugio Elena. The road is closed from Lavachey and the bus is running as far as Planpincieux if you are using transport to access the valley.

The hike to Rifugio Elena was in a snowstorm, the snow was falling at 1800m and it was very cold and windy. Underfoot there was around 10cm of fresh snow that was drifting in the wind, some places were scoured and in some places there were large deposits of fresh snow which made for difficult trail breaking. The road to Elena was fully snow covered from Arnouva (end of Val Ferret) so it is no surprise that the refuge has delayed opening. We have not seen so much snow in Val Ferret at this time of year. We hiked the 4×4 track in the base of the valley, the higher trail was completely snow covered and the gullies under the snow were carrying huge amounts of meltwater so trying to hike this would be dangerous.

The higher balcony trail between Bertone, Bonatti and Elena had large snow patches over most of the trail. Between Bonatti and Elena was especially covered. The direct hike from Lavachey to Bonatti looked snow free though. We stopped at the refuge and took a break in the winter shelter then decided it was time for a pizza in Courmayeur!

Before heading home we drove up Val Veny to have a look around. The snow in Val Veny comes all the way down to RIfugio Elisabetha so it it is a long hike over Col de la Seigne.

The path after Cabane Combal across Mont Favre is also holding a lot of snow which can persist for a long time in the gullies. On May 4th we had another walk in Val Veny in the valley bottom near rifugio Monte Bianco, here there is no snow and the valley is incredibly quiet and beautiful at this time of year with many orchids flowering.

Col du Balme & Les Aiguilles Rouges (Lac Blanc)

On June 1 Grant ran a loop from Argentiere over Col de Balme to Trient and back via Catogne and over Aiguillette des Possettes.

Here we he was surprised to find conditions better than expected when compared with the Italian side. There is of course still snow around in large patches on the Swiss side of the Col, as there always is at the start of June, but there was no fresh snow and most of the trails on the French side were clear.

The summit of Aiguilette des Possettes was snow free, as was the descent. There were a few small patches on the way up but nothing of significance.

On the climb from Trient to the Col de Balme the snow starts from around 2000m with some slightly exposed sections to cross requiring good footing. The final ascent to the top is manageable but requires good route finding to avoid steeper sections of snow that can be exposed.

We also got some photos looking towards the Lac Blanc area, here the snow persists and looks thick from the top of the ladders. The classic lower trail to La Trappe looks like the best option rather than attempting to walk to Lac Blanc. The lake will still be frozen and buried for some time anyway!

Tour du Mont Blanc Conditions : May 2024

May has been pretty hot this year, and despite having quite a lot of precipitation, the freezing level has been at high altitude during the day so there has been significant snow melt. There’s a thick snow cover on north-facing slopes from 2000m-2200m, and some south-facing slopes are still snowy too. Because of this, the higher TMB passes mentioned above will remain snowy for some time.

Our observations : Aig. des Houches, Col du Bonhomme, Col de Balme

We’ve been hiking and running around the French TMB trails this month. The valleys are snow-free, and some southern slopes are dry with just a few patches of snow. For instance, there’s no snow on the south side of Col du Tricot and very little on the Les Houches side. Closer to Chamonix, there are just a few patches of snow on the south-facing trails below Aiguilette des Houches, but the higher trails close to Brevent are still deep in snow. We’ve seen our first gentians of the year (a unique type of alpine flower), and the ibex are losing their winter coats.

As you’d expect in May / early June, the higher, northern slopes are still covered by a fairly thick layer of snow. Col du Bonhomme is very snowy from the refuge upwards, and there’s snow on both sides of Col de Balme- although the Chamonix side is defrosting quickly and should be clear in the coming days. The Trient side will remain snowy for some time. Despite the deep snow, some keen TMB hikers have started hiking already with their camping gear! We have seen groups heading off up the trail in the last few days.

Reports : Italian Val Ferret

We’ve had reports from friends hiking and climbing in Val Ferret too. There is much more snow on the Italian side of Mont Blanc this year, it looks like the snow is very deep above 2000m with the high traverse to Rifugio Bonatti still covered. The Col Ferret is snow covered too, definitely from Elena to La Peule on the Swiss side. We will be heading over to Italy later in the week so will report back in more detail with photos.

Tour du Mont Blanc Conditions : April 2024

Yet again, the temperatures in April have been mixed and unseasonable! At the beginning of April, we experienced record-breaking heat in Chamonix; spring flowers bloomed even as far up as Montroc (just below Le Tour), and we saw snakes and lizards basking on rocks. A week or so later, the temperatures dropped again and we got a fresh dusting of snow on the valley floor. Over in Italy, temperatures have been even lower and they’ve had a lot more snow. Over on the Col du Petit Saint-Bernard – not far from the TMB trails – at 2,188m – around 5 metres of snow depth remains on the highest part of the pass!

As you’d imagine, all of this means that the high passes on the Tour du Mont Blanc are still covered with a thick layer of snow. Unless we get consistent heat throughout May, we still expect good snow cover on the highest parts of the trail into June as per usual. The graphics below are from Meteo Blue’s archive, which you can browse here. You can find more information about weather conditions in Italy on the Meteo Val d’Aosta website, or on their Facebook group.

Our observations : Les Contamines, Col du Bonhomme, Chéserys ladders, Le Tour 

We’ve been skiing and hiking around the Chamonix valley this month, and have made this quick video for you to give you an overview of some of the main areas on the TMB. You’ll see that passes above 2000m are still very snowy, whilst the valley floor is pretty much snow-free. South facing trails are starting to emerge from the snow, such as those below the Chéserys ladders in this video. Above 2000m metres they are still snowy, even on south facing aspects, but starting to thaw as the spring temperatures increase.

Tour du Mont Blanc Conditions : March 2024

On the French and Swiss sides of Mont Blanc, the weather has been more mixed than February. In Chamonix, the temperatures dropped below 0°c at the start of March, then rose to above 15°c. We got a dusting of snow in the Chamonix valley at the end of March – in fact, we got snow down to Les Houches and even Servoz! But then the temperatures warmed again, so the valley snow melted quickly. The graphics below are from the Meteo Blue archive, which you can browse yourself here.

As was the case in February, things have been different over in Italy. They’ve had much colder temperatures, which has resulted in a lot of snow. The reason for this is interesting… it’s due to the foehn effect, when cold air from the Italian side is forced over the Mont Blanc massif. As it rises, the air cools and expands, and in doing so it loses its moisture. When it comes down onto the French side, it heats up and we experience warm, dry winds in the valley. To learn more about foehn winds, which are a common occurrence in the the Alps, I recommend this article on the Met Office website. 

Switzerland : Fenêtre d’Arpette and Col de Balme

In the middle of March, Grant and I hiked up from Le Peuty to check out conditions in Fenêtre d’Arpette and the north side of Col de Balme. We had planned to cross the river at Chalet des Glacier, and then make a loop back along the bisse, but there was too much snow! See below our video footage of the two cols, which we managed to capture on our Happy Tracks drone! As you can see, there’s still lots of snow down the Trient valley, and it’s the same for Col de Balme too.

Les Contamines : Col du Tricot

At the end of March, Grant ran up towards Col du Tricot (2,110m). The Chalets du Miage side had a fresh dump of snow, but there wasn’t a significant amount. On the way down, he saw a big group of about 15 male ibex grazing (see the below photo!).

Italy : Rifugio Bonatti

Happy Tracks friend, Sheridan, went ski touring up from Rifugio Bonatti in mid-March. There’s lots of snow up there! Of course, this will all melt by June, but you might find it interesting to see what the refuge looks like in winter! Sheridan also saw a wolf print in the snow just above the refuge, which is exciting! For more info about wolves in the Mont Blanc region, read this post. 

We hope you’ve found this information useful and interesting! We’ll be back at the end of April / beginning of May with more news. In the meantime, if you have any questions or specific requests, just leave us a comment. Below, you’ll find our conditions reports and photos from February…

Our observations : Aig. des Houches, Col du Bonhomme, Col de Balme

We’ve been hiking and running around the French TMB trails this month. The valleys are snow-free, and some southern slopes are dry with just a few patches of snow. For instance, there’s no snow on the south side of Col du Tricot, and just a few patches of snow on the south-facing trails below Aiguilette des Houches. We’ve seen our first gentians of the year (a unique type of alpine flower), and the ibex are losing their winter coats.

As you’d expect in May / early June, the higher, northern slopes are still covered by a fairly thick layer of snow. The balcony trail to Brevent is still covered, plus the northern side of Col du Tricot. Col du Bonhomme is snowy from the refuge upwards, and there’s snow on both sides of Col de Balme. Despite this, some keen TMB hikers have started hiking already with their camping gear!

Tour du Mont Blanc Conditions : February 2024

This month we’ve been skiing, running and hiking around the TMB. Unlike “normal” Februarys, we’ve had to use the lifts to reach the snow line. In a “typical” year, we can ski-tour up the slopes at Les Houches from the car park. However, this year the lower slopes haven’t had enough cover.

Le Tour : Posettes and Col de Balme

Grant ski-toured around Le Tour at the end of February. At the top of Aiguillette des Posettes (2,201m), he found a few rocks but the ridge is completely covered with snow. Col de Balme (2,190m) is still very much covered, and it’s unlikely to melt until mid-June / early July. Hopefully this means we’ll get plenty more months of skiing!

For more info, check out the Le Tour webcam here. The camera sits at around 1,800 metres, just above the Charmillion cablecar station.

Les Houches : Col du Tricot

Grant and I went for a hike around La Flatière, which is on the south side of the Chamonix valley at around 1,400 metres. The trails were mostly snow-free, with just a few patches of snow where the trees are more dense. We hiked to Lac Noir, which is partially frozen. When we reached a clearing, we took some photos across the valley of snowy Col du Tricot (2,120m), and the brown-looking ski runs at Les Houches!

Le Brévent 

Grant and I went for a ski at Le Brévent (2,525m), where the the snow cover is very thick and will probably last several months. For more info, check out the Brévent webcam here.

Italy : Courmayeur and Col Sapin

Through the tunnel, in Italy the temperatures have been a little lower. There has been snow on the ground in Courmayeur (1,224m) for most of February. Grant and Oli skied around the resort and looked over towards Bertone and Col Sapin (2,435m). There’s still lots of snow up high!