![]() ![]() I’ve had a jab, my friends and family have as well, and it feels like (with all appropriate caveats and pessimism still bubbling around) we can actually start thinking about all those things we have been hankering after for these long months. This year, however, has me feeling more optimistic and positive than ever, and that’s thanks to, at least, my part of the world starting to inch back towards whatever we are calling “normality” at the moment. The long days, hopefully with a bit of sunshine, not to mention the chance to have some proper family time, once the kids have broken up from school. There’s something about summer that never fails to make me feel better. There’s that old saying about the weather in Britain – “if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.” So, after a good grumble about the endless rain of May, I’ve found myself rooting around in the closet for shorts and a tee shirt, rather than the raincoat and wellies. The walking is more immediately harder, but access may be easier".Like any true Englishman, I do enjoy a good grouse about the weather. Argentière is an alternative starting-point. ![]() #ANTI CLOCKWISE HOW TO#Details of how to reach the start of the walk – whichever direction you choose are found in the book. It would be better to start at Champex in order to be mountain- fit before the first of the challenging ascents appears. However, if tackling the Tour du Mont Blanc as a clockwise circuit, it is not advisable to begin at the traditional starting point of Les Houches, for being faced with the very steep 1500m ascent to Le Brévent on the very first day would be enough to intimidate most recreational walkers. The latest edition hopefully, will entice you to do just that, but in a different direction. After all, the Tour of Mont Blanc makes such a splendid two-week holiday that there are bound to be readers who, having walked it once, will dream of doing it again. The four editions of his guidebook deservedly sold in large numbers and thereby encouraged tens of thousands of English-speaking mountain walkers to follow his preferred circuit.īut having walked the TMB in both directions, and seen at first hand the merits of both options, the present guidebook contains directions for anti-clockwise and clockwise routings. The first Cicerone guide to the Tour of Mont Blanc was written by the late Andrew Harper, who naturally described the route in the traditional anti-clockwise direction. As for the steepness or otherwise of ascents and descents, there’s little to choose between the two options. ![]() This can be either comforting or distracting, depending on your outlook. On the other hand, when following the anti-clockwise trend there are nearly always other walkers in view. “Although the Tour of Mont Blanc route is well established as an anti-clockwise circuit, there are arguments in favour of walking the TMB in a clockwise direction, the most persuasive being that by travelling ‘against the flow’ one meets different people at each night’s rest, while during the first hour or two of the walking day the path is virtually empty, then comes a wave of trekkers followed by another period of calm. Recognised as one of the best of the world’s classic walks, it has all the excitement of a high mountain trek, with few of the worries.Īuthor Kev Reynolds describes both the classic anti-clockwise route as well as the clockwise route in his guidebook – so, should I go clockwise or anti-clockwise? I caught up with Kev to find out more: Cicerone's latest edition of Tour of Mont Blanc has just arrived in the warehouse. ![]()
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