Mont Blanc 8 day Itinerary
The climb Mont Blanc itinerary presented here is purely an example of what might happen in a perfect week and could be changed due to circumstances beyond the control of the guides, including adverse weather conditions.
Day 1. Arrival Day
The group will rendez-vous at our hotel/chalet in Argentière (altitude 1,240m), just a few kilometres from Chamonix and at the foot of Mont Blanc. Here, you will be welcomed and made to feel at home.
Before dinner, we will have an informal chat about the week ahead with your Chamonix Experience guide. There is also time for the guide to check out your clothing and gear and to decide if you will need to pick up any further items of equipment before setting out in the morning. After this, we will sit down to an excellent 3-course dinner.
Day 2. Ice skills practice – Orny hut
After a full breakfast, we drive to Champex (approximately 1 hour drive) in Switzerland. We take the little 2-man chair lift up to La Breya, from where we have an excellent view towards Lake Geneva and the Rhone valley down below. A beautiful 2 hours walk takes us to the Orny hut at 2,831m. Staying overnight here will assist with acclimatization. Accommodation is in dormitories. Slippers, blankets and pillows provided as well as dinner and breakfast.
After lunch we have time to practice ice axe and crampons skills on the glacier below the hut. If you haven’t used crampons or an ice axe before, this is where your introduction will take place. If you are feeling brave, there will be the opportunity to climb some steep ice in the crevasses (supervised, of course).
Day 3. Aiguille du Tour – return to France over the glaciers
We are up bright and early at 4 a.m. As the sun comes up, we will be crunching across the Glacier at Plateau du Trient, in our crampons. Our goal for the day is to make an ascent of the Aiguille du Tour (3,542m / 11,621 ft). This is a relatively easy alpine peak with a bit of technical scrambling towards the end. From the summit we can expect a view which stretches all the way from the Matterhorn to Mont Blanc.
From the Aiguille du Tour we will cross the border back in to France and descend the Glacier du Tour, enjoying great views on the way. We eventually reach the Albert Premier hut in time for a pic-nic lunch and a coffee on the lovely sunny terrace. In the afternoon we continue down to the Col de Balme (2,130m) from where we take the chair lift back to the village of Le Tour and return to the Yeti Lodge. This wonderful mountain excursion and will provide us with excellent acclimatization and mountain skills training for your ascent of Mont Blanc. Tonight, we certainly will have earned a delicious 3-course meal at the chalet.
Day 4. Aiguille du Midi and the Vallée Blanche
We take the early morning lift from Chamonix up to the Aiguille du Midi (3,842m/12605ft.). Today, we aim to traverse the Vallee Blanche in order to gain further acclimatisation and continue our practice with ice-axe and crampons. We rope up at the top of the Aiguille Du Midi to descend its classic snow arête to the Col Du Midi (3,532m/11,588ft.) This is a stunning day out with superb views of the big mountains of the Alps – Le Drus, Les Grandes Jorasses, Courtes, Droites, perhaps even a distant view of the Matterhorn. We are crossing snow bridges, looking down in to huge crevasses and admiring towering seracs as we traverse this impressive glacier route to reach the Helbronner Gondola station on the Italian border (the highest border station in Europe). We return via the spectacularly Panoramic Gondola to the Aiguille du Midi and the cable car back down to Chamonix.
Day 5. First day of the Mont Blanc ascent
Now that our training is over, we are ready for the ascent of Mont Blanc. The group will be joined by more guides (ratio 2 clients to 1 guide), in order to give us the best chance of success. The route we choose will depend on the prevailing conditions, the group’s ability and ultimately on the guides’ decision. There are two route alternatives for the ascent and several ways to do it: either the Normal Route, via the Tête Rousse or the Goûter hut and the Dome de Goûter, or the slightly longer Traverse Route which is a more technical ascent of the mountain via Mont Blanc du Tacul and Mont Maudit, staying at the Cosmique hut. Because of the high guide to client ratio, we do have the option at this stage to split the group according to fitness and experience.
For the Normal Route, we will set off from Les Houches, a short drive down the valley from Argentière. A cable car and then a train take us up to the Nid d’Aigle at (2,372m / 7,782ft). From here, we follow a rocky trail for approximately two hours to the Tête Rousse hut at (3,167m / 10,390ft). We will usually stay here overnight but occasionally we may continue for another couple of hours to the Goûter hut at (3,817m / 12,523ft), depending on availability and weather.
The longer Traverse Route (sometimes referred to as the Trois Mont Blancs route) starts by the cable-car to the Aiguille du Midi (3,842m / 12,546ft.). Then, dropping down onto the plateau, we have a short ascent to reach our overnight accommodation at the Cosmiques hut (3,613m / 11,812ft). We will be at the hut by early afternoon, giving us plenty of time to enjoy the dramatic location.
Day 6. Summit day and back to a hut
The Big Day! Weather permitting we will aim to summit Mont Blanc today. As we are not pushed to make it back down to the valley today, we can allow ourselves to have a slightly later start then the normal 1am and avoid the rush. Starting from Tete Rousse on the Normal Route, a rocky scramble leads to the Gouter Hut (3,817m / 12,523ft), from where the remaining 1000m of ascent to the summit of Mont Blanc is on snow covered glacier. The climbing is never technical, although the final ridge is exposed and can be tricky when windy. We are high up and the air is thin, so slow and steady is the way forward. The ascent takes 6 to 7 hours. Alternatively, we start from the Gouter hut from where we have about 4-5 hours of ascent to the summit. We will return by the same route, normally to the Tete Rousse hut, to enjoy the comfort of lower altitudes and we should be back down by early afternoon.
For those attempting the Traverse Route, the entire ascent is on glaciated terrain. After leaving the Cosmiques Hut, the first obstacle is Mont Blanc du Tacul with some steeper sections (30-35 degrees) and crevasses to cross. Thereafter, the climbing is steady until we reach the final slope of Mont Maudit, where we encounter a 60m climb of 40-50 degrees. Having pasted the shoulder of Mont Maudit there are no more technical obstacles just a final long slog to the summit. The ascent takes about 6 to 7 hours. We have the choice to return by the same route to the Cosmique hut or to go down to the Tete Rousse or the Gouter hut and complete the whole traverse.
For either route option, we should be on Mont Blanc’s summit (4,807m/15,772ft.) early morning in position to enjoy some of the most spectacular mountain views in the whole of Europe.
We have allowed a second day for climbing Mont Blanc, so if the conditions are poor, the group will either make their way from the Tete Rousse hut up to the Gouter hut (Normal Route) or spend a second night in the Cosmiques hut (Traverse Route).
Day 7. Second day for summit attempt if required
If we have not summited the day before we make the attempt today as described above. A 1 am start will then be required. After summiting we will have to descend all the way down to the valley and should be back at the chalet by mid-/ late-afternoon, in time for afternoon tea. If we have summited on day 6, we have a leisurely descent to the valley in time for lunch. In the evening, we have the opportunity to reflect on the adventures of the week, during the course of a celebratory dinner at the Yeti Lodge.
Day 8. Departure from Chamonix
The package service ends after breakfast.
