The Tour du Mont-Blanc when you're afraid of heights : where the exposure really is, and how to avoid it

The question comes up with nearly every booking on the Tour du Mont-Blanc, and it's almost always put the same way: is there a narrow path with a drop right beside it, and what happens if I freeze halfway along.

The honest answer fits in two sentences. Over the roughly 170 kilometres of the route, there are three sections where the exposure is real, and together they amount to less than an hour of walking. All three can be sidestepped, one of them by a waymarked path whose track is further down this article.

Nature and mountain guides, we cross these sections several times a season, often with someone in the group who isn't keen on the exposure. This article sets out where they are, exactly what they involve, what makes them harder on some days, and how to avoid them without missing anything from the tour.

"Exposed" means two rather different things, and that's where the confusion comes from

In the mountains, a section described as "exposed" can mean two quite separate things. Exposed to a drop means a possible fall. Exposed to the elements means an open ridge with no shelter, where a storm can catch you out.

The TMB is heavily exposed in the second sense and barely exposed at all in the first. The Grand Col Ferret (2,537 m), Col de la Seigne (2,516 m), Col de la Croix du Bonhomme (2,479 m) and Col des Fours (2,665 m) are all described as exposed, and rightly so: to wind, cold, afternoon storms. None of the four has a drop beside the path. They're wide, grassy or stony passes, where the real difficulty is timing rather than terrain.

That distinction settles the matter for most of the route on its own. The TMB is a wide, well-marked path for over 95% of its length, with plenty of slope underfoot but nothing resembling a ledge above a drop.

What's left is the small percentage this article is actually about.

The three sections where the exposure is real

The Trè-le-Champ ladders, stage 10

This is the section everyone mentions, and the only fixed equipment on the classic route. It sits on stage 10, from Trè-le-Champ to Refuge de la Flégère, roughly an hour and a half of climbing through forest from Trè-le-Champ (1,400 m).

Eleven metal ladders in succession cross a rock band, followed by a chimney fitted with steps. Allow 30 to 45 minutes from the first rung to Tête-aux-Vents (2,132 m).

Three things are worth knowing, and they're rather more reassuring than alarming. It isn't eleven ladders one after another: they're short stretches, broken up by ordinary path, handrails and the odd step. Most take under a minute, and only one is noticeably taller, around eight metres. Above all, the ladders lean against the rock face rather than standing vertical, with evenly spaced rungs and handrails throughout.

On a ladder, you're facing the rock. Your hands are occupied, the holds are secure, and your eyes are on the next rung, thirty centimetres away. Plenty of people who'd rather not think about heights get through these ladders without any bother, because that position simply doesn't put the drop in view. What unsettles people here is often the look of the thing rather than the actual exposure.

One practical point nobody thinks to ask about beforehand: there's no harness, no lanyard, no belay point. This isn't a via ferrata, it's fixed rungs. Walkers sometimes arrive expecting to clip in and find there's nothing to clip onto. Best to know that the evening before.

The rock-flake ledge, just after

This is the section talked about least, and the one that stops the most people.

Above the ladders, a short two-metre stretch has you edging along the cliff on the rim of a rock flake, with some fifty metres of drop underneath. The section is equipped and the footing is wide. But you're no longer facing the rock: you're side-on to it, above the drop, with nothing to hold in front of your eyes.

It's a different sort of fear. On the ladder, the body knows what to do. On the ledge, there's nothing ahead to hold, and the eyes drift naturally to exactly the wrong spot. In our experience, when someone freezes along this stretch, it's almost always here, not on the ladders they'd been dreading for three days.

Two things make all the difference at this point: keep one hand on the cable, and fix your eyes on the exact spot where your foot is about to land, not on the ground fifty metres below. It's over quickly. Ten seconds and it's behind you.

The Col du Brévent ladders, stage 11

This is the blind spot of the whole subject. Plenty of people prepare for the Trè-le-Champ ladders, get through them, feel rather pleased with themselves, and then run into two more ladders the next day that they never saw coming.

On stage 11, from La Flégère to Les Houches, the climb to Brévent crosses a rocky spur fitted with two metal ladders of 8 and 9 rungs, around 2,400 m, just past Col du Brévent (2,368 m). A handrail takes you out of the section. It's considerably shorter than Trè-le-Champ and less dramatic, but the ground around it is a jumble of sharp rock where the waymarking needs following carefully.

This section has one quirk: it falls on the last day, on legs that have already done ten days of walking, and often after a windy pass. Tiredness counts for more here than the exposure does.

And the Bionnassay footbridge, which isn't really the point

It's often lumped in with the TMB's more unnerving sections, and that's not entirely fair. The suspension bridge over the Bionnassay torrent sits on the Col du Tricot variant, so it's off the main route, and it's sturdy, wide, with railings on both sides.

It moves underfoot and the torrent roars below, which is enough to make plenty of people quicken their pace. But there's nothing to actually get across: you walk, you hold the cables, and it's over in twenty seconds. And if it bothers you, the classic route via Col de Voza avoids it entirely, without losing anything essential.

The descent from Col du Tricot, on the other hand, is steep and loose underfoot. That's the real point to watch on this variant, rather more than the footbridge that tends to overshadow it.

The ladder bypass, measured

A waymarked path avoids the rock band altogether. It starts at Col des Montets, about a quarter of an hour above Trè-le-Champ, passes the visitor chalet of the Réserve naturelle des Aiguilles Rouges, and climbs the valley with no fixed equipment whatsoever.

It adds 2 km and 85 metres of ascent, around forty extra minutes of walking. That's all. The ascent is nearly identical because both routes are heading for the same point: the ladders climb more steeply, the bypass climbs for longer.

The detail that matters most, and that puts people's minds at rest as soon as it's mentioned: this path rejoins the TMB at the Tête-aux-Vents cairn (2,132 m), exactly where the ladder section finishes, so before the turning for Lac Blanc. Skipping the ladders doesn't cost you Lac Blanc, or a single metre of the rest of the tour. You only miss out on the rock band.

• Distance :↔ 8.2 km
• Dénivelé positif :↗ 771 m
• Dénivelé négatif :↘ 329 m

Two things worth knowing before you decide.

Decide before leaving Trè-le-Champ. This is the single most useful piece of advice on this page. The two routes split at the bottom, not at the top. If you start up towards the ladders and stop at the foot of the first one, you'll have to go back down everything you've climbed and then back up to Col des Montets, which costs an hour and rather a lot of morale. Deciding the evening before, at the refuge, costs nothing at all.

The bypass isn't exactly flat either, mind. It has no fixed equipment and no section above a drop, that much is true. But it's still a mountain path, with slopes underfoot and steep views down into the valley. Anyone whose unease comes simply from the sight of exposure, regardless of actual danger, will still find the odd moment here that takes a bit of nerve. Suggesting otherwise would only set you up for the same trouble twice over.

Can you complete the TMB without a single equipped section?

Yes, entirely, and without any mechanical transport if you'd rather do without.

It comes down to three choices, at the only three points where the question actually arises:

• Stage 1: Col de Voza rather than Col du Tricot. You avoid the footbridge and the steep descent.
• Stage 10: Col des Montets rather than the ladders. You add 2.1 km and 40 minutes.
• Stage 11: the climb to Brévent by the piste rather than the equipped spur, or the Planpraz cable car from Chamonix if your legs have had enough.

The rest of the route runs on wide walking paths. You keep Col de la Seigne, the Grand Col Ferret, the balcony paths of the Italian Val Ferret, Lac Blanc, and the crossing of the Aiguilles Rouges. In other words, you keep the tour.

And if you were considering one of the higher variants, the Fenêtre d'Arpette isn't a fear-of-heights problem at all, it's a scree problem: loose blocks, a faint path, no drop. It can be sidestepped via Bovine, but for reasons that have nothing to do with fear of heights. The comparison of all eleven variants is in our article on the Tour du Mont-Blanc variants.

What makes a section harder, and what helps

The same section doesn't feel the same from one day to the next. These factors matter every bit as much as the terrain itself.

Rain. Wet metal rungs turn slippery, and wet hands grip less well. If it rained overnight, let things dry off for an hour or take the bypass. It's the only factor that turns a psychological difficulty into a genuine risk.

Early season. Before mid-July, leftover snow on the approach and morning frost on the shaded rungs can make the section trickier. It clears during the day: if you're at all unsure on waking, give the sun an hour to work, or take the bypass, which has no rungs to ice over.

Fog, which actually helps. It sounds unlikely, but it's quite true: when you can't see the bottom, fear of heights eases noticeably. Plenty of tricky crossings have gone smoothly simply because the cloud was low. On the other hand, fog makes the waymarking at Brévent harder to follow.

The queue. In July and August, day walkers heading up to Lac Blanc create waits that can stretch to three quarters of an hour at the foot of the tallest ladder. For someone uneasy about heights, that's the real complicating factor: being committed on the rungs with someone right behind you, unable to slow down or step back. Setting off early solves that, and so does going first in your group: nobody behind you, and all the time you need.

Your rucksack. Fifteen kilos changes your balance on a ladder, particularly a tall rucksack that isn't cinched down properly. Tighten the hip belt, snug the shoulder straps, and stow your poles before you reach the foot of the section: two free hands aren't up for negotiation.

Tiredness. It amplifies fear of heights, which is why the Brévent ladders, short and easy as they are, sometimes cause more bother than the ones at Trè-le-Champ. The night before a section you're dreading, a decent night's sleep counts for more than an extra stage.

When it all seizes up: what actually helps

Freezing on a section is nothing out of the ordinary, and it says nothing about your ability. It happens to people who've been walking for twenty years. What matters is what happens in the three minutes that follow.

For the person it's happening to. Stop looking into the distance, bring your eyes back to your hands and feet, and breathe slowly, letting the out-breath last longer than the in-breath. The body settles before the mind does. Then move from one precise point to the next, without looking at the rest. Many people describe the same thing afterwards: the section itself lasted five minutes, the mental energy it took lasted two hours. Expect to feel drained afterwards, and don't line up a big stage straight after.

For whoever's walking with them. Stand in front, not behind: showing where to put a foot helps, pushing doesn't. Talk about the next hold, not the drop, and certainly not about how there's nothing to be afraid of. "But it's easy" is about the least useful sentence going, because it adds a layer of shame on top of the fear. A hand offered at the right moment often sorts out what ten minutes of reasoning never would.

And if it still won't go. Turning back is a mountain decision like any other. On the TMB, at this exact spot, it costs an hour and two kilometres. That's a small price. What's costly is forcing someone who's frightened: panic on an equipped section is the real danger, far more than the section itself.

In our groups, this sort of thing is usually settled over dinner the evening before, quietly, without becoming everyone's business. That's also what we try to do as guides: get the question out in the open beforehand, not at the foot of the ladder.

The direction you walk changes everything

The TMB is walked anticlockwise by the great majority of hikers, and that's rather good news: in that direction, you climb the Trè-le-Champ ladders.

Clockwise, you descend them. It isn't the same exercise at all. Going down, your eyes point downward, your foot searches for the next rung without seeing it, and your rucksack pulls you backward. For someone uneasy about heights, climbing is noticeably more comfortable than descending.

If you're set on clockwise for other reasons, the bypass via Col des Montets works just as well in that direction, and it's probably the sensible choice by default.

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