Im heading out to Chamonix in a week, (Sat 5th Sept) and im looking for any info and advice on route conditions.

I am really interested in routes from the Albert 1er, the Torino and the Cosmiques refuges and upto grade D.

If any one can offer any information on the Forbes Arete, tete Blanche Norht face, Tour ronde normal route, 3 Monts route that would be great. Also if there are any other accessible routes that are looking in condition, any info on those would be great too.

Many thanks

Allan

In September the routes should be still climbable, the 3 Mont Blanc route and the normal route on tour Ronde are only PD or AD.
Just watch out for weather chances in September it tends to be less stable.

climbxclimb wrote:In September the routes should be still climbable, the 3 Mont Blanc route and the normal route on tour Ronde are only PD or AD.
Just watch out for weather chances in September it tends to be less stable.

Yeah, i fancied the NF of the Tour Ronde, but sounds like a bowling alley at this time of the year, so not going near that!

Maybe need to find an alternative route from the torino hut, or scrap going over there altogether!

thanks for the info.

TNF of Tour Ronde should not be a problem if you start the climb at 2:00 3:00 AM and you get sub zero temperature at night wich you should get at that time of the year.
In Mid July it was still in great conditions.
If you like d routes you should try some of the routes on the Triangle du Tacul easely accesible from the Cosmique hut.

a nice site with info about the routes in Mont-Blanc (in French):
http://www.ohm-chamonix.com/fiche.php?i ... =1&ling=En

cheers,
matilda

matilda wrote:a nice site with info about the routes in Mont-Blanc (in French):
http://www.ohm-chamonix.com/fiche.php?i ... =1&ling=En

cheers,
matilda

En francais aussi
http://www.ohm-chamonix.com/fiche.php?i ... =1&ling=Fr

Thanks everyone so far, the ohm website is brilliant.

If anyone else has knows of recent conditions, especially on the routes on my original post, id be very greatful!

thanks

Allan

Did mont blanc traverse on 27. august, it was in very good conditions, went through maybe 20 cm of new snow from buttom of Maudit and up. A few of the Maudit seracs had fallen, and we heard some stuff falling down, so you might wanna consider Gouter descent.
Forbes arete, was according to hut keeper in Albert 1, last week really icy, maybe they had more snow overthere, try and give the hut a call, they will have best info. Also maybe call Torino for tour ronde info, I would expect Tour Ronde routes to be very dry, the Gervasutti couloir on Ronde, looked from Mt. Blanc summit ok.

Routes on tacul Triangle looked nice, Contamine Grisolle/Mazaeud, Coulir Chere etc.

JakobFisker wrote:Did mont blanc traverse on 27. august, it was in very good conditions, went through maybe 20 cm of new snow from buttom of Maudit and up. A few of the Maudit seracs had fallen, and we heard some stuff falling down, so you might wanna consider Gouter descent.
Forbes arete, was according to hut keeper in Albert 1, last week really icy, maybe they had more snow overthere, try and give the hut a call, they will have best info. Also maybe call Torino for tour ronde info, I would expect Tour Ronde routes to be very dry, the Gervasutti couloir on Ronde, looked from Mt. Blanc summit ok.

Routes on tacul Triangle looked nice, Contamine Grisolle/Mazaeud, Coulir Chere etc.

Fantastic, thank you very much!!!
First hand knowledge!
I would pretty much opt for the Gouter decent anyway if possible, wouldnt fancy heading down the Tacul in the afternoon!
Tour ronde is pretty much out of the question with the high temps i think.

Thanks once again

Allan

I did the 3 Monts traverse two days ago as well, all the new snow had melted, conditions were very dry. The tacul face is exceptionally safe (compared to the usual seracs by the end of the summer), but you of course might want not to linger more than strictly necessary. The col du mont-maudit is in dry ice, but equipped with a fixed line. If you descend via goûter, the grand couloir below the arête is snow-free, so safer than usual when you cross it late in the day. Beware that the last TMB from nid d'aigle is now at 16h35, so you may want to hurry a bit on the way down.

The chéré looked doable but still very dry. The cosmiques has almost no snow left, I think you could probably do it without putting crampons on at all.

I did it with no crampons three weeks ago, easy..

Any latest conditions anyone as im off in the morning!

cheers

Allan