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Mont Blanc Ascent - 6 Day Course
Approaching the top
Our summer Mont Blanc ascent weeks are our core business in summer, and are the result of constant refinement based on many years experience on the mountain. We realise that for many people climbing Mont Blanc is a once in a lifetime event, and we do everything we can to make your week as safe and enjoyable as possible, as well as giving you the highest chance of success. Our schedule allows plenty of time for you to check your equipment, learn the skills required, and acclimatise properly; this together with 3 full days for the ascent, ensures you are fully prepared for the climb, and also gives us maximum flexibility should bad weather intervene. See the Typical Course Program below for details of what the week involves. These courses are suitable for anyone from reasonably fit individuals used to long days walking, through to more experienced climbers
"Why should I choose Mont Blanc Guides for my Mont Blanc ascent?"
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Because climbing Mont Blanc is our speciality. It is our company policy to keep the number of different packages we offer small, to allow us to concentrate on bringing each one to the highest possible standard.
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Because we allocate three days in the week for the actual Mont Blanc ascent (with additional guides) instead of the usual two; this is achieved without compromising on acclimatisation at all, and gives us much more flexibility in the event of bad weather. If you make the top in two days, your guide will be available to take you rock climbing or even bag a bonus peak on the last day!
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Because we arrange our time on the mountain to be deliberately “out of sync” with the majority of climbers, which means that even on busy days there will normally be few if any people around us, and we will often be on the summit on our own.
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Because our accommodation is of a very high standard, and unlike when using hotels, there's no need to move out every time you go up into the mountains.
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Because our courses and head guide are all based in the Chamonix valley, know the mountain intimately and are sufficiently well networked to be able to employ the best guides available.
Typical Course Program
"Les Bosses" from the Summit Ridge
Day 1: Meet in the valley to check equipment and hire additional boots, crampons, ice axes etc. as needed. Ascend to Albert Premier hut (2702m. About 600m of ascent usually taking around 1.5 hours). Afternoon session on glacier below hut to practise crampon and ice axe techniques. Supper and early night.
Day 2: Leave hut around 4:30 am to take advantage of hard overnight snow, which is much easier to walk on. Ascend Tete Blanche (3429m) and / or Petite Fourche (3520m) before crossing to Trient hut (3170m), aiming to arrive in time for a late lunch. Rest of day spent relaxing and acclimatising at the hut.
Day 3: Leave hut around 4:30 again for ascent of Aiguille du Tour (3544m) then descend to valley. Rest of day spent relaxing, sorting out any gear problems, and buying snack food for the main ascent:
Days 4,5, and 6: These days are reserved for climbing Mont Blanc itself. Given good weather we ascend to the Tete Rousse hut on Wednesday, climb Mont Blanc with an early start on Thursday, then descend to the valley on Friday, but this plan may well change according to weather. Not having a fixed summit day greatly improves the chances of making a successful ascent, and the extra time means we can avoid the crowds starting from the Gouter hut. If you've still got some surplus energy on Friday afternoon we can go rock climbing or try a via ferrata, but you may well prefer just to sit in a café in the sun by then!
Frequently Asked Questions
Approaching the Trient Hut
Does the route involve technical climbing?
What are the chances of success?
Will I cope with the altitude?
Which route will I be attempting?
Do you run Mont Blanc courses of less than six days?
I have already arranged my own accomodation. Will you offer me a discount?
How fit do I need to be?
This is a difficult question to answer, but in general you need to be able to sustain steady ascents of five to six hours carrying a pack over often uneven ground. (for the Cosmiques refuge route, the ascent is up to eight hours). An ability to keep going slowly without too many stops is much more effective than trying too hard and tiring yourself out. When training for your ascent at home, try to include as many long, steady jogs (at least an hour) as you can – short intense workouts are less helpful. If you can get outside for some long days in the hills, so much the better. Our Guides will always try to climb at the best pace for their clients - often a 10% reduction in speed can make the difference between success and failure.
Does the route involve technical climbing?
Day one of the Gouter route involves a long scramble up a rocky ridge to reach the hut, though this ridge is not particularly vertiginous and you hardly need to use your hands. Day two mainly involves wide snow slopes with a more narrow, but usually well tracked, snow ridge to reach the summit. The Cosmiques route varies more according to the condition of the glaciers, but will always involve a 75m ice slope of about 60 degrees on Mont Maudit. You will be roped up for the majority of both routes for maximum safety. (see Interactive Route Guide for a description of the various routes).
What are the chances of success?
Apart from personal fitness, the main reason for failure is the weather. Being so high, it does not take much in the way of bad weather to make conditions on Mont Blanc intolerable, and pushing on in bad conditions greatly reduces safety margins should any problem occur. Having said this, summer alpine conditions are often stable for long periods of time, with afternoon thunderstorms the only concern – these can be spectacular and are best viewed from a Chamonix bar after a successful ascent!
Allocating three days for the main ascent, and staying as flexible as possible regarding route choice, gives you the best chance of making the top within a six day period. However, there's probably still a 30% chance of bad weather intervening. It is obviously very difficult to be precise about such things, and many operators advertise much more impressive statistics, but a long experience of the mountain (including several periods working for other operators), has shown this to be a reasonable approximation.
Will I cope with the altitude?
Acclimatisation varies considerably from person to person and is not related to fitness. Mild symptoms of altitude sickness such as headache and shortness of breath are tolerable, but more severe symptoms like nausea and vomiting indicate the onset of a more serious condition and most be avoided at all costs. For this reason our week is structured to give you the maximum amount of time to acclimatise, going straight to mountain huts of moderate altitude and doing our preparations there. Sleeping height is the key – to acclimatise effectively, at least two nights should be spent at altitude prior to the ascent.
Which route will I be attempting?
This ultimately has to be the decision of your guide, but we will of course always try to select the most appropriate route for your ability and the prevailing conditions. However, hut reservations on Mont Blanc are extremely competitive and it is not possible to reserve all the huts to cover any eventuality - all guiding operations are subject to this restriction. We do however reserve for as many of the likely nights as we can at the start of the season, and can usually get the nights we require. Our policy of flexibility also helps this process
Do you run Mont Blanc courses of less than six days?
No. Even six days is really a minimum amount of time to get acclimatised and make an ascent. Acute Mountain Sickness ("AMS") is common at alpine altitudes and nothing whatsoever to do with physical fitness; it should not be confused with mild altitude symptoms such as headache and breathlessness. AMS is extremely debilitating, comes on suddenly, and leaves you barely able to walk or look after yourself; a person suffering from AMS is considered a medical emergency, and if it occurs in a remote position on Mont Blanc and/or in bad weather, it can have serious consequences for all concerned. In 2005, one of our courses coincided with an attempt by seventy French soldiers to climb the mountain without previous acclimatisation; they were all aged between 20 and 35 and very fit. We counted 25 of them suffering from AMS at the Gouter hut (3800m), and a similar number at the Vallot hut (4360m); all of these failed to reach the summit and needed assistance to decend, while less than 20 of the original 70 made the top.This gives a rough idea of the likelihood of developing AMS when attempting a two day ascent; on our six day courses, we have found about one in twenty of our clients have had to turn back because of altitude problems.
Several agencies offer three and even two day ascents, which can seem very attractive as so much less time and money is involved. Should you show signs of sickness however you would be turned round immediately, so this very often proves to be false economy. Beware also courses which do not include nights spent at high huts before the ascent, as sleeping high is an important part of acclimatisation. During sleep respiration depth drops, therefore hypoxia and therefore adaption to altitude increases.
What equipment will I need?
A list of required equipment, much of which we can provide if necessary for a small additional cost, can be found in the equipment list section.
I have already arranged my own accomodation. Will you offer me a discount?
We own our accomodation to ensure it is as comfortable as possible for our clients - this is part of our concept and considered in the total cost. Moreover, the majority of the week is spent in high mountain huts, so the only saving would be on two evening meals/breakfasts; this amounts to about £50, which we can certainly pass on to you. We feel, however, that our courses are competitively priced anyway, especially considering the fact that we have extra guides for three days on Mont Blanc instead of the usual two days.