Climb Mont Blanc

K09

Esel wrote: »

^ Will you please stop saying 'hike'! You don't hike the Alps....

trek / hike. Not all climbing...:)
www.alpineexploratory.com/holidays/tour-du-mont-blanc.html

Esel

K09 wrote: »

trek / hike. Not all climbing...:)
www.alpineexploratory.com/holidays/tour-du-mont-blanc.html

... around Mont Blanc... fair enough, that is a hike or trek.

My mistake, I thought you were planning to climb it.

ruskin

I'm interested in climbing Mount Blanc next summer. I don't know anyone who would want to do it with me, so are there any Irish groups/ expedition companies out there who do it?

Sev

a148pro wrote: »

Thanks for all your help I'll let ye know how I get on.

How did you get on? Did you get up Mont Blanc?

I visited Chamonix myself again this August and, this time, made that walk from the Midi station to near the Cosmiques hut. I can happily confirm that it is exactly how I described it. And it only takes like 20-30min.

a148pro

Didn't go in the end Sev, wanted to climb the tres montes route and ski down the North Face so needed conditions to be pretty perfect. The season for it is more or less May and June. There was one decent window then and a good few people got down but I couldn't go because of work. Was waiting and in touch with a guide I had skied with previously to see on a week to week basis if we could do it.

That led to this:

Beaucoup de neige c'est accumuler ces derniers jours sur le massif avec beaucoup de vent, je crains que de nombreuse plaques à vent ce soit formés.
Je part pour le mont blanc demain pour le gravir mardi matin (sans ski) je me rendrai alors compte des conditions.
Je doute fort que nous puissions le faire en ski dans de bonnes conditions de sécuritées.

And then this about a week later:

Je reviens du mt blanc ou la route est bonne par le gouter.
La route par les cosmique puis les 3 monts n'est pas pratiquable car trop dangereuse (grosse chute de neige + plaque à vent.
La descente par les grand mulet est plus pratiquable meme à Ski.
Il me parait très dangereux de descendre la face nord avec ces conditions de plus la neige soufflé ne nous donnerait aucun plaisir .

Je me résoud donc à ne pas prendre le risque de tenter l'expérience à ski, la seul solution raisonnable pour le moment est de le faire par le gouter.

A très bientôt

Basically he was guiding it normally and felt that too much snow had accumulated on the North face to ski it safely. He felt at that stage that the season to do it safely and enjoyably was more or less over so we called it quits until next year. Also gives me more time to get in better shape, haven't done a long hike in ages.

I have a lot of respect for the guides and particularly for the fact that they're not willing to take risks. In his case the advice was all the more reliable - he effectively lost the guts of a grand by telling me not to come. He could easily have just said yeah rock on over then told me on top that we couldn't do it.

So on the list for next year.

Sev

Sorry to hear. I guess there's always next year, Mont Blanc isn't going anywhere. It was very hot the week I was there, making rockfall a big potential hazard and generating thunderstorms every afternoon/evening. This meant we couldn't climb our major target and had to make do with short routes that we could get done in a day.

Chamonix is fickle. I've made short trips there three times now and never managed to get good weather. I guess the trick is to have a backup plan... something else to do if you don't get the conditions you need.

Mickeroo

How technical is Mt Blanc exactly? I'm planning to get to the alps in the next year or two and trying to decide what would be a good first alpine summit. I was thinking either Mt Blanc or the Matterhorn (Hornli ridge), most likely guided. I've lots of experience walking, trekking, scrambling and lead comfortably on Severe grade rock climbs, did a weeks winter skills in scotland a couple of years ago too.

SomeFool

Mt Blanc would probably be the better option for a first big alpine summit esp if you've never been to altitude before. Never been on the Matterhorn but I'm aware it's a far more difficult climb, hoping to do it in a year or two myself but I think I need more experience first to give myself a better chance of summiting.

Sev

Also take a look at

http://forum.climbing.ie/index.php/topic,4559.msg20100/topicseen.html

a148pro

Mickeroo wrote: »

How technical is Mt Blanc exactly? I'm planning to get to the alps in the next year or two and trying to decide what would be a good first alpine summit. I was thinking either Mt Blanc or the Matterhorn (Hornli ridge), most likely guided. I've lots of experience walking, trekking, scrambling and lead comfortably on Severe grade rock climbs, did a weeks winter skills in scotland a couple of years ago too.

From reading on the internet, which as we all know, is never wrong, the Gouter route is not technical at all so provided you are reasonably competent and independent you could do it without a guide. There will most likely be feck loads of other people doing it at the same time too.

I am not at that level so I wouldn't go near it without a guide, though I imagine I'd be fine nine times out of ten.

Matterhorn would be a slightly different proposition. Its proper technical climbing, and while the easiest route would be well within the competencies of someone with limited experience, you'd be at risk of death throughout.

Btw if I had a choice I'd definitely do the Matterhorn, incredible mountain. Mont Blanc, at least from the Chamonix side, is just a big lump.