Tour du Mont Blanc, Day 5: Villair to Plampincieux
Wednesday, August 5: the Mont de la Saxe ridge, a lot of cows, and a bus that wouldn't stop
Day 5 was our first full day in Italy, and the one with the best seat in the house: a long, grassy ridge looking straight across at the Italian side of the Mont Blanc massif, glaciers and all. It ended with a fight against the local bus schedule, which we lost, and an afternoon in Courmayeur, which we won. This is Day 5 of ten on the trail; the overview and the all-days map are in the trip summary post.
The day in numbers: 7.2 mi / 11.5 km · 3,125 ft / 953 m up · 2,475 ft / 754 m down · 6h25 on the trail, 3h51 moving · high point 7,690 ft / 2,344 m on the Mont de la Saxe ridge · Villair 1,396 m to Plampincieux 1,593 m (watch).
Up out of Courmayeur
Breakfast at the Hotel Triolet was a quiet little buffet, with an excellent made-to-order caffè latte from the proprietor's son. Italy!
A taxi ran us up to the trailhead at Villair, 1,396 m, and we were walking at 08:17. The climb goes up quickly through the woods to a hillside overlooking Courmayeur, with a few wonderful lookout spots on the way.
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| Courmayeur far below, from one of the lookouts on the climb |
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| The Italian side of Mont Blanc wearing its cloud, from the climb |
Rifugio Bertone
The Rifugio Bertone sits on a shoulder at 1,989 m. It was crowded, so we walked on by and only stopped to refill our water.
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| The Rifugio Bertone on its shoulder above Courmayeur |
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| The signpost at Bertone, with the massif behind |
The Mont de la Saxe ridge
At a junction above the refuge, we took the variant up onto Mont de la Saxe, the long grassy ridge between Courmayeur and the Italian Val Ferret. From up there you can see the whole southeast face of the Mont Blanc group across the valley, glaciers spilling down it, and the valleys below. We could even pick out the stations of the Skyway Monte Bianco, the cable car that climbs from Entrèves past the Pavillon du Mont Fréty to Punta Helbronner.
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| The Mont de la Saxe ridge, with the Mont Blanc massif along the right |
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| The Brenva Glacier spilling down from Mont Blanc, with the summit in the clouds |
The ridge is pastoral the whole way: wide, grassy, and full of cows. We topped out at 2,344 m just before noon. One cow had waded into a pond up there and was in no hurry to get out.
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| Note -- water here not safe to drink :) |
Down into the Val Ferret
From the ridge we dropped down into the Val Ferret proper.
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| Looking down into the Val Ferret on the descent |
Lunch was on a hillside above a cow farm at 1,967 m, from 13:14 to 13:54, with a lot of very relaxed calves for company.
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| Calves lounging next to our lunch spot |
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| Fireweed along the trail down, with the massif behind |
The bus that wouldn't stop
At the bottom we crossed the river and walked beside the road for a bit, then sat down in the hot sun to wait for the green line shuttle bus back to Courmayeur.
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| The river at the bottom of the Val Ferret |
The first bus drove right past us for no apparent reason. An Italian passenger waiting with us called to complain. The second one passed us too, because it was full. Just after the second blow-by, our guide miraculously flagged down one of the luggage vans her company uses, and the driver was gracious enough to run us all the way back to our hotel in Courmayeur.
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| Flags by the road near Plampincieux, where we waited for the bus |
An afternoon in Courmayeur
Back at the Triolet, we had a cold sparkling water, got cleaned up, and went for a walk around the pedestrian area.
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| The Mont Blanc massif framed by an archway in Courmayeur |
We spent an hour in the Museo Alpino Duca degli Abruzzi, the museum of the Società delle Guide Alpine di Courmayeur. It was founded in 1850: the second guides' society in Europe, after the Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix (1821), and the first in Italy. We also learned there that Mont Blanc has a second summit, the Mont Blanc de Courmayeur (Monte Bianco di Courmayeur), which is in Italy. The Italians wanted one of their own! Then we looked in the church just across from it, got gelato at Crème et Chocolat, and picked up a TMB map at a bookstore.
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| The church in Courmayeur's old town |
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| The home of the Società delle Guide Alpine di Courmayeur and its museum |
Dinner was a smorgasbord of antipasti at Caffè della Posta, a historic place with a big old fireplace. The wine and food were great.
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| Inside the Caffè della Posta |
After dinner we went back for another gelato at Crème et Chocolat and sauntered through the old town back to the hotel.
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| Courmayeur at dusk |
Tips for Day 5
- Take the Mont de la Saxe variant from the junction above the Rifugio Bertone. It's a long, open ridge with the whole massif in view most of the way.
- Don't count on the Val Ferret shuttle in high season. Full buses drive right past the stops, so have a taxi number ready, or plan to walk.
- Give Courmayeur an afternoon. The guides' museum is worth an hour, and so is the gelato.
The track
The whole day is on the track, start to finish. Hover or tap the profile for elevation.
Villair to Plampincieux
Elevation, Day 5 — the whole day recorded
Day — tap to hide or show
← Previous: Day 4, Ville des Glaciers over the Col de la Seigne to La Visaille
Next → Day 6, Pra Sec past the Rifugio Bonatti to the Rifugio Elena (coming soon)
Overview: all ten days and the all-days map
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