Climbing Mont Blanc

theKillerBite

I am thinking of setting myself a goal of climbing Mont Blanc in a couple of years time. Has anyone done it and would they like to share their experience, costs, and training requirements?

SomeFool

theKillerBite wrote: »

I am thinking of setting myself a goal of climbing Mont Blanc in a couple of years time. Has anyone done it and would they like to share their experience, costs, and training requirements?

This comes up occadionally, there is a thread or two already worth reading and then maybe post any specific questions not already dealt with. Good luck!

a148pro

Haven't done it but have a few friends who have or who've tried

they were usually paying about a grand each and going out to do four day or week long courses

the bad idea about that imo is that the course dates are pre-booked and as such you're at the mercy of a weather window

if you're flexible with your dates and could go last minute you might have a better chance of success

I was looking at it for a while and had a guide who was going to take me for around 900, never made it out in the end but we did tee up a few dates and then held off due to conditions

Edit all spoken with the wisdom and knowledge that comes with sitting on my arse on the couch

Carawaystick

It's been a while since I was there, so conditions may have worsened with global warming and glacial retreat.

I climbed it via the Gouter hut route, from le Nid d'Aigle train station.

There is one serious objective danger: crossing the Grand Couloir; it's about 120m across and rocks drop down along it.

Apart from that it's just long. 2 days of climbing up'n'down, with a very early start on the second day(1-2am)

I'd recommend training by climbing steep ground here, such as the North or South Prison on Lugnaquilla, or the steep ground off the Fraughen Rock Glen
Or climbing the corries at Turlough Hill(from Lough Nahangan), Tonlegee (from Lough Ouler), Mullach Cleevaun(from Cleevaun Lough)

I was based in Wickla so these were handy for after work in May-July

I also climbed in the Reeks, both routes on Corauntuthail and the reeks ridge from the top of the devils ladder along the ridge to the an Cruach Mor. If you're a camper, a good hard weekend would be to climb Corrauntuthail, take the ridge to Beenkeragh, down to the Hags Glen and camp there, before going back up the devils ladder and along the reeks ridge.

Another steep bit of ground is to climb Mount Brandon by the Faha Ridge from Cloghane.

In Connemara, there's a ridge Carrot Ridge, which is a very easy rock scramble. it's near Lough Inagh, you can easily google route descriptions. It's probably more difficult than any climbing on Mont Blanc, but there's no snow(probably)

A few quick steep iconic mountains, Sliamh Donard in Newcastle Co Down,
Errigal in Gaoith Dobhair in Donegal
and the Reek outside Mayo: I think this is the most heartbreaking climb, the loose scree at the top saps your energy, it really is 2 steps up, one back in parts.

Lastly you should attempt a few hard hikes: ones that are long, are in poor weather(especially cold -- you have the winter coming) and in the dark-- either in the winter in good weather or overnight as part of a long hike in summer.

Gear-wise: you can hire plastic boots and crampons in Chamonix.
You need a few krabs, a harness and a couple of slings(one will be to clip onto the wire while crossing the grand couloir)
You can bring your own leather boots and they will be fine, but the snow will destroy them and they will never be water resistant again.

I met some Quebecois students and an American and 4 of us went up, by the Gouter hut, where we stayed with no reservation, but that was in June, friends of mine were sent down in Sept 2000, for lack of space.

NickSantigo

a148pro wrote: »

Haven't done it but have a few friends who have or who've tried

they were usually paying about a grand each and going out to do four day or week long courses

the bad idea about that imo is that the course dates are pre-booked and as such you're at the mercy of a weather window

if you're flexible with your dates and could go last minute you might have a better chance of success

I was looking at it for a while and had a guide who was going to take me for around 900, never made it out in the end but we did tee up a few dates and then held off due to conditions

Edit all spoken with the wisdom and knowledge that comes with sitting on my arse on the couch

If you were to book it last minute over say 4 days, would you need to have previous experience using crampons or will you gain the experience on the climb like the week long trips?

Also, do you have a link to the crowd you were considering booking with, you can PM me if it is more convenient?

Thanks