UKH

I'm looking at doing mont blanc with a Friend over the summer. 

What peaks, climbs, treks and huts are best for acclimitisation in and around Chamonix area ? 

Cheers 

The normal routes on the Aiguille du Tour from the Albert 1er in Argentiere, followed by Gran Paradiso ( a couple of hours drive from Cham) is the itinerary a lot of folks follow before attempting Mont Blanc. Bon chance! Dave

Perhaps after a night in the Albert Premier hut and climbing the Aiguille du Tour a night - better two - in a hut at 3000+ metres would be a very good idea; so maybe a night in the Torino hut at 3300m or the Cosmiques hut at 3600m.  From either hut there are a number of climbs you could choose.  

Depends on what alpine experience you already have. May be worth acclimatising in another area with friendlier low 4000ers, of which you'll need at least one (Saas Fee/Lagginhorn and Nadelhorn for instance, or Gran Paradiso as mentioned above) before moving on to Chamonix for the big one.

You may find this article useful, section on acclimatisation near the end:

https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/destinations/how_to_climb_mont_blanc_-_...

    People do acclimatise at different rates. Bald Eagle's suggestion is a great one. You could walk up to the Albert Premier Hut and do some afternoon glacier refresher. Perhaps do the Tete Blanche and Petite Fourche the next day and stay up in the hut for the Tour on the following day.

   Staying at the Torino hut for some of the short easy routes is also a great suggestion. All sorts of options on the Toule and the two Flambeau, possibly the Marbrees. Cosmiques Hut is also great, assuming you are comfortable on the narrow exposed snow ridge going down from the Midi. Arete Laurence and a route on the Lachenal or Gros Rognon are easily accessible. Mont Blanc de Tacul is another option from there. It is 4,000 metres plus but conditions can be very variable - check with the OHM in town for the latest updates. Wind slab, needing a ladder across bergschrunds and teetering seracs can make this a serious route out of all proportion to its grade and so it may be best to do the Gran Paradiso suggested below.

   Doing a 4,000 metre peak such as the Gran Paradiso should then set you up nicely. If the weather is poor in Chamonix or for the Gran Paradiso Zermatt is a good ( but expensive ) place to acclimatise. Including one of the shortest and easiest 4,000 metre peaks, the Breithorn.

   Obviously, we are all assuming you have appropriate knowledge, skills, equipment. Good luck.

We had two days acclimatisation. The first was a fun day sightseeing on the Aiguille Du Midi - we went with the intention of climbing the Cosmiques Arete but decided against it when the weather turned. The second was a day up and down Petite Aiguille Verte, which had more actually climbing involved than the ascent of MB.

Thanks, out of interest could you get to the start of the Grand Paradiso climb on public transport ? I wont have a car !

Hi Aled

According to this old UKC thread from 2017 it is straightforward to get to the starting point for the voie normale on Gran Paradiso via bus from Chamonix Sud to Aosta then another bus to Pont:

https://www.ukhillwalking.com/forums/expedition+alpine/gran_paradiso_lift_from...

The walk up to the Rifugio Vittorio Emanuele is stunning and I thought the hut was excellent value for money, costing about 35 euro half board for one night with an AAC or BMC card in 2017.

http://www.rifugiovittorioemanuele.com/?lang=en

I believe a lot of guides take their clients up Gran Paradiso prior to an attempt on Mont Blanc. And as a shameless plug this is a wee video I made of an ascent of Mont Blanc via the Gouter showing all the main landmarks or features encountered along the way from a few years ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRBF_y3URI0&t=1s

Hope this helps and bon chance!

Dave

There was an hourly bus from Aosta to Pont, when we were there a couple of years ago. Pont has a campsite next to where the bus terminates. There was also a hotel with bar and a small shop which sold basic supplies.

There is bound to be a bus from Chamonix to Aosta.

The bus timetable is here:

http://www.savda.it/public/linee/allegati/747_it.pdf

http://www.savda.it/it/orari.php

I may be a tad old school in this but is it not the done thing to get the cable car up to the Midi, spend the night in the tunnel as an acclimatization?

Also a climb/summit walk of Mont Blanc du Tacul is a good acclimatization from the Midi station.

Good luck with your trip, hope you get a decent weather window for it.

If you don't have a car you'd be better staying around Chamonix.  Mont Blanc du Tacul is a good alternative to the Paradiso. 

There's loads to do round Chamonix.  And several English language guidebooks. 

I don't know about being a 'good' choice but the only time I've been on MB I chose to do the Midi-Plan traverse as the whole day is spent at altitude. 

What I did was:

1) Aiguille du Tour (no cable cars; from the valley, night bivvying outside hut)

2) Petit Verte (this time with cable car but bivvying out)

3) 2 nights sneakily sleeping at Midi Station. We did Mont Blanc du Tacul and the Cosmiques

4) The big one itself! (about 2 and a half weeks after arrival in Cham.)

I was in my 20s then. If I were to return to the Alps, I will stay in huts! (like I started doing in my 30s, when I began not to be arsed bivvying with a convenient, comfy hut nearby!)

Thanks Dave !

Thanks Everyone !!!