Mont Blanc

ViperMAN

Hi everyone,

A few friends and I are heading to Chamonix at the of May. We originally planned to do some hiking, cycling and the like around Mont Blanc but now there are talks of climbing Mont Blanc itself.

Half of us have absolutely no experience in mountain climbing. Never used crampons, ice picks etc. While the other half have done Mont Blanc before, but would be far from experienced/professional climbers.

From the inexperienced point of view- have we left it too late to successfully climb the mountain? We would range from fit to relatively fit, play GAA/Rugby etc and will do no climbing/training in the meantime.

The inexperienced side are planning on getting guides BTW.

Thanks in advance!

a148pro

Guides luck and acclimatisation = you have a chance

Fitness prob less important than acclimatisation but you would have to have a decent base level of fitness so as to sustain yourself over a 12 - 16 hour period

I speak as someone who has only ever climbed Mont Blanc from the comfort of his web browser but if you do a search here you will find similar threads

Sev

ViperMAN wrote: »

Hi everyone,
From the inexperienced point of view- have we left it too late to successfully climb the mountain? We would range from fit to relatively fit, play GAA/Rugby etc and will do no climbing/training in the meantime.

Nah, I'd say you'd be fine, if you have a guide anyway.

(Again this is coming from somebody who's never climbed Mont Blanc, so take it with a pinch of salt).

I have, however, climbed a number of routes in the Mont Blanc Massif, and my understanding is Mont Blanc is a fairly non technical ascent. That is it's mainly a walk on snow. But it's going to be a very long and tiring walk at high altitude. But if you guys are active and fit and play rugby etc. you should be fine.

Depending on your route, you may expect relatively steep snow slopes (35-40 degrees perhaps) and you will be travelling over glaciated terrain with the risk of crevasse fall. This means you will be roped up and will require ice axe and crampons for most of the ascent.

There's also likely to be some objective danger such as serac falls (http://www.chamonix.net/english/news/2008-08-25.htm)

and rock fall
(the grand couloir is notorious for this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6HXQxEX910)

and of course bad weather.

Altitude sickness is a danger any time you go above 4000m (3000m for some, people have different tolerances irrespective of fitness/age). Trying to get some acclimatisation before the ascent would be a good idea. Commercial mont blanc itineraries usually include practice climbs to high altitude beforehand, like the Petite Verte or the Cosmiques Arete. Sleeping at altitude in one of the high mountain huts beforehand would be a good idea.

ViperMAN

Thanks for the info everyone.

From what we googled- the consensus is that a descent level of fitness would suffice as it is just a long trek. I have also read that there is little or no actual climbing on certain routes (as in using an ice-axe to pull you up, etc)- I think we are planning on doing he Grand Couloir route.

Can anyone that has climbed Mont Blanc confirm this and maybe share their experience of climbing it? Sorry a148pro and Sev- I'm not discounting your opinions, its just for my own peace of mind

Cheers!

SomeFool

Not any real technical climbing on the Goutier route but prepared for a bit of a scramble, a bit of a slog, a bit of exposure and a miserable night in the hut! As others have pointed out the biggest challenge is probably the altitude. You should really consider doing some training in advance of going there. A couple of long days in the reeks would stand to you. If you are comfortable with the exposure on something like the ridge from Beenkeragh you'll be grand.

a148pro

I think its relatively well known that the Gouter route does not involve much technical climbing. Its a long slog, with the risk of crossing the grand couloir and the exposure of the bosses ridge being the principle challenges - apart from the altitude and length of the day.

When I was researching it I decided I wanted to do the tres monts route. Basically you get the lift up to the Aiguille du Midi, overnight in the Cosmiques hut and then climb three mountains - Mont Blanc du Tacul, Mont Maudit and Mont Blanc. The reason I chose this route is because it is more aesthetic, gets much less traffic - so feels slightly less tourist traily than the Gouter route, and the hut (i.e. the Cosmiques refuge) is supposed to be nicer and easier to get a bed. The consensus is that the Gouter hut is a **** hole. But you're unlikely to sleep which ever route you go on as you'll be high up, excited, and getting up around midnight anyway.

The tres montes was considered slightly more technical an ascent than the Gouter, but still more or less a slog, with a few steep slopes. It doesn't have the bowling alley risk of the Grand Couloir, but instead you get to climb the Tacul underneath a face of seracs and hope that none of them fall. One fell and killed a good few people about two years ago.

So that was what I could glean from my internet warrior climbing attempts.

Good luck!

Carawaystick

I was in the Gouter hut in '99 I didn't think it was too bad, its basic alright but not ridiculous. The Vallot hut just below the bosses ridge is fairly filthy, luckily the turds are frozen so's ya can't smell them much....

When I was coming down the ridge from the Gouter hut, someone knocked a football sized rock down towards us, and a few others the size of your fist. no one was hit but in the afternoon, there can be plenty of lose rock.

The climb up/down to the hut is a similar difficulty level as the Devil's Ladder on Carrauntuthail, the route above/below has no technical challenges, apart from weather.

Longranger

I haven't climbed mont blanc but I have been to over 19,000 feet and believe me,acclimatisation is a huge part of the battle. Get that right and with a good guide you should be grand as I believe it's not too technical.
Good luck lad and keep safe.
And remember, support mountain rescue teams wherever in the world you are climbing,it's a great service and I hope you NEVER need it.
Happy trails
LR

ViperMAN

Yeah- the consensus seems to be that getting a guide and acclimatising correctly should see us through.

I'll report back how I get on.
Thanks again for all the comments.

K09

Hi,
I made an attempt to climb Mt Blanc last summer. Went with a guide so thought everything would be fine. I had little experience in use of ropes, crampons, etc. There was one other person in the group and he was of similar experience to me.
Unfortunately the guide got sick(!) before we reached Tete Rousse hut and we had no plan B!! But he encouraged us to continue and said we would be fine.
Got to Tete Rousse fine but found the scramble to Goutier frightening at times. We were not roped up and the route can be very exposed and icy in parts. I just found it too dangerous and not at all comfortable with it. Thankfully we got to Goutier hut ok and met others there who we would rope up with for summit bid.
Goutier hut was so uncomfortable. The weather had been poor on previous days so we had no reservations and we were lucky to get to sleep on floor for 25euro!! Also found many other climbers self centred, unhelpful and pretty much complete arseholes!!
Summit day was very windy but we kept going and followed everyone else. Everyone left before 3am. My torch decided to die at the wrong time so I was reliant on the person behind me to shine the path!! One guy we met had to turn back due to altitude sickness but I felt fine. The wind was really picking up and managed to reach the emergency Vallot Hut.
It was ridiculously crowded in the hut and we waited for over 2hrs hoping the wind would ease (apparently was 90km/h). Unfortunately it didn't and most people turned back. I felt a little relieved as I was getting very worried about the narrow summit ridge before the summit.
Our time was up as lost 2 days already due to poor weather so had to head back to Chamonix. Just headed straight down the mountain and for Chamonix.
It was 5 in the evening when we reached the Grand Couloir crossing and rockfall was a frequent occurance all day. It was terrifying crossing it. I slipped as there was no grip in the melted ice now and struggle to pull myself up. Was lucky no rocks came down on me! One of the guys also just missed a rock by a matter of inches!

So, that's just my experience which was not a pleasant one. Be sure you have a reliable guide and do get in some experience of crampon use and using a rope. You will feel a lot safer. If you plan on staying in the huts then do book ahead! And the mountain is crowded so be ready for abnoxious people!!

Hope this is of some help to you.

Esel

K09 wrote: »

Unfortunately the guide got sick(!) before we reached Tete Rousse hut and we had no plan B!! But he encouraged us to continue and said we would be fine.
Got to Tete Rousse fine but found the scramble to Goutier frightening at times. We were not roped up ....

I hope you reported that guide and that he lost his licence!

Sev

K09 wrote: »

Hi,
Also found many other climbers self centred, unhelpful and pretty much complete arseholes!! ... And the mountain is crowded so be ready for abnoxious people!!

I generally find other climbers to generally be the soundest and most cooperative of people... the problem is, I suspect most of the people who you'll find climbing Mont Blanc aren't actually climbers. I suspect it wont be half as crowded in late May, but you should still probably book the huts well in advance.

Also, understand that the end of May is very early season. Expect it to be cold, perhaps deep snow and greater avalanche risk than later in the Summer.

ViperMAN

Thanks K9....a description of what to expect.

So after doing a little digging around...we found that the Gouter route and hut is closed that time of the year. The only route open is the Cosmique route. Again, from what I can tell it is more or less a long slog and is slightly more technical then the Gouter route. Can someone confirm this?

The cost for the guides are expensive though...ranging from €1150 - €2000. This is for the 5 day course (3 days training and 2 days ascent).

Thanks.

SomeFool

It's longer but much much nicer, there is only one crux, a steep icy slope (45-50º)near the Col du Maudit but if you have a guide he will probably belay you here anyway so I wouldn't be worried about it, found a pic actually

Sev

If you don't/can't do Mont Blanc due to weather/expense/time, and you still wan't to get out and experience the high snowy peaks of the Mont Blanc massif then a nice option is the Cosmiques arete.

It's very conveniently located near the Aiguille du Midi cable car station (the route finishes at the observation deck) and because the route is short, well travelled and non-committing you should probably find a guide to take you up it in any month of the year.

http://www.summitpost.org/ar-te-des-cosmiques/155970

a148pro

That cost is pretty expensive, or at least is the expensive way of doing it. You can just get a guide for two days, i.e., go up the evening before, then climb from about midnight, down by early afternoon. I was quoted €950 for that (and that was with a view to skiing down, and therefore also lugging skis up ). I'd say a guide would prob only take two clients, possibly up to four though so you could split that cost whatever.

To be honest I think the 5 day course thing is a misnomer, weather will dictate whether you can go up or not so you may book your course in advance and get unlucky and get no hope of getting up. If you are flexible enough to be able to book the trip last minute then I'd advise hanging on and liaising with a guide by email to ensure there's a weather window. This may not be possible during the Summer as the guides are probably very busy then.

You would need to acclimatise yourself but if you search here you'll see my previous thread where people discuss what accimitisation you can do without a guide - I was going to just spend each day up at the Aiguille du Midi lift and walk around.