 Poster: A snowHead
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Help!!!!
Me and a few friends want to climb mont blanc before we're 30 (both currently 2 and are wondering whats involved both cost and equipment wise. We're all experienced hill walkers, all relatively fit, and want to do it next summer.
The equipment required
Is the clothing better to be thin layers with a gore tex shell or is a down jacket needed?
What rated boot should i buy and which crampon to go with it?
The Mountain Guide
Any recommendations?
The Cost
How much will it roughly cost excluding the equipment?
Thanks in advance
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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seems a lot are selling a full 6 day deal now, with plenty of training and acclimatisation
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you can certainly bag the peak in a 6 day course but you will learn a lot more, enjoy the experience way more and suffer a lot less on the acsent if you spend 2 or better 3 weeks in the Alps, especially if you haven't done Alpine mountaineering before. 6 days is not long to acclimatise to 4807m, I have done 4000m ascents in the first week but always with some (sometimes a lot) of suffering. Easier in week 2 and much easier in week 3. Use the build up time to do some lower level peaks & learn the alpine skills, 4 days prep is also not going to get you fluent in the skills.
Most guide outfits who do Mont Blanc will also do a 1 or 2 week Alpine intro or skills course which you can then add a MB summit onto. (I have used & can recommend Martin Moran who works out of Arolla and offers all the main summits in various packages. )
For gear you can google Mont Blanc equipment list or similar and some of the guide outfits publish their recommendations. With some you have to book before they send though.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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You'll be fine on a week's course for acclimatisation. Loads of people do it. It sounds like a trophy for you after all. Moran good, ISM the best, Chamonix Experience also good. Have fun - take loads of picks and don't go off too fast (male rooky mistake).
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Oh, and think twice about Icicle and all of them will give you a kit list that you can hire. It's very cold up there as very windy - ski insulatation minimum but thinner layers. watch out for hydration tubes freezing.
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You will need:
crampons
climbing hat
usual winter gear -> outer shell, fleece, inner layer, another inner layer odlo/decathlon type stuff
alpine boots with gators
30l min rucksack
rope and crevasse rescue kit (harness... etc depending on whether you go with a guide).
alpine type gloves/mittens
ice axe
and most important:
good weather!
Most people get into difficulty chancing it in marginal conditions (obviously forecast bad weather, high winds).
Dont underestimate how cold it will be even moving.
It is more a yomp than a serious climb, by an large you don't have to be particuarly good at cramponing, there is only one serious section at the Col du Maudit which will have fixed ropes. You don't have to be that fit - just take it easy. If you leave the Conscripts between 2-3am then think around 2.5 hours for each col will get you to the summit between 9-10am without killing yourselves (most people will take 6 hours on the ascent and this will be what guides will expect, it is quite quick)
Some pics to whet your appetite, well worth doing, esp out of season
https://picasaweb.google.com/david.george/MontBlanc2010
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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When we arrived on the top just before dawn, I used my down jacket while we waited for the sun to come up, one of the only times i have ever needed it. Also my feet were getting cold hanging about. Don't underestimate how cold it might be. I agree with what davidof said re the weather, meteo cham do very good forecasts, but there is great temptation to "have a look" against a less than ideal forecast if you have huts booked or have been hanging around.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Hello,
Hi,
I am a journalist working for the programme Temps Présent on Swiss TV RTS. We are currently preparing a documentary film on the Mont Blanc and how it is getting more accessible for the young generation. I have seen your discussion a couple of years ago on climbing up that mountain and was wondering if all of you had done so or some were maybe still planning to go up that hill..?
Or else, would you know someone who is planning on going up the Mont Blanc this year?
We are looking for a group of people we could go along with during their preparation and the actual climb this summer.
Please feel free to get in touch with me if you need further information: lisamlouis@gmail.com.
I would be very pleased to hear from you.
Best wishes,
Lisa Louis
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I did it about ten years ago with Martin Moran. You need a guide and his two week holidays are great value. Be good to do a winter skills course before you go but with Martin your first day is always up on the Dent Blanche glacier doing crevasse rescue, rope skills etc. Then you do a Swiss summit around 3600m then another at 4000m. All great fun in themselves plus they get you acclimatised. Actual summit attempt in the second week is planned around the weather to maximise your chances of success. Other days you'll be climbing other peaks. Go for it!
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FAQ
But going next summer you've got plenty of time to work up to it. If you've not done much winter stuff you might find a UK based winter skills course useful. (e.g. Glenmore Lodge or Plasybrenin.)
)
