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by Brad M. McGehee
There are many different ways to test
gear, and this past fall I spent ten
days, 100 miles, and over 42,000 feet in
elevation change completing the Tour du
Mont Blanc. This popular and well
established trek starts in Chamonix,
France; continues through Italy and
Switzerland; and ends back in Chamonix,
completely encircling Mont Blanc, the
highest peak in western Europe.
The particular trip I took was
sponsored by
REI Adventures and was actually lead
by a guide company based in
Chamonix. While each day was spent
hiking rugged alpine mountain paths, the
nights were spent in comfortable hotels,
auberges, and mountain refuges. This
meant that during this trip I focused on
testing gear more designed for hikers
and adventure travelers than
backpackers.
The trip was in September, at the
very end of the Tour du Mont Blanc
trekking season. Since I had not
traveled in this area before, I had to
rely on REI Adventures to tell me what
the weather would be like, along with
what gear they recommended.
I took the information REI provided and then came
up with my own, slightly modified list,
of what gear to bring. I brought along
more than I really needed, as I wanted
to test a variety of new gear I had.
This was not a problem because we did
not have to carry all our gear ourselves
(it was transported every day to the
next overnight location). I only had to
carry a daypack each day, carrying only
the gear I wanted to test for that
particular day.
According to REI Adventures, the
weather was supposed to run about 60 to
75 degrees during the day, and about the
50's at night. This was a good estimate,
as the actual daytime temps ran about
40-75 degrees, with the nights running
about 45 - 55 degrees.
Our clothing needs changed a lot
throughout the trek due to changing
conditions. Here's what affected our
comfort:
- Mornings tended to be cold or
cool, but as the day progressed, it
generally warmed up a lot, especially
on sunny days.
- Valleys were much warmer than
mountain passes. Each day, we
generally started out in a valley,
climbed a mountain pass, then
descended into a valley for the night.
- As the alpine paths snaked up and
down the mountains, we would find
ourselves facing wind one moment, and
then finding the wind behind us the
next. The same was true with being in
shadows and in direct sunlight.
- Our physical activity level also
often changes, ranging from steep
inclines, level areas, and steep
declines.
All of these contributed to our group
members changing their clothing often to
meet the current needs, and allowed me
to experiment with different clothing.
Of the ten actual hiking days, it
rained one day all day, two other days
it was very cloudy and foggy, and the
rest of the days were sunny. Overall,
the weather was just about perfect for
alpine hiking. One day snow was
predicted, but it ended up not
happening. In any case, on that day, we
dressed as if we might get snow,
carrying warm clothing just in case we
needed it.
The purpose of this article is to
tell you about the clothing and gear I
brought along, why I selected it, and
how well it really did. To make this
article a little easier to read, I have
broken the gear and clothing into these
categories:
While the gear and clothing in this
article were test specifically on the
Tour du Mont Blanc, my comments are also
applicable to a wide variety of hiking
and adventure travels.
Much of the gear and clothing I
brought along on this trip I have
already reviewed, in-depth, on this
website. To see my in-depth reviews,
click on the appropriate links.
Read Travel/Casual Clothing Reviews
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