Vallée du Trient — Valle di Chamonix
Tour du Mont Blanc — Stage 7: Trient → Tré-le-Champ
21.9 km
+1679 m
−1959 m
13 h
Fitness level
Map & route
GPX track — verify on the ground before hiking
Description
From Trient and Le Peuty climb to the Col de Balme (2,191 m) by the spectacular high variant of Les Grands, a balcony above the Trient glacier. At the pass, on the French-Swiss border, the whole Chamonix valley crowned by Mont Blanc suddenly opens ahead; descend via Charamillon and the village of Le Tour to Tré-le-Champ (1,417 m).
From the small cluster of Le Peuty you climb the high variant of Les Grands: a panoramic ledge cut into the valley flank, looking straight down on the tongue and moraines of the Trient glacier — far wilder country than the normal route. The Col de Balme, its historic refuge set exactly on the border, delivers the TMB’s most famous coup de théâtre: the whole of Mont Blanc filling the horizon above the Chamonix valley. The descent passes the Charamillon alps and the mountaineering village of Le Tour down to the hamlet of Tré-le-Champ.
Key points
Col de Balme
2191 m · 15.1 km from start
Earth sciences
Geology & landscape
The Mont Blanc massif is a Hercynian granite batholith (~300 million years old) uplifted by the Alpine orogeny: the pale Mont Blanc granite — the “protogine” — forms the Peuterey and Géant spires. At its feet the tour walks on older crystalline basement rocks (gneiss and micaschist) and, in Val Veny, on the Mesozoic limestones of the Pyramides Calcaires, a sliver of sedimentary cover pinched between the granites. The Miage and Brenva moraines are textbook examples.
History & culture
The Col de Balme refuge, on Swiss soil a step from France, has served travellers since 1879: for decades it was run by the legendary “mamma” Frasserand of Le Tour.
Water sources
Water at the stage's support points (Trient, Tré-le-Champ). On the high ground and at the passes springs are not guaranteed: fill bottles in the valley and at the huts.
Getting there
Cross-border stage: on the foreign sides local public transport applies (PostAuto in Switzerland, line buses in France/Piedmont). Check seasonal timetables; in peak season several access links run by reservation only.
Warnings
- Snowfields possible on the passes until early July
- Check the weather: long high-altitude stages with few escape routes
- Book overnight stops in peak season
Start & end
Start
Trient
1514 m
Finish
Tré-le-Champ
1398 m
Adjacent stages
ACurated and verified by Andrea
Data source: Tour du Mont Blanc — itinerario internazionale segnalato · Traccia calcolata su rete sentieri OpenStreetMap (ODbL); verificare sul terreno
Last verified:
Vallée du Trient — Valle di Chamonix
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