Ski Mont Blanc 6 day Itinerary

 The 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.

Arrival Day.

The group will rendez-vous at the Chamonix Experience Office in Argentière, just a few kilometres from Chamonix. Here, we will have an informal chat about the week ahead. There will also be a chance for the guide to check out your clothing and gear and to decide if you need to pick up any further items of equipment before setting out in the morning.

Day 1. Off-piste skiing and Avalanche Awareness

After breakfast you will head out skiing. The guide will pick the area providing the best off-piste conditions at the time. This first day you have a chance to try out your gear and make sure everything works. It is also a chance for the guide to check everyone’s skiing ability and for you to brush up on techniques and warm up your ski legs.

Most of this week is being spent outside patrolled areas which means potential risk of avalanches. Therefore, an important part of the day is dedicated to avalanche awareness training and practice using transceivers.

 Day 2. Touring to the Trient refuge

This is a fairly long and hard day. We will take one of the first lifts up the Grands Montets in the morning and ski down the glacier at the back to the Argentière glacier. Here we put our skins on our skis and start ascending on a traverse that eventually finishes with a short climb up and over the Col du Passon (3,038m). For this last climb you will need to put your crampons on and an ice axe can be useful depending on the conditions.

We now find ourselves on the Glacier du Tour. After a quick break for something to eat and drink we have a short descent followed by another fairly gentle ascent to the Col du Tour (3,281m). There we cross over in to Switzerland traverse the Trient plateau before we reach the Trient refuge (3,170m) where stay overnight.

 Day 3. Crevasse rescue and a long ski descent

First thing in the morning we have some time for Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue technique. We will talk about how to read glacial terrain when skiing and how to carry out a crevasse rescue.

After this we have flat and short skin up to the Aiguille du Tour, and a long lovely descent down the Glacier du Grande to the village of Trient in Switzerland. This is following one of the heliski descents which makes it feel even better as we have made it all the way up there under our own steam. From Trient, a minibus will take you back to Chamonix.

Day 4. Touring in the Vallée Blanche area

 Today we are moving up to higher altitudes by taking the Aiguille du Midi cable car up to 3,842m. After a look around this impressive lift station, we will encounter the exposed arête leading down to the point where we can put our skis on. We will partly ski down one of the Vallée Blanche routes and stop to put our skins on just past the Requin refuge. From here we ski tour up the Glacier des Periades. This remote glacier provides magnificent views of the whole of the Vallée Blanche area and a very rewarding ski down to the Montenvers station where we get the train 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 alternatives for the ascent: either the traditional ski touring route, via les Grands Mulets refuge or the “Traverse Route” via the Cosmiques refuge which is a more technical ascent but often considered safer and therefore in preference.

For the route via Grands Mulets, we will set off from the mid-station of the Aiguille du Midi cable car (2,310m). From there we are touring across the heavily crevassed and very spectacular Glacier des Bossons, up to the refuge located on a small rock island in the middle of this huge glacier at 3,051m.

For the “Traverse Route” (sometimes referred to as the Trois Mont Blancs route) we start out by way of the cable-car to the Aiguille du Midi (3,842m). Then, skiing down to the Col du Midi, we have a short ascent to reach our overnight accommodation at the Cosmiques refuge (3,613m).

Day 6. Summit day and ski descent to Chamonix

The Big Day! Whichever route has been chosen, we can expect an early start. Approximately 2 a.m. from the Grands Mulets refuge, or 3 a.m. from the Cosmiques refuge.

On the Traditional Route we have approximately eight hours to the summit. Most of this we can ski tour until we get to the Vallot refuge (4,362m,). There we have to leave our skis to crampon the last section up a fairly exposed ridge to the summit. We are high up and the air is thin, so slow and steady is the way.

On the “Traverse Route”, starting out from the Cosmiques refuge, the first obstacle is Mont Blanc du Tacul. This glaciated mountain averages 30 to 35 degrees inclination. Most of the time we crampon up all of this. After crossing the shoulder of Tacul we descend a little. The second mountain we have to get over is Mont Maudit which has even steeper sections, up to 40 or even 50 degrees. Again, we will crampon up most of this. After this we have a fairly steady climb to the summit by foot or skis depending on the snow conditions. Six to seven hours total of ascent.

For either route option, we should be on Mont Blanc’s summit (4,807m) just after sunrise, in position to enjoy some of the most spectacular views in the whole of Europe. We will then descend either by foot to the Vallot refuge or ski the fairly steep and challenging North Face. Either way we will come back down past the Grands Mulets refuge and traverse back to the Plan de l’Aiguille and take the lift down to Chamonix.

Departure Day.

The trip package ends after breakfast.