I guess I’m just after a bit of reassurance really, Ive booked my flights and the 12 weeks countdown begins….. Am going to ride the TMB solo self supported wild camping on the top of the peaks along the route and I’ve got 5 and a bit days to do it in.
I’m starting from Martigny and picking up the route at the northern most point and riding it clockwise. Looking at some of the google maps images and youtube vids for end of March it looks like it will at least 80% snow covered.
Will this make it more tricky or will it actually make the route easier?
anyone done this or similar routes in the snow at that time of the year?
Cheers

Sounds fantastic… With the potential for the best snowgletrack if it’s been skied or snowshoed before you get on it…

Tried any other fatbike forums in Central Europe?

Try reposting this on the BearBones Bikepacking Forum. There’s at least one fatbiking Chamonix local on there who may be able to advise you (especially regarding craft beer establishments in that neck of the woods!)

http://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/phpBB3/

Do people really do this in March on a bike? Wild camping?

I assume you have winter mountain skills and a love of pushing to even consider this.

Do fat bikes float on deep powder snow? Can you ride them down 30° sheet ice? Will you be able to carry your bike + all your kit including axe and crampons? Do you have the kit and skills to deal with crap weather and temps of -15° or below? Will you be travelling with others and if so will you all carry shovel, probe and avalanche transceivers and more importantly the knowledge of how to avoid needing them?

If the answers are yes then it might be great fun.

Spin says it more eloquently than me

Just seen the solo bit. How’s your knowledge of decision making in avalanche terrain? You’ll definitely be in avalanche terrain.

march???? putting the mental back into fundamental 🙂

Intrigued, I found this:

http://www.sidetracked.com/tour-du-mont-blanc-by-fatbike/

I got to a point, above a cliff band, where I realised there was no way out. I was on the side of that mountain, in a gully, completely on my own with a bike and a heavy pack. I was scared out of my mind. I thought about my family.

I might be wrong, but I think you might want to reconsider…everything about your plan

Intrigued, I found this

Not so sure about the title of that article! He basically bailed out at the first proper pass he encountered and rightly so. Also, what’s that not eating guff about? Yes you can train your body to run better on fat but it’s not instead of eating especially not on multi day trips.

I’d say it would definitely be possible to do the TMB in March on a fat bike but it would need to be someone with plenty of experience of travel in that terrain and the flexibility to wait for the right conditions.

Also, what’s that not eating guff about?

He was sick, so couldn’t eat.

Ah right, I only skimmed it, saw the bit about not eating on training rides to encourage fat metabolism and assumed he was doing that on the ride.

Those flights, cancellable/refundable?

Those flights, cancellable/refundable?

I’m sure he could still go out and have fun on the fat bike with maybe a high camp or 2 if the conditions are good.

I’ve commented on the OP’s similar thread on BearBones. There’s the Jura Mountains to the north of Geneva (I assumed that was where the flights were to) that have fat bike friendly trails.

my buddies and I did TMB in september a few years back – **** me there is a lot of hike a bike, and we were lucky that it was perfect weather. You could get seriously in trouble…take guides advice!!

We did the Traversee du Jura this october, still lots of climbing, but good fun, there are definitely cross country skiing routes, and the terrain would be fine for fatbikes, with very little hike a bike, and plenty of bail out options. Train connections from Geneva airport also very good (if only on your own)

It’s very hard to find statistics on just how many people die in the Mont Blanc massif every year, even as a local, but the most common numbers I hear are about 400.
The TdMB doesn’t get walked in winter, in fact rarely before mid May or after late October. It also rarely gets done as a ski tour partly because there’s much more interesting things to ski but also because there are several points with very high avalanche risk due to the slopes above heating up. On a fat bike you’re unlikely to be able to get through those sections very quickly.
I don’t know if you’ve tried fat biking off piste above 2000m in mid winter before (March is peak snow depth for mid mountain altitude in Haute Savoie) but it does seem quite hard. You don’t have a trodden trail to follow, nor is it the 10-30cm powder snow ontop of solid ground most biking on snow videos feature.
Now, on the other hand, Aosta valley has lots of great nordic ski trails, cafes, restaurants, scenery and refuges. Just 90mins in a hire car from Geneva airport….

OP, just in case you are actually serious:

(For context, I’m a snowboard instructor, bike guide and international mountain leader, based in the TMB area).

You have 0% chance of doing this. None. Forget it. It is not doable in any way, shape or form.

The high passes will be buried under multiple metres of snow. As it is March, it could be anything from blue ice to deep powder. If it’s blue ice, you’ll slip and die. If it’s powder, you’ll get hopelessly bogged-down, get stuck and, if you persist, die. Many places would be highly avalanche prone (Col de Bonhomme, Col de le Seigne, Grand Col Ferret, etc.). Again, die.

All of the areas which are within ski resorts will still be 100% open for skiing and it would be unlikely that they’d allow you up the mountain – which would at least reduce the amount of die.

Seriously, do not even consider this. It might be just about doable on touring skis, but even then would be a serious undertaking. On a fatbike, just no.

I have also just noticed the “5 and a bit days” line.

Once again, no chance. Treble that at last.

I might change my plans 😳

looking at a more rideable route from airport up to Crêt de la Neige then along the ridge and through the forests to monte tendre – total route about 100 ish miles and the potential for death is significantly reduced, my wife WILL be please although that life insurance claim form seems to have suddenly appeared 😯 😯

Phew! 😀

The high passes will be buried under multiple metres of snow. As it is March, it could be anything from blue ice to deep powder. If it’s blue ice, you’ll slip and die. If it’s powder, you’ll get hopelessly bogged-down, get stuck and, if you persist, die. Many places would be highly avalanche prone (Col de Bonhomme, Col de le Seigne, Grand Col Ferret, etc.). Again, die.

So much negative energy in this place. 🙂

Just drop the psi a bit and stick a smaller chainring on.

Plus some of this: https://www.alpineskibikes.com/

I might change my plans

Good choice.

Learn to ski tour or splitboard if you want to get to those places in winter!

I’ve done it in peak summer, with long days and found 3 days tough. You’ve got no chance at all. Good luck. 😉

Ouf!!! Glad you’ve been put right! As an alternative: looked at the Vercors? and maybe even the GTV MTB route? Jura is also a good suggestion.