Mattski wrote:Meh- Lots of people die because so many people climb it... the drive there will be more dangerous .

Yes, a lot of people climb Mont Blanc, which contributes to the overall numbers. But many of those people also underestimate it, which is the real reason for the deaths.

OK, Scylla, you are sounding sincere and reasonable. Sorry for suggesting you may be trolling, but the bragging rights comment and the flames symbol struck me as odd, especially for total beginners. You can go for one of the peaks you mentioned with some training and conditioning beforehand and surpass my best efforts on your first peak with good fortune.

Some of the ones you mentioned might be pretty dull and simple, but others dangerous or difficult for 8 newcomers to all summit.
Karl Pilkington managed Mt. Fuji, and had other adventures along the way:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKDjO_DiuT8[/youtube]


Alternatively, my personal bias would be to RV or auto tour the National Parks and wilderness areas of the Western U.S.A. and Canada. While there y'all could do several hikes of varying difficulty and hire guides, if wanted, for some. IIRC, SP members The Chief and Dow Williams both guide (PM them). The Eastern Sierra (Mt. Whitney region), the Canadian Rockies, and the Colorado Rockies are all great and well known places to start hiking and mountaineering. Spectacular national parks, monuments, and nearby wilderness include Glacier, Banff, Canmore, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Ouray, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Zion, Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Sequoia/Kings Canyon, Lassen, and Mt. Shasta, just to name some. You shouldn't have to worry too much about total failure on a tour of such areas, and could try things like rafting and canyoneering in addition to hiking, backpacking, and mountaineering. Maybe you want something different than I would want, or want to be in Eurasia.

SeanReedy wrote:Alternatively, my personal bias would be to RV or auto tour the National Parks and wilderness areas of the Western U.S.A. and Canada.

From a personal perspectve, I think this is the best advice you've received so far. Many great peaks to climb and tons of eye popping scenery. You could spent three weeks in just Yosemite and the Sierra East Side and not come close to running out of options. You could even climb Scylla AND Charibdys.

To be honest, I've refrained from responding to this thread because the fundamental problem you're having is that you come across as so completely clueless that it's difficult to even provide suggestions as to where to start. Your approach is to akin to posting on a runner's thread, 'hey, I want to get into running, what do I need to do?', rather than doing the obvious and just buying a pair of shoes and going running. You can't expect other people to make the obvious choices on your behalf.

Granted, it seems like you want to travel somewhere where you can climb a peak or two, so perhaps that would've have been a better question to ask. Perhaps hike up a peak or two is a better way to phrase it since you clearly aren't coming from a climbing background and you're considering peaks like Fuji or Kili. Even a simple search on the internet would have revealed number of different peaks in France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland that you could hike up without the need of a guide. Pick a place and go. If you're looking for something more technical that requires a guide, look at guiding websites and see what they suggest as climbs appropriate for beginners. Successful climbers often have to display initiative, not only to start their projects but to deal with the unexpected as it (always) arises. Show some.

Im a beginner also. I hiked the Maroon Bells at 13years old. Im getting ready to do it again. So many questions about gear, campsites...etc.
I would like to do Snowmass Mtn. summit this trip. Heard it's a great novice peak to do.
Thanks in advance!

Rene, that's a decent analogy, but you sound more experienced than the OP. I guess when you live where there are no mountains, it is easier to dream big rather than to hike often,...so why not aim high! The Maroon Bells and Snowmass sure are pretty! Good luck and be safe!

My name is John Taylor and I am the owner / head IFMGA guide of www.montblancguides.com. It's very late here and I see this forum is quite old so I'll be brief, but I've just come across this thread and think I should comment on the quotes from our site about not needing previous experience and the suggestion that we should not be able to get away with such claims legally, and that we deliberately misrepresent the climb.

You absolutely do not need any form of previous mountaineering experience to join one of our Mont Blanc courses as long as you are fit enough. We have had over 1600 clients to date and none has suffered anything worse than a twisted ankle - that could change tomorrow of course, but I think it shows we are not just taking people up there who shouldn't be there. If someone disagrees with this or thinks we just turn most people around I would point them to our testimonials page at http://www.montblancguides.com/index.ph ... STIMONIALS where they can use the emails provided to contact any of our ex-clients and ask them. More than 75% of our clients so far had no previous mountaineering experience whatsoever, and many hundreds safely made the top.

Do not think that because we have a corporate identity there are not real people behind it who might actually be offended by being casually accused of dishonesty. I'm sure our competition would feel the same way, 99% of whom are thoroughly professionally run organisations.

If you just want bragging rights, by all means, hire a reputable company and let them guide you up some big-name mountain. Then at the office or party you can totally say that you are a mountaineer and have climbed Mont Blanc. It sounds like this is all you want anyway, since the only options you have listed are household name types of places.

This forum is not really about guided climbing, but some people here are definitely about bragging rights, so you'll fit right in i think!

Bragging right... simply put, if you got the money, you can do it!

Hire experience guide, high altitude porters, carry nothing other than your hiking poles, oxygen prepared for summit day, extend you hiking days, only move through areas with fixed ropes, let the guide's knee be your stepping stones!

Seriously is this even call conquering the peak?!