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Page Type:
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Route |
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Lat/Lon:
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45.81420°N / 6.79540°E |
Route Type:
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Ice climb |
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Time Required:
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One to two days |
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Difficulty:
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PD + |
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Overview
Les Contamines - Refuge de Tré la Tête - Refuge des Conscrits - Col des Dômes - Central Dôme - Occidental Dôme - Col de la Bérangère - Aiguille de la Bérangère - Refuge des Conscrits - Les Contamines (2 days).
Level difference : 2750 m
Difficulty : PD +
Duration : fist day 5 hours, second day 10 hours
The traverse of the ridges of the Miage is a must. Each mountaineerer has to realize this tour at least one time in his life : the esthetic beauty of the Central Dôme, an amazing snow pyramid perfectly rising between sky and earth is unforgettable.
If in good conditions, this route can already be advised for mountaineerers with only a few experience.
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Approach
- Start point : Les Contamines, 9 km over Saint Gervais (D 902)
- From Chamonix, take E 25 (N 205) direction Les Houches, exit Le Fayet to Saint Gervais.
- From Paris:
A6 then A40 autoroute to Mâcon Nord, then towards Geneva, then Autoroute Blanche to the Passy exit (12 km / 7.5 miles from the resort).
- From Lyon:
A42 Lyon-Pont d'Ain then A40 Mâcon-Geneva.
A43 Lyon - Chambéry - Annecy - Le Fayet
- From the south of France:
Marseille - Lyon A7 or Marseille - Valence A7, then Valence - Grenoble and A41 Grenoble - Passy A40.
Route Description
Les Contamines - Refuge de Tré la Tête - Refuge des Conscrits - Col des Dômes - Central Dôme - Occidental Dôme - Col de la Bérangère - Aiguille de la Bérangère - Refuge des Conscrits - Les Contamines (2 days).
Level difference : 2750 m
Difficulty : PD +
Duration : fist day 5 hours, second day 10 hours
The traverse of the ridges of the Miage is a must. Each mountaineerer has to realize this tour at least one time in his life : the esthetic beauty of the Central Dôme, an amazing snow pyramid perfectly rising between sky and earth is unforgettable.
If in good conditions, this route can already be advised for mountaineerers with only a few experience : without meeting technical difficulties one gets the feeling of "walking into the sky"....
2 days are necessary :
- First day : Les Contamines - Refuge des Conscrits.
From Les Contamines follow the road upstream through the Val Monjoie to the endpoint at Notre Dame de la Gorge (chapel, car park). Take the path to the Refuge de Tré la Tête (2 hours) : Pleasant place with view on the valley, savoyan specialities at lunch time). Follow then the path direction the glacier of Tré la Tête (SE side), climb 70 meters to the "Mauvais Pas" (= bad step). Take feet on the final tong of the glacier covered with innumerable rocks and progress in the middle on large stones while following some cairns which undoubtedly collapse year by year and finally take feet on the ice. Sometimes crampons are required here. Curve some meters around large stones posed on the glacier and then locate the path which leads in the direction of the Refuge des Conscrits through the cliff on your left. This path in not obvious to locate because it is collapsed partly. You can locate it thanks to the chains fixed at the wall and the blue marks. After the passage of the chains, the path continues upward crossing a moraine and a grassy terrace and reaches the refuge (3 hours from Tré la Tête).
-Second day : Refuge des Conscrits - Col des Dômes - Dôme Central - Dôme Occidental - Col de la Bérangère - Aiguille de la Bérangère - Refuge des Conscrits - Les Contamines.
Follow the path starting near the large cairn located over the refuge and cross over moraines without a significant height winning to the glacier of Tré la Tête. Fit the cramps to take feet on this one and follow it straight forward to the altitude of 3300 m. At the beginning of the season, it is a walk on hard snow at most.Take then the direction of the Col des Dômes on the left. Pass under the spur of the Oriental Dôme. Many crevasses must be crossed for the best (usually on your right). Don't continue straight forward (the tracks lead to the Col Infranchissable). At the Col des Dômes the route leaves on the left and becomes steeper and you reach rapidly the first Dôme. Continue then on the vertiginous edge which leads on the Central Dôme (3633 m). At your right, the Arête Mettrier. Finally you reach the Occidental Dôme, highest point of the route. The descent to the Col de la Bérangère is steep over the Glacier d'Armancette. From the Col de la Bérangère, climb through the rocks on the summit of the Aiguille de la Bérangère(3425 m). Descent on the south-east side, take feet on the Glacier de la Bérangère (snow fields, relicts of a Glacier). The snow is mostly sluggish here. Lover, your arrive back to the Refuge des Conscrits.
Essential Gear
Ice axe, crampons, rope