UKH

Hi, I am heading to the Mont Blanc soon and I still have some doubts about equipment.

1. Boots.

I have two pairs of boots,

Hanwag Sirius GTX
https://www.hanwag.com/nl/nl-nl/heren/alpine/sirius-ii-gtx
and 
Hanwag Alaska GTX
https://www.hanwag.com/nl/nl-nl/heren/trekking/alaska-wide-gtx?recId=110920...

Sirius are D shoes for C2 crampons (which I don't have, but that's not an issue).
Alaska is B/C category for C1 crampons (which I also have).

The thing is, the Alaska ones are way more comfortable for me, maybe because I used them way more, maybe because they are wider (I have very wide feet). The point is that I feel more comfortable on those even while using crampons.

I won't carry both, naturally.

What would you recommend?

2. Helmet. Do I need a helmet? I thought it was on THE list of obligatory gear but it is not. Besides the grand couloir 

3. Rope. I have a 30m, 8mm rope, which I guess is the minimum that I should carry but it is quite heavy. If I go alone, does it make sense to bring it with me? I see that is in the list of obligatory gear, but is that for groups or solo mountaineers as well?

I'm not familiar with the boots, but the warmer the better. 

Helmet. Yes, definitely. The scramble up the ridge following the crossing of the Grand Couloir is steep, rocky and usually quite busy so if nothing else it might stop you getting hurt if kicked in the head or having gear dropped on you. 

Rope. I did it solo and didn't take a rope. I did wear a harness incase anyone needed to winch my cold lifeless body out of a crevasse  

Mont Blanc is a big mountain. If the weather is good, and the Shooting Gallery (Grand Couloir) is quiet, then there is no great difficulty. But it is a big mountain, and the weather can turn very quickly, and the Shooting Gallery can be nasty.

The fact that you are asking about what you should take to go up there solo makes me think that you probably don't have sufficient experience to head up there on your own. Go with a partner, take your helmet and a rope. I'd go with a heavier pair of mountaineering boots, as the ice can be really quite hard on the steeper sections (the Bosses) on the top ridge.

Steve

Back in the day, a night or two camping in Argentiere and you'd find a partner. Don't know if that's still the case.

If you are asking these questions DO NOT SOLO you are out of your depth. As a first season just get out there and get some experience. Stay in a campsite somewhere busy (actually it's all horribly busy ) and ask about to join some others, hang around in Chamonix the guide school, advertise yourself here with your dates, join some other first season people.Make sure you have a long enough stay, if you think a week is enough think again. Be flexible, if the others you meet are on the grand mulets or want to go from cosmique side be flexible.

If you go via Gouter,  stay at Tete rouse then Gouter, so you can cross the couloire very early before the sun hits it. When the sun hits it  all manner of sh** starts falling down, it's not melodramatic to say more people are killed crossing that damn gully than anywhere else in the Alps, Google it.

Team up with others and try cosmique ridge. Be prepared for more overcrowding than you've ever seen before.

Enjoy, first season is quite the experience, enjoy it and be flexible

There were some bad rockfalls on the Cosmiques a year or so ago - not sure how stable it is.

I would recommend the Aiguille de Tour as a warm up - it is lower (good for aclimetisation) and has about the same level of technical difficulty.

Steve 

I absolutely want to team up, but i have to consider the option i dont find anyone.

Regarding bwing flexible, the problem isnthe availabilty at the refuges, thats what stop me from being very flexible.

Very sensible advice. 

I also soloed - wearing helmet and harness - and the harness came in handy when the helicopter winched me off the Grand Couloir in descent when a rock avalanche took me out. 

Regarding bwing flexible, the problem isnthe availabilty at the refuges, thats what stop me from being very flexible.

Then I would consider becoming even more flexible. What are your objectives? Are you there to climb Mont Blanc or are you there to experience your first alpine season? If the first then there might not really be a way around the crowds, save from picking a different route up the mountain, which might be too difficult. If the second, then there are loads of other massifs you can enjoy that are not nearly as crowded and might serve you better as an intro to alpine mountaineering. 

Pretty hard to find a partner when what you actually need is a guide/someone experienced and prepared to teach you everything. Sounds to me like the OP has very little to no Alpine experience.

You say you are heading to Mont Blanc soon. How soon? The Gouter route is unlikely to be in a suitable summer condition for a while yet. Check here for route conditions:

Société de Prévention et de Secours en Montagne - La Chamoniarde

    To me the Alaskas look like hiking / walking boots. They would not provide enough support for some of the steeper and sometimes icier sections of the Gouter route and also do not appear warm enough for 4,800 metres. The Sirius look much more suitable. Mont Blanc is a long day, or two, so ensure you have worn the Sirius long enough for them to be comfortable or you can hire suitable boots in Chamonix. Some people do take light trainers for the first part of the route and leave them in the Tete Rousse hut for collection upon return.

   Helmet, definitely! Lots of potential for loose rocks, stones not only in the Couloir but on the loose ridge afterwards too. Sometimes there can be wind blown ice chunks higher on the route too.

    If you are going solo how will a rope help you for this route? As others have said wearing a harness is sensible but it does suggest you are relying on others to get you out of trouble. There are crevasses and bergshrunds on the route, not all obvious, although not many compared to other areas. 

    If you are uncertain I recommend getting experience ( and acclimatisation ) on other alpine routes first. 

Hi myradio and good luck with your plan to ascend Mont Blanc via the Gouter route. As most folks have said it is more fun and safer to go with a mate as even though the Gouter is technically a very straightforward route in good conditions, it should not be underestimated due to the high altitude, snow conditions and the spectacular but very exposed Bosses Ridge which leads to the summit!

The only advice I can offer is many folks have a leisurely, relaxed start on Day 1 and take the Belvedere cable car from Les Houches early afternoon and then hop on the MB tramway train to the Eagles Nest before a short and scenic 2 to 3 hour walk to the excellent Tete Rousse Hut with it's amazing views to Aiguille Bionnassay. With an alpine start on Day 2 from the Tete Rousse it is about 2 to 3 hours in the dark to cross the Grand Couloir and the loose scramble with some fixed cables up to the Gouter Hut. My partner and I were going ok (having acclimatised on a few lower peaks then Gran Paradiso a week before) and we stayed overnight and left the Tete Rousse at around 2am. We were on the summit by about 8.30am and then back down at the Tete Rousse for just after 12 noon, before a leisurely stroll back down to the Eagles Nest to catch a train then cable car back down. Incidentally everyone we spoke to said the Tete Rousse is a far nicer hut than the Gouter to stay in as the Gouter often has a lot of unacclimatised folks with thumping headaches throwing up... 

As a shameless plug you can see a short vid showing all the main landmarks + features here: 

youtube.com/watch?v=fRBF_y3URI0&

Bon chance and hope this helps! 

Dave

I sort of see what you are saying but I wouldn't say it suggested that you were any more reliant on others to get you out of trouble than if you were partnered up. It just makes any potential rescue that little bit easier, as it would be if you were on a rope. For the record, three people died between the Tete Rousse and Gouter huts on the day I did it solo, all roped up. This isn't any defence of myradio's suitability to climb the route - I don't know, I just answered the Qs presented.

When I crossed the couloir it was early in the day and only the occasional pebble was falling, I preferred to be unroped and have the option of making a dash for it. As I got higher and the sun was out I could hear a regular clatter of big rocks and people wolf-whistling warnings. Depending on condition underfoot of the crossing point when you get there, being on a rope might make things worse. [In the conditions when I was there] There was no need for rope anywhere from valley until we were above/beyond the Gouter hut. The benefit of a rope was questionable apart from a few ridge sections near the top, but certainly on descent route down grand mulet it was essential. I saw a long crocodile of maybe 8 or 10 Italians on rope also descending and the person at the front completely disappeared down through a covered crevasse. After much excited shouting and gesticulating they all started walking in reverse and the front guy re-appeared who then enthusiastically embraced the role of chief shouter and gesticulator. After watching we decided to cross it at a different spot.

Did you advertise your dates on https://www.ukhillwalking.com/forums/lifts+partners/   you might find someone else with overlapping dates and interests

Yes, I worded it poorly. I would definitely recommend wearing a harness for this route when done solo. Personally I would recommend to the OP that he finds a partner / partners and, judging by his questions, consider getting more alpine experience on other routes first...

Thanks a lot Mark, mrphilip, tom, Dave and others. Sometimes people just try to persuade you not to do something/discourage you instead of explaining, but you gave good advice or share your experiences which is what I am looking for.

Indeed I am no expert but I did already several technical courses and I have quite some experience using crampons and some (although less) walking on glaciers.

My plan is to spend about 5 days before in the area acclimatizing and exploring other massifs. My physical condition is quite good and I am asking all these things lo learn more, I always prefer to sit on the place of the ignorant and learn than the other way around.

People may seem discouraging because your question about the rope implies that you are unclear about the purpose of the rope on a route like this, which is why some are (wisely) suggesting you don't attempt to go solo. It is not to discourage you but just be realistic about what you are proposing. If all goes well and the weather is good, you might do it and wonder what the fuss was about, but it's a big, cold mountain and things can go wrong quickly.

It's easy to get fixated on a particular peak, but aim to build your skills and experience first. So, take the warm boots and helmet and look for a partner who will help you develop these skills. You can study at home (https://www.ortovox.com/uk/safety-academy-lab-ice/ has useful videos) but it is easiest to learn most techniques 'hands-on'. I would recommend looking at routes on  Aiguille du Tour or West Flank (Voie Normale) (PD-) on Gran Paradiso then see how you go from there. 

I can't now find it, but somewhere on Youtube is a video of a climber dangling helpless in the middle of the Grand Couloir.  He'd made the mistake of clipping into the fixed safety cable with a fairly short sling, and as he went across he was lifted off the ground.  He was left dangling right in the firing line, unable to move, and the video shows him swinging his ice axe wildly to try to catch the ground and pull himself in.  I don't know how it ended, but it's no place to hang around, literally or figuratively.