Trail des Frahans (TDF)

To be a Frahans, a traditional stone mason from the Giffre Valley, you need to be strong and skilful…

To reach the end of the Frahans Trail, you’ll need to bring your strength and skill of course but also some other key qualities: a love of mountain views, an appreciation of long and steep climbs, a passion for technical descents. You’ll also need to be comfortable with exposure and of course, you’ll need to have the stamina to manage to keep going for more than a marathon coupled with some substantial elevation.

If you think you’ve got these skills, don’t worry about sending your CV and covering letter. All you need to do is to lace up your shoes for a loop which starts off with a tough climb up the Bourgeoise, then on up to the Pointe de Chamoissiere, before a short respite between the Col de Joux Plane and the Nyon lake. Enjoy the break because if the next climb up to the Point d’Angolan seems steep to you, it’s descent… well actually maybe it’s better if we don’t talk about that…

After that, you can attempt to find your fortune at the Lac des Mines d’Or (or Gold Mine lake), which you could deposit in Switzerland as we’ll be hitting the border for the first time at the Col de Coux!

Next, you’ll cross the Col de la Golese, before starting the ascent to the highest point of the Frahans Trail: the Tete de Bostan with 2,403m of height and breath taking views!

And after? That’s simple! A ‘little descent’ with an elevation loss of nearly 1,700m of down to the finish line, dropping by the col de Bostan (our 2nd trip to the Swiss border) which will test your technical abilities on snow, rocks and mud etc…We don’t expect you to be able to walk on water: at the Lac aux Dames, you can just run around it after all that! ;-)