Hi All,

I wanted to head to the Alps over the August bank holiday weekend with my wife & climb a mountain of about 4000m in height, guided. Nothing technical please. I did some of my own research & came across Gran Paradiso in Italy, but it seems to be very popular & crowded. Does anyone have any suggestions? I don't mind doing lesser known peaks, but we want to reach an actual summit & it should be guided. The actual climb should take no more than 2-3 days & I'm not opposed to using a ski-lift to cover the first sections.

Looking forward to hearing from anyone

Cheers

Hello,
Climbing Mt Vélan could be a good one ! Other options here - https://goo.gl/sQOK4n
Good luck !

If you considered Gran Paradiso as a non-technical climb, then you have lots of options. Which one will suit depends on your own personal preferences, such as which country you like, how much time you want to spend on the climb and whether you want to have a guide only for you and your wife or want to join a group. I cherish some nice memories of the Saas valley, so I'll put forward a few suggestions from that area.

If your main goal is to get to the top of a high mountain, then one of the easiest 4000-ers in the Alps is Allalinhorn (4027m), and in Saas Fee you can join a guided group on short notice. You won't be alone up there, but apart from the very short, narrow summit ridge and the summit itself, there is plenty of room everywhere, so it doesn't matter that there will be a fair number of people. Using the lifts to Mitellalalin (3457n), Allalinhorn is comfortably climbed in a day from the valley. Since you start walking real high, you don't need to do much walking anymore to get to the summit (no hands required, it's that easy), but the good thing is that when the weather is clear, the views high up on the mountain are breathtaking. And joining a guided group keeps costs down. I wouldn't recommend hiring a private guide for just two people though; if you pay for a private guide, you might as well climb a more interesting route.

And that brings me to Weissmies (4017m) or Lagginhorn (4010m). Both offer much more rewarding climbs, still with few difficulties, but longer and requiring a bit more effort. From Saas Grund, the lifs and cable car can get you as high as Hohsaas (3100 m), and there is a hut virtually next to the cable car station. Climbers normally take the cable car to get there on the day before the climb, start early on summit day and, after the climb, take one of the afternoon cable cars back down to the valley. To climb both of them, just stay another night at Hohsaas.

On Lagginhorn experienced climbers normally don't rope up (but, as always, if you plan to go unroped it's a good idea to talk to hut warden about it before heading out; he or she will know the current conditions). A guide will surely put you on a rope though, if only because it would be unacceptable to have an unroped client fall off the mountain. For really fast climbers it's possible to take the first cable car from the valley, climb Lagginhorn and get back down to the valley by a late cable car on the same day. On the descent, instead of going to Hohsaas it's quicker to go to the cable car station at Kreuzboden (2400 m). This route involves a bit of scrambling, and you'll definitely need your hands.

The Weissmies normal route from Hohsaas ascends the big and complex Trift Glacier. Though there will surely be a trail (provided that there is no fresh snow), the crevasse risk is not to be underestimated. Going unroped it dangerous there. But roped up it should be fine, be it with a private guide just for you and your wife or for a somewhat larger group. Again, thanks to the cable cars fast climbers can complete this climb in a day from the valley, but unlike Lagginhorn, there is no quicker way down than going back to Hohsaas.

Cheers, Rob

In addition to rgg:
Breithorn and Montblanc du Tacul are the other cable-car assisted, easier 4k peaks in the alps.
All easy 4k peaks in the alps are overcrowded during august (which is high season), so better look for a lower peak and better avoid the ones in reach of a cable car...

Easy plod, long approach and therefore not to busy in summer:
Ebnefluh 3970m from Lötschental (2-3 days, lots of glacier travel)
Brunegghorn from Turtmanntal 3833m (2 days)

I've done Gran Paradiso last year. Pretty straight forward, nothing hard. I quite enjoyed it until I got close to the top. Early september was extremely crowded. Must have been at least 40 people queuing in front of me for the top. I had to turn back without actually summiting. Best to be done early or very late season to avoid the crowds.

There are plenty of 4000er that are fairly easy. As mentioned, Breithorn must be the easiest.
You could head to Zermatt and from there do Pollux and Castor.

Mont Blanc normal route is not technical either. Snow all the way up, very few crevases. The only risk is high altitude.

My suggestion is also to buy a guidebook like the one below, which you can find on amazon. Is got all the 4000ers with the classic routes, graded and a small description of the route.

The 4000m Peaks of the Alps - Selected Climbs