Hi all -

Sorry for sounding ignorant, we are in the beginning stages planning of a climb of the Mont Blanc traverse via Tacul, and Maudit

Intially - we were trying to avoid the trams and hike the peak up from chamonix and take a day to do that hike (to the hut) - I am not finding any indication that is done much - or at all. Is there even a route that gets you there?

We are trying to find out the pro's and con's of hiking/climbing up to hut or taking the tram to Aiguille du Midi.

We are aiming for late June - if anyone has any indication how the route will be then, much appreciated - it sounds like this is late june is pretty early in the alps climbing season.

thanks!

giggy wrote:Intially - we were trying to avoid the trams and hike the peak up from chamonix and take a day to do that hike (to the hut) ...

do you want to avoid also the Montenvers train ? ...
to get the Cosmiques from Chamonix the easiest (and very panoramic) route starts from Montenvers, follows to the Requin Refuge and, along the Vallee Blanche up to get the plateau under the Aiguille du Midi.
the difference in elevation is remarkable and the time required is long ...
maybe your trip could end at Cosmiques without continuing for the 3 M.Blanc route

I did the trip on foot from Chamonix village to the Cosmiques hut in August 2006....following the itinerary decribed by Gabriele. We wanted to acclimate better and save some money. It took us 2 days to get to the Cosmiques hut.
We spent one night camping below the Glacier du Geant just below the Requin hut. We had to go around a lot of open crevasses. After a failed summit attempt due to bad weather, we came down with the tram at Aiguille du Midi for which they charge 22 Euros per person one way .

For you in June, I would think that most of the crevasses are covered by snow bridges and you should probably bring snowshoes or skis.

Thanks!

We are not dead set for or against anything. Open all suggestions at this stage. Thanks a bunch.

So, it would be reasonable take Montenvers train to Requin Refuge and then climb to
Cosmiques the next day, spend 2 nights there and then hope for favorable conditions to attempt the 3M route. We have all been up bigger mountains like rainier, hood, denali, etc.. so we have an idea of what expect once on the route. Trying to figure out best plan to get to the Cosmiques.

Taking the cable car right to the Cosmiques is not what we want to do - sea level to that in a day doesn't seem ideal.

thanks again for this help.

giggy wrote:So, it would be reasonable take Montenvers train to Requin Refuge and then climb to Cosmiques the next day ...

Stage 1 - Chamonix - Montenvers : by train
or Stage 1 - Le Praz - Montenvers : on foot - 2 hours
Stage 2 - Montenvers - Requin : on foot - 3-4 hours
Stage 3 - Requin - Cosmiques : on foot - 3-5 hours
Stage 4 - Cosmiques - Mont Blanc : 4-8 hours
Stage 5 - Mont Blanc - Plan des Aiguilles : 4-6 hours
Stage 6 - Plan des Aiguilles - Chamonix : don't know

thank you! great info