An Acsent of Mont Blanc
Alpine Climbing         Main Page          Hovedsiden
This page describes an ascent of Mont Blanc in early June from Pointe Helbronner via the Cosmiques Refuge by the Vallé Blanche, then via Col Maudit and Col de la Brevna to the summit. We descended via the Bosses Aréte past the Refuge Vallot and then to the Col du Dome, the Aiguille du Goûter and finally via le Nid d'Aigle and all the way down to Les Houches before hiring a taxi to cover the last few kilometers back to Chamonix and a well earned beer! The ascent was a perfect way to finish off 2 weeks in the Alps after completion of the Tour of Mont Blanc (see here for a description of the tour).

The picture on the left shows an Irish lad and myself waiting for a taxi outside the rain station in Chamonix after the bus to La Palud and Courmayeur in Italy had left without us - we were assured at the tourist office that we could by a ticket on the bus, but as it turned out, more than a bus full had bought tickets in advance. You must also take into account that the Aiguille du Midi Téléphérique was out of action for most of the season due to cable damage and therefore at this time there were no lifts in operation on the French side of Mont Blanc. After waiting for a while a taxi turned up and drove 6 of us through the tunnel to La Palud - for the favourable price of 60 Euros! Jesper (who I had walked the TMB with) and I then took the cable car up to Pointe Helbronner at around 11 am.
Right: The view to Aiguille Dent du Geant past the Aiguilles Marbrees from Pointe Helbronner and below, looking back to Pointe Helbronner after a few hundred metres on the way to the Cosmiques Refuge.
The walk from Pointe Helbronner to the Cosmiques Refuge is roughly 5.5 km through very impressive high alpine scenery. The route skirts around the eastern slopes of Mont Blanc du Tacul before ascending onto the Col du Midi and finally the Cosmiques Refuge which is perched on a rock buttress at an altitude of 3613m. Above: Looking across the Glacier du Geant towards the Aiguille du Midi, the Cosmiques Refuge can just be discerned. Right: Aproaching the refuge. Below right: The view from the terrace across the Col du Midi to Mont Blanc du Tacul. The first part of the route to Mont Blanc can be seen crossing the plateau before ascending the NW face.

Once at the refuge, we enjoyed a relaxed lunch and afternoon before a hearty evening meal to which we shared a bottle of red wine before an early night. We had ordered breakfast for 1am. The weather had been excellent since we crossed into Italy 7 days earlier - and the forecast was very good for another day and a half - clear with light winds on the tops and -10 degrees celcius at 4000m. Prior to breakfast our room awoke and people got their gear together before eating the customary cereals, dry bread, juice and bowl of coffee, tea or hot chocolate.       
Left: Roping up in the porch of the refuge at 1:45 am before leaving at 2 am. We were travelling light. We had decided to use just one rucksack, Jesper carried only a small water sack and his essentials such as hat and gloves. In the rucksack I carried food and the rest of the water for the day, extra clothing for us both, spare batteries, a shovel and our axes. We opted to use walking poles for most of the ascent and descent. There were though several places where an axe was necessary, during several passages on Mont Blanc du Tacul's NW face and particularly on the steep and icy NE face of Mont Maudit. We were roped up with a 30m half rope and both had harnesses on with gear for crevasse rescue - these are essentials as there can always be hidden crevasses particularly around the Col de la Brevna.
Above: The sky is slowly becoming brighter from the east. This photo was taken around 4:30 am and looks back across the Col Maudit with the two summits of Mont Blanc du Tacul and the pinnacles of the Diable ridge in profile. Below: Mid way up Maudit face just before sunrise around 5:30 am.
Left: The view now expanding to the distant mountains in the east. The picture was taken from just below the final steep 60m or so section of the Maudit face and is looking down the route where a couple of other parties can be seen following. Quite a few of the guided groups had skis with them for the descent. Once over the north face of Mont Maudit the route drops a little before contouring around to the Col de la Brevna. Below: Interesting serac formations near the Col de la Brevna.
From the Col du Mont Maudit at the top of the Maudit face, one is presented with the fantastic view shown below towards Mont Blanc, the Bosses ridge and Dome du Goûter. The prominent sunlit rock face is the Rochers Rouge inferior. The route to Mont Blanc follows the Mur de la Cote to the left of the rock buttress before ascending the final 400 vertical metres to the summit.
Above: Enjoying a short break on the Col de la Brevna around 7:30 am before the final stage of the route. The view was already tremendous with the distant peaks of the Matterhorn and the Grand Combin massif clearly visible.
Above and left: Jesper and I on the narrow summit. We made the top just before 10am after a relatively leisurely ascent. We were both quite fresh and were not bothered by the altitude (it was only the final 200m to the top that was quite hard going). The feeling of arriving on the summit was amazing. It was Jespers first ever alpine trip and his first ever 4000m summit - quite an amazing trip. For me, it was my third attempt on Mont Blanc after being stopped by bad weather on two previous occassions. We had the summit to ourselves for half and hour before another three climbers arrived. This was pure luxury - especially in the exceptional weather. After a phone call home, we began our descent via the Bosses ridge.

The view below shows the distant Chamonix valley some 3800m below our position on the summit. The Aiguille du Midi can also be seen.
Above: Just 100m from the summit at the top of the Bosses ridge. Another party can be seen ascending. Directly behind Jesper is the Aiguille de Bionnassay and the narrow ridge linking it to the Done du Goûter. The Bosses ridge is very narrow and drops steeply downwards. The snow also slopes dramatically away on both sides. The ridge is particulary impressive when looking back, below.
Once the ridge and the Bosses are passed, you are quickly down to the metal-clad Vallot Refuge which perches on a small rock buttress above the Col du Dome. We had a short break before continuing across the col and then down the north western slopes of the Dome du Goûter and finally to the Goûter Refuge behind the Aiguille du Goûter where we stopped for a late luch at 2 pm. We sat on the balcony and watched the guardian and his helpers who had come up to clear snow prior to the opening of the refuge the next day. After our lunch we began the laborious descent towards the Nid d'Aigle, firstly down the steep slopes directly below the refuge which were still covered in a reasonable amount of soft wet snow. By the time we reached Nid d'Aigle it was 5 pm and we were sopping wet from the waist down. From there, we followed the good footpath along the Mont Blanc Tramway to the Col du Mont Lachat at 2077m and then on the path down through the forest directly towards Les Houches. By the end it felt like the path was never ending. We arrived in Les Houches at 7:30 pm, just 10 minutes after the last bus. However, we had met up with a couple of others and we shared a taxi back to Chamonix so we could get a shower and then go out for a well earned beer and some good food. All in all a great climb in perfect conditions.  The ascent took almost 8 hours and the 3800m of descent, almost 9 hours. We were shattered, but it was well worth the experience, although I think I would avoid the long descent from the Goûter refuge next time.
All pictures copyright Peter Chapman and Jesper Bevensee, Denmark.