Chamonix and Mont Blanc

Looking for guidebook recommendations for Chamonix area and Mont Blanc. I can read French and English so either is fine, but I'd like to start planning for a trip this July rather than buy a book when I get there. Also if there are potential partners in the area dm me.

Also, would love to hear some recs for long moderates. Before anybody suggests getting a guide (seems to happen in most threads), my budget is too thin for that, and I'm experienced doing alpine rock, ice, and glaciers in the Cascades, Tetons, Rockies, and Sierra Nevada.

The Traddest Dad wrote:

Looking for guidebook recommendations for Chamonix area and Mont Blanc. I can read French and English so either is fine, but I'd like to start planning for a trip this July rather than buy a book when I get there. Also if there are potential partners in the area dm me.

Also, would love to hear some recs for long moderates. Before anybody suggests getting a guide (seems to happen in most threads), my budget is too thin for that, and I'm experienced doing alpine rock, ice, and glaciers in the Cascades, Tetons, Rockies, and Sierra Nevada.

I bought the Rockfax book before going there last year and used the Rockfax app while there.

The book is done well, published recently, and was easy to use. 

I’d second the Rockfax guidebook. 

For rock, anything on the tacul (approach is a bit of a pain in the summer) or off the plan... Or the midi itself. Little Yosemite is also fantastic if you don't mind the approach/hut and like cracks.

Snow, Ice, And Mixed by Damilano is the best for the self-evident title. Rockfax is good for the self-evident title.

Tacul. Midi. And depends on your definition of "long" and "moderate." My first trip there a 30 pitch 5.9 sounded like a long moderate. How little did I know...

A word of warning about the Rockfax book, it has a number of errors. Fine to get some inspiration, maybe not so great to follow details about routes. Damilano's books are the reference but very exhaustive (could be good or bad, depending on what you are after). They are available in English too. Philippe Batoux's reimagining of the 100 finest routes is a must, though with an emphasis on harder, longer alpine routes. And my own book, Mont Blanc Lines, if you want to understand the structure of the range better.

Rockfax digital is $5 a month and I think the app is pretty cool! I used this before my trip and purchased an area specific guidebook once I arrived. 

Alex Buisse’s book Mont Blanc Lines is beautiful for inspiration, more a coffee table book than a guidebook though!

Go with Rockfax as the info is up to date in the ever changing conditions in the alps. I lived there and climbed for a summer and it was spot on every time.

Thanks everyone. Getting Buisse's, Batoux's books right now, looking into Rockfax while I'm there. 

The number of possible routes and things to do is almost paralyzing.  

Couple more questions for those who know the area. Bivvying is apparently banned on the Gouter route on Mont Blanc and in the vicinity of certain refuges, but am I understanding correctly that bivvying is otherwise allowed if A. you are above 5500 feet or so and B. you only set up your tent from 1900h until 0900h? 

Also, any issues with hopping over to Courmayeur? Looking to squeeze in a climb on the Mont Blanc Italian route while I'm there, and if conditions allow, it seems like it would be fun to do a carryover from Italy to France (up the Italian route and down the Gouter).  

Do you have a car while there? There's a tunnel from Cham to Courmayeur, takes about half an hour. Otherwise an hour by bus.

The Traddest Dad wrote:

Thanks everyone. Getting Buisse's, Batoux's books right now, looking into Rockfax while I'm there. 

The number of possible routes and things to do is almost paralyzing.  

Couple more questions for those who know the area. Bivvying is apparently banned on the Gouter route on Mont Blanc and in the vicinity of certain refuges, but am I understanding correctly that bivvying is otherwise allowed if A. you are above 5500 feet or so and B. you only set up your tent from 1900h until 0900h? 

Also, any issues with hopping over to Courmayeur? Looking to squeeze in a climb on the Mont Blanc Italian route while I'm there, and if conditions allow, it seems like it would be fun to do a carryover from Italy to France (up the Italian route and down the Gouter).  

Bivy is technically forbidden, in practice allowed from sunset to sunrise above treeline. There is a sort of tent village on Col du Midi for people who don't want to pay the Refuge des Cosmiques, but it gets cleared by the PGHM a few times every summer.

Getting to Courmayeur is pretty straightforward via bus. Lots of people also hitchhike from the big roundabout for the tunnel, you might be lucky if you offer to split the tunnel costs on your sign.

Thanks everyone for the great advice. Just to follow up, I bought Buisse's book, and, as usual, it's absolutely beautiful and gave me a million new ideas. It also helped me understand the topography much better. Thank you Alex!   

We won't have a car, so planning on making all connections by bus if possible.  Here are my thoughts about Mont Blanc and questions now after more study, and if anyone has done anything similar, I'd love to hear what it was like:  

I'm interested in climbing the Italian Route or the Arete des Aiguilles Grises (route #2 in the attached picture below). I'll have a newer climber with me, so I'm trying to keep it mellow but adventurous. There's plenty of information on the Italian Route, but the Arete des Aiguilles Grises is what I want to learn more about. In particular: 

1. Anybody know of trip reports or useful information about this route? It was climbed in 1919 or so and rated PD+, so I'm thinking it's not terribly technical. Plus, I saw it's used as an alternative when the Italian Route is out due to crevasse hazard, but not much seems to be written online. Anybody have any experiences? 

2. Pictures of the Gonella hut online look like there are cliffs right above it, but there must be a weakness to follow above instead of going straight out to the glacier?

3. The Gonella hut is booked on the dates during which we can make the climb. Plus, I would rather do a slower ascent, so I was thinking a logical way to break it up would be to bivvy on the moraine around 8200 feet/2500 m, then climb past Gonella to the ridgeline and bivvy at 12300 feet/3750 m, then finish the climb on the third day and descend to Chamonix. I saw plenty of rules forbidding bivvies on the Gouter route, but I didn't see anything similar on other routes except avoiding leaving your tent up past 9 AM. Is this plan crazy? 

4. I'm not breaking any laws by climbing up and out of Italy and down into France, am I?

Thanks

Other than your last question, I can't give any specific responses. As to that last question, though---no you will not be breaking any laws by ascending a route in Italy and descending into France ( or vice versa)---it happens all the time. Remember, both countries are members of the EU, so effectively there are no borders within that Union. But even before the EU, such 'across border' climbs were commonplace, though a good idea ( then, but even now) to have your passport with you---just in case.
I also have a general comment on your plans. While not knowing anything about the specifics of that route, it is very important to be aware of the significant impacts of climate change on Mt. Blanc and other big, heavily glaciated mountains. The Gouter is not the only once relatively straightforward route that has become increasingly unstable and dangerous in recent years, especially during the summer. I believe that all routes to that summit have been impacted to a greater or lesser extent. I would definitely check for the latest information on conditions at the Guides Bureau in Chamonix or the equivalent in Courmayeur ( I presume there is one ) and have Plans B and C, just in case.

Glad you are enjoying the book! I am not sure I would recommend the Aiguilles Ridges integral (route 2), especially with a new climber (though as a disclaimer, I haven't climbed it myself). Everything I heard about it is horrendous rock quality, so you need to be very comfortable on loose, exposed terrain with minimal protection and tricky routefinding. All the while dealing with altitude. I believe it only gets climbed once or twice every season, if that.

If I were you, I would try to at least do the normal Italian route (line 3) once before embarking on the grand adventure of the integral.

Bivying is generally tolerated, and Gonella sees a fraction of the crowds of Goûter or Trois Monts, so you should be fine. But I would question the wisdom of taking bivy kit for 2 nights, that's a lot of extra weight to carry up and down.

Nobody will care that you start in one country and end up in another. Just have your passport whenever you cross the tunnel again (e.g. to retrieve your car) as they very rarely ask for it. Otherwise have at it.

La Chamoniarde and Camptocamp are useful resources to get an idea of current conditions and which routes get done at any given moment. 

The Traddest Dad wrote:

Looking for guidebook recommendations for Chamonix area and Mont Blanc. I can read French and English so either is fine, but I'd like to start planning for a trip this July rather than buy a book when I get there. Also if there are potential partners in the area dm me.

Also, would love to hear some recs for long moderates. Before anybody suggests getting a guide (seems to happen in most threads), my budget is too thin for that, and I'm experienced doing alpine rock, ice, and glaciers in the Cascades, Tetons, Rockies, and Sierra Nevada.

Will you be there in August? Thinking about going in mid august and would love to climb.

Alex Buisse wrote:

Nobody will care that you start in one country and end up in another. Just have your passport whenever you cross the tunnel again (e.g. to retrieve your car) as they very rarely ask for it.

We drove through the tunnel last week and were asked if we had our passports.  But, they didn't ask to see them and were satisfied when I answered "yes".  Saved me from having to dig it out of our packs.  Kinda funny.

I'm headed there from early June to mid July and would love to climb! I'll make a separate post, but hoping to find some climbing partners. 

Kelsey K wrote:

I'm headed there from early June to mid July and would love to climb! I'll make a separate post, but hoping to find some climbing partners. 

I’ll be there around that time (first week of June), looking for a partner. Sent you a DM!