Alpine Climbing near Chamonix, France

My first trip to Chamonix and the French Alps was back in 1999 with a collegue. After a holiday in the UK, I sent Susse home on a plane from Gatwick (which I still regret and am reminded of) and Dave and I drove from London to Chamonix. We spent 10 days alpine climbing and rock climbing in the valley, particularly at La Joux. Since that first visit I have been back several times with climbing partners and friends from Denmark. We have climbed in the area in July, August and September, and not always in good weather. I have experienced a whiteout in 70 km/h winds and -40 degree windchill on the summit of Dome du Gouter - not very pleasant. This page shows a collection of pictures from several visits to the area around Chamonix.

Left: The entrance to the Les Chosalets campsite in Argentiere. The site is quite pleasant with reasonable facilities and the upper part of the site allows excellent views of the head of the Valée de L'Arve. The site is also close to the Grand Montets cable car and is away from the main hustle and bustle of Chamonix. The picture shows the site at the end of August. There was lots of  space on the site, often a problem in July and August. Below: Our 'base camp'. When it rains in the valley, it often does so in large amounts and for several hours, so a covered area has lots of benefits.

Above, on the way down the ladders to the Mer de Glace glacier after a ride on the Montenvers railway that leaves the centre of Chamonix and takes tourists and climbers up to a station a couple of hundred meters above the lower part of the glacier. The picture right shows the view up the glacier from near the top of the ladders. The first part of the route taken by climbers is clearly seen and is the trail used to reach several alpine huts including the Couvercle.

On this visit we were heading for a bivouac below the Aiguille du Tacul which involved around 8 km of glacier travel, mostly along the Mer de Glace and finally on the Peraides glacier. The glaciers are very complex in places and it is advisable to be roped up and wear crampons. Someway up the glacier we paused for some crevasse rescue and ice climbing practice.  The picture on the left shows me placing ice screws for an anchor and below Thomas is shown climbing out of a 15 m deep crevasse.

After a couple of hours practicing in the crevasses we continued up the glacier and branched off up the Peraides glacier. This glacier is particulary complex due to the steep nature of the underlying rock deep below. We reached a suitable bivouac site on rocks at the side of the glacier below the Col du Tacul at an altitude of 2760m. The climbing time to here was 7 hours. The picture below shows Ole and Thomas prepairing the bivouac.

During the late evening the sky cleared and the temperature dropped to -5 degrees Celcius. The night was glorious, the whole mountain range was bathed in moonlight. I lay awake for most of the night looking at the fantastic view of the Dent du Guent and across to the Valle Blanche, Mont Blanc du Tacul and the Chamonix Aiguilles. Right: The Dent du Guent (or giants tooth) taken mid morning on our descent from the climb. After a long haul down the glacier in bright sunshine, we arrived at Montenvers at 3:30pm, perfect timing for the last train back to the valley.

After an easy day repacking our climbing stuff, gear shopping and perusing the cafés in Chamonix we walked to the cable car station in Argentiere and took the second last car up at 4:15pm to Grand Montets. The cable car is in 2 stages and stops at the top station at 3295m. The weather was fine and sunny but there was a strong breeze giving a significant windchill. From the viewing platform you get magnificent views of the Argentiere basin, to the Aiguille du Chardonnet, Aiguille D'Argentiere and Mont Dolent, and also to Chamonix and Mont Blanc. Left: Studying our intended climb with Mont Blanc in the background. I won the people category of the Austrian Alpine Club photo competition in 2001 with this picture. It is taken using an orange filter.

Below: Looking east at 5 am, towards Aiguille du Chardonnet and Aiguille D'Argentiere from 3350m on the Glacier des Grand Montets. I took this picture on my first visit to the Petite Aiguille Verte with Dave in 1999.

Left: Me leading Ole and Thomas (whi is behind the camera) on the steeper part of the Montets glacier. On this occasion, we climbed the Petite Aiguille Verte via the normal north west ridge (F+/PD-) in the evening when the climb was deserted. We began climbing at 6pm in fine sunshine. The route steepens quickly before easing again to traverse the Glacier des Grand Montets. The route then continues on steep snow along the rocks before making the ridge proper, finishing with some fine grade III climbing just short of the summit. In places the route is quite exposed with a precipitous drop down onto the Nant Blanc glacier below Les Drus. Despite this, Thomas and Ole enjoyed the climb. It was their first mixed alpine climb. We enjoyed a brief glimse of the sunset before we were emerged in thick cloud. A quick descent led us off the mixed ground and onto the glacier. It was now only possible to see 1m in front of you and this made finding the way back across the glacier very tricky. Fresh snow had covered our tracks and we inadvertently discovered several small crevasses on the way down. Finally we were back at the station and we sorted out our bivouac. By this time the wind was howling and it was snowing hard. During the night we were woken by tremendous thunder and lightening. Next morning there was 4cm of snow covering everything, including us, inside the station.

Right: Dave seconding a climb.

The two pictures above show us crossing the Valle Blanche with the north face of Mont Blanc du Tacul in front of us, and right, looking up towards the famous Aiguille Du Midi (3842m) and the descent route for alpinists down to the Valle Blanche. On this occasion, in September, the weather was perfect but 50cm of fresh snow lay on the slopes putting many routes out of bounds due to avalanche danger. We were to stay at the Cosmiques refuge and had a couple of hours to kill before arriving so we climbed Point Lachenal (3613m), a minor peak below Mont Blanc du Tacul. The short ascent provides some steep icy terrain and is an excellent viewpoint. We arrived at the privately owned  refuge at 5pm and then relaxed until dinner at 7. The 3 course dinner was excellent and afterwards you can enjoy the sunset from the viewing area ajoining the dinning room. Because of the snow conditions we chose to climb the popular Cosmiques Aréte next morning after a leisurely 7am start. The picture below shows Thomas and I on the route.

The approach to the start of the Cosmiques Aréte passes the old Abri Simond hut. From there the PD+ climb begins and it is a very entertaining climb that offers climbing at grade III and a section at grade IV, snow gullies, a 20m abseil and finally the opportunity to have your picture taken as you climb onto the viewing platform in front of 50 Japanese tourists. The only dissadvantage to the route is its popularity with French guides coming up with clients on the Aiguille du Midi cable car. Some guides believe that they own the route. Below left: Thomas and I geared up with the Grand Jorrasses and Dent du Guent in the background. Below right, Ole on the summit of Mont Blanc du Tacul (4248m) in poor weather, on another occasion.

Finally on this page, a couple of pictures from the north west approach to Mont Blanc. On the 7th of September we drove to Saint Gervais and took the Mont Blanc Tramway to the Nid D'Aigle (2372m). From here there are fantastic views of the Aiguille de Bionnassay (4052m) and its glacier below. The well walked route winds it way up the hillside to an old hunters cabin (Baraque Forestiere des Rognes) before climbing along a ridge to the Tête Rouse Glacier and finally crosses the glacier to the refuge at 3167m (2 hours from the Nid DÁigle). The two pictures below show the route across the Tête Rouse Glacier with the Aiguille de Bionnassay, and the refuge. On this visit, work as in progress on a new refuge behind the existing hut. The refuge is not very big with space for 30, however on our visit we counted at least 50 and it was very cramped. The facilities are basic and the toilet is the small shed in the bottom right hand corner of the picture, however, the food was adequate even if we didn't get much sleep because of the heat..

For an ascent of Mont Blanc, the alloted wake-up time was for breakfast at 1am. We managed 4 hours of intermittent sleep in the very hot dormatory which started with some discussion of bed allocation. Everybody, bar a few, were up at 1am and the dinning room was suddenly filled with people frantically getting their gear on and ready. We took it easy and got something to drink and eat (stale brown bread and hot chocolate). Outside it was cold but clear, most had already set off. We roped up and began our climb at 2 am after some bother with dead headtorch batteries. The route to the Gouter Hut first climbs the easy glacier then across rocks to the Grand Couloir which is protected by a steel wire, which was at this time about 3m above the snow. At this time of night with the heavy freeze it was safe to cross without use of the wire and there was a good track across the couloir. On the other side the route steepens and climbs the ridge all the way to the Gouter Hut. Most of the route is aided by steel cables. En route we passed 6 groups (about 20 people) moving slower than us. It took us 2 hours to climb the 650 vertical metres to the Gouter Hut at 3817m. We made the mistake of going inside the Gouter Hut for a short break - everything that was frozen (our gloves etc.) thawed so when we went outside again Thomas got very cold hands. We continued along to the Aiguille du Gouter (3863m) and then via the north east slopes to the Dome du Gouter (4304m) in 2 1/2 hours. On the way up the going was made a little harder by the snow that had fallen a few nights previously. We were passed by about 15 people on their way down who had obviously turned back. The temperature dropped to -11 degree Celcius but the wind wasn't bad until we climbed up above Pointe Bayeux. Here the wind was blowing almost continuously at 70 km/hour and it was difficult to talk to each other. The visibility was also very poor, about 100m in the cloud. Thomas was now extremely concerned about his fingers and Ole noted that his toes where very cold. A difficult decision but I decided to turn back (as did the others near us at the time). We turned back at 6:40am and descended to the Gouter Hut in 1 hour. The picture below shows the view from above the Gouter hut looking towards the Dome du Gouter. The Aiguille du Midi can be seen on the left and the Col de Bionnassay on the right.

The route from the Dome du Gouter crosses the Col du Dome and continues to the Vallot Bivouac refuge at 4362m and then via the Bosses ridge to the summit of Mont Blanc at 4810m (a distance of 1.5 km). During the descent we met a French climber who we had talked to in the Tête Rouse hut the evening before. He had managed to climb solo to the summit before the weather deteriorated, he had left at midnight. After returning to Chamonix the weather forecast confirmed 100 km/hour winds at 4000m, which would be the story for several days to come. Anyway, the mountains will be there another time.

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