The Tour du Mont-Blanc will be regulated to limit overcrowding

The Tour du Mont-Blanc (TMB) will soon no longer be self-service. Gathered on September 16 at the initiative of Jean-Marc Peillex, mayor of Saint-Gervais and president of the Pays du Mont-Blanc community of communes, and of François-Xavier Laffin, his counterpart from Chamonix, also president of the community of communes of the Chamonix-Mont-Blanc Valley, the elected officials of the seven French communes crossed by this trek of 170 kilometers and 10,000 meters of elevation recorded the principle of a charter to regulate attendance.

A text developed with refuge keepers, accommodation providers, guides, transporters and state services, still being finalized, but the spirit of which is contained in a formula from Jean-Marc Peillex, reported by AFP: “The open bar side is over!”

The observation, drawn up in a press release published on September 21 by the two elected officials, is final. The TMB now attracts some 90,000 trekkers each year, an increase of almost 50% since the health crisis, according to their estimates. An influx with consequences deemed “negative, even disastrous” for the properties crossed, the environment and safety, which also complicates the work of professionals in the massif.

Indian files on the trails, wild camps near shelters, waste abandoned in nature: elected officials denounce the excesses of a route that has become a victim of its success. Not to mention these hikers who have their large wheeled suitcases transported by taxi from one stop to the next, sometimes transforming the adventure into an all-inclusive stay.

However, there is no question of closing the mountain. The stated objective is to better organize attendance on the route, taking into account the accommodation capacity.

This is the main change envisaged for 2027: hikers roaming the TMB during the summer season would have to reserve each of their nights, whether in a refuge, hotel, campsite or in an authorized bivouac area.

Wild bivouac would be prohibited in favor of dedicated sites, equipped with toilets and water points, the use of which would give rise to the payment of a fee. The transport of luggage between stages would also be regulated, with a restriction to only trekking bags.

To enforce these new rules, communities are considering the creation of a “green brigade”, responsible in particular for checking reservations and ensuring respect for the premises.

Contacted by TF1info, Daniel Rodrigues, director of the Chamonix Guides Company, welcomes the project, in particular the supervision of the wild bivouac. He also emphasizes the role of mountain guides, while certain agencies market stays on the TMB without a guide, a practice for which he highlights the risks for insufficiently prepared hikers.

But the implementation of the system still raises questions. How to control reservations on such an extensive route? And how can we prevent restrictions from shifting the problems to other sectors of the massif? So many points that remain to be clarified before the signing of the charter, hoped for by the end of the year, for entry into force in spring 2027.

Another difficulty: the tour of Mont-Blanc crosses three countries. French communities wish to involve their Italian and Swiss counterparts in this approach, in order to prevent the rules from changing from one border to another.