One of the most wonderful summits in the italian side of Mount Blanc.
It is the first important summit of the famous "gran cresta del Peuterey" (3200m from val Veni to Mont Blanc summit)

This is a very serious mountain : no easy way to get it, good skill and appropriate training required for long approach and long climbing.
To be done only with fine weather, storms are very dangerous and snow on the rocks can make very difficult and serious even getting back.
Normal route, along the S wall and E ridge is absolutely not easy neither to climb nor to find and is normally used only for coming down.

Best climbs to Aiguille Noire :
South ridge : 1032m (from Col des Chaussures to the Top) - TD - the most classic and frequented
West wall (Boccalatte) 700m - TD
West wall (Vitali) 700m - ED

Its south ridge is made of five different summits, Picco Gamba, Punta Welzenbach, Punta Brendel, Punta Ottoz and Punta Bich.
Some of them host direct routes but the only one that can be considered as standing alone id the lower one, the Picco Gamba, that can be climbed as a second best if weather is not good enough for the South ridge route.

Getting There

Starting point : Courmayeur (val d'Aosta)

You can get the start of the climb starting from :
Rif. Monzino (crossing the Freney),
Rif. Lorenzo Borelli al Combalet (2310m)
Bivacco della Brenva (3200m) (long, difficult and trouble).
Bivacco Craveri (3490m)

Routes - drawings

North East side
111a - from "Breche Sud des Dames Anglaises" - Rey-Chenoz - D/TD
111b - icewall Nord and east ridge - Dionisi-Rosenkrantz - D/TD
111c - from "Breche Sud des Dames Anglaises" North ridge - Couzy-Desmaison - ED-

East side
111e - East ridge - Negri-Santi - D/TD
111f - South wall and East ridge - normal route - AD

South East side
111i - South wall - Cretier-Ollietti - ?? unknown
111l - South wall to "punta Bich" - Sandri-Stenico - TD+
111m - South ridge - Brendel-Schaller - TD

West side
111n - West wall to "punta Bich" - Boccalatte - TD
111p - West wall - Couzy-Desmaison - ED+
111q - West wall "diretta" - Ratti-Vitali - ED

graphics below are from Renato Chabod, former president of CAI (Alpin Club of Italy) and climbing partner of Giusto Gervasutti