3-days Trail Camp: from Courmayeur to Chamonix, preparing the CCC!
Context
I am running the CCC at the end of August (CCC stands for Courmayeur, Champex-Lac, Chamonix, and is the "little sister" of the UTMB: 101 kms and 6.000 meters of elevation).
As with my 2 previous Ultras (Saint Jacques in 2024 and Ultra des Maures in 2025), I registered in a 3-days trail camp to finish my preparation and have proper elevation and volume.
I used Trails in France (TIF) as the 2 previous camps were great - and this time I even found THE perfect camp:
- 3 days from Courmayeur to Chamonix,
- 1 month before my CCC.
Or in other words: roughly the same route as the one I'd do one month later, split across 3 days - how cool is that??
Side note: my goal for that camp
Finishing the CCC is my main goal for this year - which means that I have put a lot of effort in my preparation, and I discussed a plan with my coach:
- stay in zone 2 the whole race (which means maximum 154 BPM),
- Vertical Speed: maximum 700m/hour, ideally between 600 to 700.
This means that I would probably have to "take it easy" especially uphill, and let the rest of the group go and catch up with them afterwards.
First day: Courmayeur - La Fouly
We met at the Chamonix train station at 7am - we were a total of 4 runners (Patricia, Marie, Cédric and myself), with Nicolas being our coach for those 3 days.
The taxi dropped us off in Courmayeur around 9am (yes, the Mont-Blanc Tunnel is busy in the morning!), where we met another TIF group, who was doing the full TMB (Tour du Mont Blanc) in 6 days - i.e. from Chamonix to Chamonix, around the Mont-Blanc. They were also 4 runners with Aurélien being their coach.
After a cappucino/coffee, we left Courmayeur - not using the official CCC/UTMB trace though. I think across the 3 days, we must have followed maybe 60 yo 70% of the trace, which is not really a big deal, as you'll see later in that post.
Bertone and Bonatti Refuges
We passed the Bertone Refuge at KM 4, and carried on until the Bonatti Refuge at KM 12, where we had lunch. The weather was OK - we had to put our jacket on for a few minutes (rain), but in the end this would be the only moment where we'd use them, as the 2 other days would be sunny and nice (24 to 28 degrees Celsius).
A grey weather that will not last forever!
Petit Col Ferret!
In the afternoon, we passed Arnouvaz (CCC's 2nd aid station) and then instead of entering Switzerland via Grand Col Ferret after the Elena Refuge, we CLIMBED Petit Col Ferret - whose existence I was not aware of, but makes sense as if there's a "Grand Col", then there must be a "Petit Col".
I said "climbed" as Petit Col Ferret is a lot harder than its big brother: there are times with an elevation at more than 50%, so to say I struggled would be an understatement, but in the end we made it and afterwards the descent towards Ferret (where we'd stay for the night) was nice and easy.
Also - when I mentioned that not following the CCC trace was not a big deal,
Petit Col Ferret is probably a great example: see, Grand Col Ferret is where I
decided to give up CCC in 2024, as I was dehydrated and exhausted, and upon
arriving at the top of the hill, it was super windy and all of a sudden I felt
cold.
Going via Petit Col Ferret will I think prove super useful on August 28, as
instead of thinking of 2024, I'll likely remember how tough Petit Col Ferret
was!
Raclette!
Upon arriving at the Gite de la Léchère, we had a shower, then a beer, then dinner, with a great Raclette!
a raclette with a proper grill!
We then played some card game (Skyjo) before going to bed:
A well-deserved night is waiting for us!
Statistics
We ran 26 kms, did 2000m of elevation and 1500m of descent in 6 hours.
Second day: La Fouly - Trient
We left Ferret, then passed La Fouly and arrived in Champex-Lac.
This was in itself a goal for everyone, as Aurélien kept teasing us about an
awesome bakery in Champex - and indeed it was great! I had a blueberry tart, as
well as a Coke (I drink Coke only when running an Ultra, and this one was
welcome!).
Champex-Lac - I wished we would have swum there!
We had lunch at the Alpage de Bovine - a rice salad, which felt great, I will likely have some during race day!
Moving on, we had 6 kilometers left until Trient - we passed Col de la Forclaz and then downhill to Trient and its iconic pink church:
The place we stayed at in Trient was much bigger than the previous night, but it was surprisingly quiet after 10pm - we met only hikers and trailers there, and everyone would wake up early the day after, so that must have helped!
Statistics
We ran 32 kms, did 1400m of elevation and 1800m of descent - in roughly 6 hours.
Third Day: Trient - Chamonix
The final leg felt weird - 2 days passed felt like almost a week, as we did a lot, in terms of exercise of course, but also in terms of discussions and exchanges!
Leaving Trient knowing that we would be in Chamonix in the afternoon was a bit heartbreaking for me, but at the same time I knew that we would be passing via La Flégère, and I couldn't wait!
But before that, we skipped Vallorcine and instead went via the Col de Balme (great view!) then arrived in France, then to Col des Montets and Tete aux Vents.
La Flégère!
The reason why I keep mentioning La Flégère is because I heard many times how tough this final descent to Chamonix is: plenty of roots and rocks, meaning you have to be careful after 20+ hours of running in the mountains.
I was a bit worried but at the same time eager to see it - and in the end I
enjoyed it a lot, it was a lot easier that I was thinking (I guess staying in
control -zone 2 and 600m vertical speed- was the trick here to stay fresh).
On race day, I will think back about this first descent to reassure myself.
Arriving in Chamonix
After a quick stop at a café to drink something fresh, we carried on until Chamonix.
This was a special moment, as I recognized the trace, getting out the
woods, passing the road (where we'll have the infamous stairs on race day), then
running along the river right next to Chamonix' ice rink (we've been there a few
times to see some hockey games!), turning right, passing the Ravanel Sport shop,
then turning left in Chamonix downtown - where we heard people clapping and
cheering at us!!!
It was the other group who arrived earlier (they did a different route than us
on day 3) - it was super nice - we carried on until the end of the street, then
turn right towards the church, and stopped - giving each other high fives, and
finally taking a finish picture:
Statistics
We ran 29 kms, did 1800m of elevation and 2000m of descent - in roughly 6 hours (again!)
Feedback
What a great camp! I thoroughly enjoyed it, not only in terms of volume/elevation (87 kms, 5200m of elevation, 5300m of descent), but also w.r.t. recognising the trace, getting some reference points and things I could think about on race day when things would be harder. Not to mention of course the nice folks and coaches I met and spent 3 days with!
Now here's to the CCC, in a few days!
Tags: Running