The GR5 hike has long been the Tour du Mont Blanc’s lesser known sister, but it may finally be about to step out of the shadows.
After Paris, the Alps are next on the list for Brits, who make up 14% of the 100million tourists who visit France each year – second only to the Germans at 16%.
And among the mountains, the Tour du Mont Blanc sits high on any Alpinist’s list of dream destinations.
However, this has come at a cost.
More people than ever are heading to the Alps to take on the 170km multi-day hike, with 50,000 people completing the TMB last year.
This had led to overcrowded trails and ecological damage, but instead of turning away from the Alps, people have begun to look laterally.
This is where the GR5 comes in.
While the full GR5 spans from the Netherlands to the Mediterranean Sea, the classic Stage One meanders from the Swiss edges of Lac Léman to Les Houches.
I took on that stage this July and covered 103 kilometres in five days, meeting a maximum of ten people a day.
On one particularly remote day, I encountered three – a family drying their socks in a pasture before submitting Col d’Anterne.
GR5 hiker and author of To Walk It Is To See It, Kathy Elkind, holds the same opinion.
The American said: “The GR5 is much less crowded.
“The two-and-a-half days they overlap, that was the most crowded the GR5 ever got.”
Crisscrossing between France and Switzerland, the first stage of the GR5 snakes alongside lakes, through verdant valleys and up summits.
French hiker Béthanie Martin, 25, highlighted the 2,000-metre altitude meadows prior to climbing the Col d’Anterne (2,257m) and the “breathtaking” emerald Lac d’Anterne (2,063m), which is reminiscent of the otherworldly beauty of New Zealand’s South Island.
Summiting Col d’Anterne provides the first glimpse of Mont Blanc, where an unobstructed view of Europe’s highest mountain stretches before you without the crowds of the TMB.
Col de Bise (1,915m) is also an early highlight.
Standing there, one valley below provides a last glimpse of Lac Léman, and the other showcases the mountain ranges you will traverse over the coming week.
Martin pointed out the authentic feel of the GR5, which has slipped away from the increasingly commercialised Tour du Mont Blanc.
She said: “I stayed away from the Tour du Mont Blanc because it seemed like a fight everyday to find a bit of peace on the trail.”
The rise in popularity can be attributed to the post-Covid spike, but it is also evident through the UTMB.
The high-profile trail race causes social media influencers to descend upon Chamonix, which has inflated prices in the town and along the TMB.
In contrast, overnight stays in GR5 refuges remain competitive.
For instance, the Refuge de Chésery sitting at 1,985m only costs 55 euros for half board.
Elkind also emphasised the warm welcome she and her husband received when they hiked the GR5 in 2018.
She said: “We found the French very welcoming.
“When you have a backpack on people are happy to talk you and be friendly.
“It’s really nice to have family-run businesses – there’s more character.”
The American emphasised the sense of accomplishment she felt when completing a route that remains underrated and unknown.
She said: “You are just so proud of yourself, because you sweat and you’ve used your body so much, you are in a relaxed state, it’s kind of a relaxed bliss, it’s quite spiritual.”
For Brits, it is a quick flight to Geneva and a train ride along Lac Léman to the red and white marked start point in Saint-Gingolph.
Feature image: Olivia Franks
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