Climb Mont Blanc 6 Day Course

As the name suggests, this route goes via 3 summits; the Mont Blanc du Tacul, the Mont Maudit and the Mont Blanc and takes 7 - 8 hours from the hut to the summit. 

The start is at the Aiguille du midi from where you have the first view of the 3 summits. An easy 30 mins glacier walk will take you to the Cosmiques hut (3617 m) where you spend the night. You will leave the hut very early the next day, at 1:30 AM to start the climb. A descent to the Col du Midi (3532 m) will be followed by a climb of the steep N face of the Mont Blanc du Tacul to reach the Epaule du Mont Blanc du Tacul . The climb is complicated as it zig zags around many seracs and crevasses and the path changes every year due to the glacier movement. It is also prone to avalanches due to falling seracs or after a snow fall. The route continues from the Epaule south to the Col Maudit (4035 m) and then up the N face of the Mont Maudit. The N face is  40º - 50º steep ice climb which takes you up to the Col du Mont Maudit (4345 m). This is the crux step of the route which is equipped with belays and sometimes with a fixed rope. The route then continues by easy walk down to the Col de la Brenva (4303 m) and then climbs to your right up the steep wall of the Mur de la Cote to reach the Plateau des Petits Roches Rouges. The final stretch to reach the summit of Mont Blanc (4810 m) is relatively easy climb, but be aware of the effect that the high altitude has on human body and our physical performance. Nothing is easy at nearly 5000m!

Descent: You can descend either by the same way as you climbed up (4 -5 hours to the Aiguille du Midi, 2 abseils) or by the Gouter hut (4 - 5 hours to the Nid d’Aigle). 

This is the route which you will most likely climb on our Mont Blanc courses. While this is the easiest route to reach the Mont Blanc summit, it still requires good crampon skills, fitness and acclimatisation. We also chose this itinerary because it allows the ascent over 3 days. This is an advantage as you can climb up slowly and so cope better with the altitude and physical effort. Also, the climb is over 3 days giving an extra day to attempt the summit - a valuable opportunity if the weather is unstable. 

We will take the Bellevue cable car from Les Houches and the Tramway du Mont Blanc to the Nid d’Aigle (2372 m). From there is a 2 - 2.5 hours hike on a zig zagging, rocky path up to the Tete Rousse hut where you will spend a night. 

You will have an early start the next day to leave the hut at 2:00h AM. Hike towards the Aiguille du Gouter W face and across the Tete Rousse glacier to reach its SE edge. Continue up to reach the ridge which divides the the Tete Rousse and the Bionnassay glaciers and up the ridge to reach the Grand Couloir. The Grand Couloir is the most dangerous place on this climb as it is very prone to rockfalls. You wan to reach it very early in the morning and cross it very quickly. The couloir is only about 30 m wide but the path immediately before and after the couloir is also exposed to the rock falls so make sure that you stop on a safe place to get ready for the crossing. 

After the couloir, the path leads up and right over a south side of the ridge to the Aiguille du Gouter (3863 m) and on to the Gouter hut (3835 m). Today is the first opportunity to reach the Mont Blanc summit so if the weather is good and you have reached this point in a good time, you will continue up the NW face of Dome du Gouter (4303 m). The climb is relatively mellow passing around few crevasses. the path then leads From the Dome down to the Col des Domes (3564 m)to the Bosses ridge. A 100m of a steep snow climb will take you to the Vallot hut and then on over the Bosses ridge to the summit of Mont Blanc (4810 m). 

You will then descent back to the Gouter hut where you spend the night and down to Chamonix the next day. If you haven’t reached the summit on the second day of your climb, you will try on the third day. You will leave the Gouter hut at 1:30 AM, climb up to the Mont Blanc summit as described above and descend down to the Chamonix. The climb from the Tete Rousse hut to the Gouter hut takes about 3 hours and the Mont Blanc summit from the Gouter hut 5 - 6 hours.