TDS (Sur les Traces des Ducs de Savoie)

August 27th-29th 2010 

Start : Courmayeur
Finish : Chamonix 

A race in open country along the ‘Grande Randonnée’ paths crossing though the Mont-Blanc, Beaufort, Tarentaise and Aosta valley countryside.
A mountainous event, including numerous sections at altitude (>2,500m), in weather conditions which can be very difficult (night, wind, cold, rain or snow), requiring a very good level of fitness, the appropriate equipment and a real capacity for personal autonomy. 

The two Savoie and the Aosta valleys are some of the provinces that once made up the Savoie State. Line up to discover these 3 regions which are united around Mont-Blanc, and borrow the paths where history and the mountains meet.

You will firstly, experience the particular ambience of the start from the centre of Courmayeur on Friday August 27th at midnight. Followed by the night-time passage through Pre Saint Didier, before the first climb (+800m) towards the pastures of Petozan, then the descent towards la Thuile (1st refreshment post). A second climb of 700m will bring you to the Col du Petit Saint-Bernard (2,188m, refreshment post). You leave the Aosta valley and begin your journey in the Haute Tarentaise for a long descent towards Seez and Bourg Saint-Maurice along the roman road. However, a short way before Saint-Germain you turn towards the hamlet of Bonneval-les-Bains to reach Fort de la Platte (refreshment post) at the end of a rather long balcony path which crosses above the town of Bourg Saint-Maurice. Now begins a hard and yet magnificent stage deep in the mountains which will take you along some of the most beautiful paths of the Tarentaise, Beaufort and Mont-Blanc country. You climb, firstly, the Col de la Forclaz (2,369m), and then the passeur de Pralognan (2,567m) before descending, beginning very steeply, and then flattening out, to bring you to the volunteers of Beaufort at the Cormet de Roselend (refreshment post). It will then be necessary to climb the cols de la Sauce (2,307m), du Bonhomme (2,329m) and de la Fenêtre (2,245m) before testing the welcome of the Hauteluce team who will be waiting for you at the Col du Joly (refreshment post). This wild walk will continue by crossing towards Mont Joly (2,525m) with its incomparable view facing Mont-Blanc, before joining, by a long and steep descent the refreshment post at Saint Nicolas de Véroce. You then climb once again to reach Bellevue (1,800m), and then there is the final big descent in to Les Houches, passing by the Arandellys shack. Now there are only about ten short kilometres and several small hills to climb before, at last, you arrive in the centre of Chamonix for a triumphal and well merited crossing of the finishing line. 

Distance : around 111km
Positive height gain : around 7,000m
Time limit : 32 hours 

Refreshments : the principal of the event is to be semi-self-sufficient. Seven posts will be supplied with drinks and/or food to be consumed in situ. 

Main difficulties : Col du Petit Saint-Bernard (2,188m), Passeur de Pralognan (2,567m), Col du Bonhomme (2,329m), Mont-Joly (2,525m) 

Registration for the TDS is reserved strictly for competitors who already have experience, and can prove it. It is necessary to have acquired at least 2 points by finishing in 2007, 2008 or 2009, one or two, of the trails which figure in the list published here. This race will be limited to 1,200 competitors.