Stage 5 – Courmayeur to Rifugio Bonatti (Val Ferret)

Start: Courmayeur at Auberge de la Maison
End: Hotel Lavachey in Val Ferret (close to Rifugio Bonatti)
Difficulty: Moderate
Route: Normal route (flank of Mont de la Saxe, not the Mont de la Saxe or Val Sapin variants)
Time: 6 hours (including a stop for lunch at Rifugio Bonatti)

After having two rest days, one of which was unexpected, I was quite ready to get going again. While I generally tried to do the variants, a friend who had done this hike before me told me that she wasn’t overly impressed by the variants on this day. In addition, the normal route is meant to be one of the most scenic parts of the TMB. Given that, I decided to just do the typical way. As normal, it was a bit congested at the beginning of the day and then everyone eventually spreads out.

I decided to go to Hotel Lavachey, down in Val Ferret, rather than conclude at Rifugio Bonatti because Hotel Lavachey had a single room available for the night. It added an additional 300m descent this day and 300m ascent the next day, but it was nice to get some privacy.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

As promised by the book, it was a very beautiful day and it wasn’t too difficult. I heard the Mont de la Saxe option was significantly harder.

There is a fairly long slog out of Courmayeur, about 850m. Then, one gets to Rifugio Bertone, and most of the work for the day is done. After that it is a fairly easy and wonderfully scenic trail that goes up and down a bit for the rest of the time. There are fabulous views of the mountains for basically the rest of the trail. This is a day you hope to have good conditions for because it is a very nice day with views.

There is a very steep ascent at the end to Rifugio Bonatti, where most people stay for the night. I decided to have some polenta and pie there for lunch before doing my descent down to Hotel Lavachey. The way I went was a series of gravelly, forested switchbacks, but the ascent back up I took the next day was a bit nicer and more exposed so you could see the views of the valley.

Hotel Lavachey was a good place to grab a beer and the dinner was one of the better ones of the half board places. Their desserts in particular really hit the spot!

Previous: Stage 3, 4 – Refuge des Mottets to Courmayeur
Next: Stage 6 – Rifugio Bonatti (Val Ferret) to La Fouly