Tête de Balme (Martigny)
Description
The starting point of the tour is Martigny, from where you first take the train to Le Châtelard. If you want to make things even easier, you can travel to Vallorcine and extend the shuttle ride with a gondola ride. No pain, no gain, so at Le Châtelard, you'll have to make your own way up a small road to the small reservoir and from there, the route becomes increasingly steep on a gravel road up to the Col de Balme. On the ascent you have a wonderful view of the valley with Chamonix and the peaks of the Mont Blanc massif. To reach the summit of the Tête de Balme, first follow the super-flowing single trail, which is closed to mountain bikers in July and August, and then take a very steep gravel road to the summit from the east side. On the other hand, it is also possible to hike directly up to the summit from the Col de Balme, carrying your bike (120 meters in altitude). The view from up here is simply stunning!
Now it's time for the descent to Trento. The path is flowy, but in the first section the flow is interrupted by oversized water channels. These are a thing of the past from Catogne onwards, followed by a super trail to Tseppes. In the following section to Trento, you have to challenge your own riding technique again and again, followed by flowy sections until the next more challenging passage. This attractive alternation takes you down to Trient.
Now you climb up to the Col de la Forclaz (although a post bus with bike transport would also go up), from where you head into the final descent down to Martigny. This final section is a wonderful variety of trails and roads through small villages and forms the end point of an excellent singletrail tour with an almost unbeatable panorama.
Map & GPX-Track
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Details of the tour
35 km
1495 m
2165 m
1 day
Martigny
Martigny
2045
well suited
More information
No bike shops are registered for this region. Registration as a partner takes place here.
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User comments (4)
About the author: Thomas Giger
Note: This content has been automatically translated from German. Please report any incorrect translations.
I rode the tour on 20.07.2024. As I was on a Mont Blanc circumnavigation, I came from Argentière and joined the tour on the Col de Balme. The view from up there is very impressive. There was no sign of a ban on biking for miles around. As most hikers take the trail via "Les Herbagères", I was practically on my own from the Tête de Balme onwards. The trail down to Trient is absolutely top class and flowy and fun to ride. Due to storm damage, the trail towards Trient was closed at around 1750 meters above sea level, so I had to take the direct route to the Trient campsite. This trail was also easy to ride, although quite steep throughout.
The road up to the Col de la Forclaz is then easy to ride. From there, I took the first section of the trail towards Champex to take the trail through the Combe des Faces back onto the track. I can also recommend this additional loop. After that, it's quite a fun ride down to Martigny, albeit without any highlights. All in all, a highly recommended tour. I ride a Scott Genius Ultimate and am usually in the head group uphill; downhill I'm always the last one by a long way.
The ban on biking only applies for July and August, but the entire trail is reserved for hikers, and there is another alternative for bikes. At least that's what a large sign at the hut on the Col de Balme says. Apparently due to the trail damage caused by mountain bikers.
I would advise against doing it at the weekend, there seem to be a lot of hikers.
Information confirmed.... I did this great tour yesterday and the path at point 1756 is closed. On the right fork it goes very well, very steep, but playful
According to Switzerland Mobil, the chemin des Tseppes is closed due to falling rocks (3.4.23 - 30.11.23).