Mont Blanc Haute Route
A beautiful five-day high-mountain journey across some of the great glaciers of the massif.
With Brigitte, Monique, Chantal, Raymond, François & Arnaud.
After a briefing on the trip, a quick check of the packs and the rental of a forgotten helmet, we set off calmly from the bottom of the Val Montjoie for a climb through the forest to the Tré la Tête hut, where we stop for lunch.
This first day is a real take-off from the valley to reach the Conscrits hut, as nearly 1500m of elevation gain with heavy packs await us.
Everyone dutifully takes out their picnic to share it more than willingly and lighten their pack. I must say I had a good nose, since the three days of picnics planned easily last the five days of walking! Lesson learned: 500g of Comté per person for 3 days is far too much! And as for fruit and vegetables, Monique loves them, which is lucky because I planned exactly one tomato per person. In short, logistics: I'm on it!
Although the new path to the Conscrits hut, opened last summer, avoids the scree of the Tré la Tête glacier, we choose the latter option, shorter and more varied, which gives us the chance to get used to walking in crampons.
This long first day ends with very heavy legs. Fortunately Christine, the Conscrits hut warden, welcomes us with a delicious meal that we wash down with a good bottle. Because, as Raymond so rightly says, wine is full of potassium! So it is full of potassium that everyone heads to bed for a good night's rest...
The next day, we climb the Aiguille de la Bérangère, which offers a very beautiful view of the Dômes de Miage. Arnaud, in good shape and with good technical skills, brilliantly takes charge of an independent rope team, which he will lead alongside me every day except on the most technical passages.
Conditions are excellent this summer of 2013, as the whole ascent is on snow, which makes progress easier. On the way down we take time for a snow-skills session to learn the basics of stopping a slide with an ice axe.
The afternoon at the hut lets everyone rest after this demanding start to the trip. A good soul, François grumbles a little at this inactivity, unheard of on the farm, and paces up and down waiting for dinner.
A military group arrives at the hut; the instructions given are clear: tomorrow they will leave harness on the Man!
So the next day, it's harness on the Man (and on the woman, don't worry Monique) that we set off for the Col du Mont Tondu. Once again conditions are excellent and the beautiful ramp that looked so impressive from the hut is swallowed without batting an eyelid.
Crossing the col, the big worry of the day, turns out to be great fun and everyone enjoys moving on this impressive, well-equipped wall, which lets itself be tamed calmly.
A few slides in the snow later, the Robert Blanc hut welcomes us in a calm that contrasts with the hustle and bustle of the last two evenings. Here the atmosphere is all about hiking and only two or three groups are present. It must be said that tomorrow's forecast is not very inviting.
Dawn of the fourth day already, and the horizon is not very clear, not to say black, towards the Col de la Seigne, our morning objective via the recent Thomas Roques path.
We quite quickly reach the rock band guarding access to the col when the rain comes down on us.
We reach the Col de la Seigne soaked and begin the long descent to Courmayeur. Everything is waterlogged except the group's morale, which stays sunny! Even Chantal, drenched after deciding to take a little nap in the stream, keeps her spirits up rather than in her wet socks.
Come on, to cheer ourselves up, we go down to stock up on fruit and vegetables in Courmayeur. Logistics pro that I am, we find ourselves at 1:05pm facing shops closed from 1pm to 3pm.
Never mind the fruit: off to the Helbronner cable car to finally reach the Torino hut. Last surprise of the day: the steep metal steps to climb for a wild arrival at the hut, under the benevolent eye of the construction cranes poking through the surrounding fog. What an arrival!
The suspense about tomorrow's weather makes us even more eager for the last stage: a traverse of the huge Géant glacier, finishing on the beautiful, sharp ridge of the Aiguille du Midi.
Up at 4am, the stars are smothered in the cottony Italian clouds. According to Brigitte, the Italians are cooking pasta! So we put on our crampons to get away from their kitchen and find a clear sky at the exact time of sunrise, facing the giants of the massif.
An exquisite moment, being there, in the right place at the right time! A perfect crowning moment, this last traverse elegantly concludes this Mont Blanc Haute Route. It is to the applause of hordes of Japanese tourists that we finally reach the Aiguille du Midi.
How lucky to have shared this with you, a big thank you!
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