Climb Mont Blanc (4805m)
Tackle the highest peak in Western Europe during the climb of a lifetime, testing your tenacity on the mountaineer’s mountain
Duration
7 nights
Annual Leave
1 week off work
Group Size
Up to 6 people
Season
Jun, July & Sep
Location
France
Meeting Point
Chamonix, France
Classic Accommodation
Hotel · Mountain hut
Customer Reviews
5.0
Difficulty
Tough
…
…
Learn mountaineering skills from expert guides as you cross glaciers and summit Tête Blanche (3429m)
Face off against mighty Mont Blanc (4805m), the highest peak in France and in the Alps, with a guide ratio of 1:2
Mont Blanc’s legendary mountain huts get booked a long time in advance – so book your 2025 climb by November 2024
Looking for an alternative? Check out our trip to Monte Rosa, the Alps’ second-highest peak – an equally epic climb but without the crowds
Day 1
Welcome to Chamonix!
Fly into Geneva and make your way to your hotel in Chamonix, where you host will be waiting. Meet your fellow explorers (you'll be in a group of just four people), get briefed on the adventure ahead, then head out in search of dinner.
Day 2
Training: a taste of mountaineering
Hiking
Sort out any last-minute kit rentals in Chamonix and then head up the valley by minibus to Le Tour, from where you'll ascend by ski lift to the Col du Balme. Hike up to the Albert 1er refuge, located at an altitude of 2702m, right on the edge of the Glacier du Tour. Enjoy the stunning Alpine views during lunch before an outdoor snow and ice training session with your guides during the afternoon, to prepare you for the challenge ahead.
Day 3
Summit Tête Blanche (3429m)
Hiking
Wake up bright and early, put your crampons on and set out to make the 700m ascent of Tête Blanche (3429m). The route to the summit will a mixture of rock and snow, with a rocky ridge-line section where you’ll need to scramble on the Aiguille du Tour – the perfect warm up ahead of Mont Blanc. You'll then cross the Col Supérieur du Tour and descend to reach the Cabane du Trient hut (3170m), in time for dinner and a well-deserved rest.
Day 4
Up and over the Col Supérieur du Tour (3289m)
Hiking
Set out early once again, from the Trient cabin, ascend back up to the Col Supérieur du Tour. Then retracing your steps, you'll return down to the Albert 1er Refuge for a short break. From there, you descend to the village of Le Tour. Back at base in Chamonix, the guide will meet you to inform you of the rest of the programme according to the weather forecast and the mountain conditions. You're one step closer to the big one.
Day 5
Hiking between Alpine peaks
Hiking
Drive to Les Houches (10min) and ride the Bellevue cable car and Tramway du Mont Blanc to Refuge du Nid d’Aigle. Hike to the Tête Rousse Hut and rest up for the night, ready for tomorrow’s ascent of Mont Blanc.
Day 6
Summit Mont Blanc (4805m)
Hiking
Time to test your determination to the full! Rise early and begin your ascent on Monday, the best day of the week to summit this spectacular mountain (due to it being the quietest day). Scramble past the Refuge de Goûter and ascend the Dome de Goûter before tackling the Bosses Ridge, finally topping out on the summit of Western Europe’s tallest peak, the highest mountain in the Alps. Once you’ve sucked in that incredible view, descend to the Goûter Hut for a well-earned rest and the chance to share stories from the day.
Day 7
Return to Chamonix
Hiking
Continue your descent and ride the train and cable car down to Les Houches, where your driver will be waiting to take you back to Chamonix. You can either leave as soon as you get back (around 17:00), or you’re welcome to stay a final night in the hotel at no additional cost. Usually, guides and guests go for a meal to celebrate and bask in the achievement of a lifetime.
Day 8
Head for home
Chow down on one last breakfast before checking out and making your way back home, or on to your next adventure.
Included
Guides
Expert, qualified mountaineering guides
Accommodation
4 nights in mountain huts and 3 nights in a hotel in Chamonix
Meals
All breakfasts, 5 lunches, 4 dinners
Transfers
All transport between locations
Equipment
Blankets or duvets are provided at the mountain refuges
Not Included
Flights to and from the meeting point
Travel insurance
Personal expenses
Some meals as described
Some equipment
Visas where required
Day 1
Day 2 – Day 3
Day 4
Day 5 – Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
What is the food like?
The food in the mountain huts is basic but tasty (three courses in the evening; hot drinks and bread/jam/cereal for breakfast.) You can also buy tea, coffee, wine, beer, soft drinks, chocolate bars and snacks, as well as warm lunches, in the huts.
Vegetarians can be catered for, but please let your host know in advance. Vegan and other dietary requirements can also be catered for but it will be basic and we recommend that you bring snacks to bulk out the meals. Whilst in Chamonix, breakfasts can cater for vegan/gluten free and dairy free diets.
What is the accommodation like?
Chamonix
You'll stay in a twin-share, en-suite room at a 3-star hotel in central Chamonix. You'll be close to rental shops, restaurants and bars.
The Alps
You'll stay in mountain huts in a mixed dorm with bunk beds where you can expect a good atmosphere and a stunning view. Blankets or duvets are provided, so no sleeping bags are needed, but we recommend that you bring a thin sleeping bag liner. There is no running water in the huts on Mont Blanc so you have to buy water to drink and wash with (there are no showers).
Due to Mont Blanc's legendary status, its mountain huts get booked up well in advance. We suggest booking your 2025 climb before November 2024 so that we can secure your space.
Upgrades
For solo travellers looking for their own space, an optional private room can be booked for the three nights in the hotel in Chamonix for an extra charge – see Optional Extras for the price. Rates shown are for the 2024 climbing season, 2025 prices will be available soon. Please request this at the time of booking (this is subject to availability).
It is not possible to have private accommodation in the mountain huts.
The Area
Logistics
Starts
Central Chamonix
18:00 on Day 1
Ends
Central Chamonix
17:00 onwards on Day 7, or any time on Day 8
Transfers
Your host will meet you at your hotel in Chamonix on Day 1. They can arrange a private transfer from Geneva Airport if required – see Optional Extras section for prices). Alternatively, you can get a choice of buses from the airport or the central bus station to Chamonix.
Travel options
You can fly into Geneva Airport (GVA) which is approximately one hour from Chamonix. Alternatively, you can fly into Milan Airport (LIN) or Zurich Airport (ZRH) and travel on to Chamonix from there.
For those who wish to avoid flying, Chamonix is also accessible by train via the St. Gervais-les-Bains (Le Fayet) station at the base of the valley, which connects to Chamonix Mont Blanc train station. For example, you can take the Eurostar from London to Paris and then connect to a number of direct lines (or an overnight sleeper train) from Paris to St. Gervais-les-Bains, then on to Chamonix Mont Blanc station.
You can also travel to Geneva by various train routes from other parts of Europe and travel on to Chamonix from there by bus. Geneva Bus Station is a 5-minute walk or short taxi ride from the central train station. There are various bus services from Geneva Bus Station to Chamonix, with the quickest option taking 1 hour and 8 minutes.
Your return leg at the end of the trip can begin at Chamonix Mont Blanc train station for various onward train travel routes throughout Europe, or you can take the bus from Chamonix to Geneva and travel on by train from Geneva train station.
For those wanting to arrive a day early or extend their trip, your host is happy to help arrange pre- or post-trip accommodation on your behalf. The price and style will depend on availability and your budget. Optional Extra Rates shown are for the 2024 climbing season, 2025 prices will be available soon.
Enjoy 12.5% Off Outdoor Gear
In need of a few more items? All bookings receive a 12.5% discount to use at Cotswold Outdoor, Snow + Rock and Runner's Need.
What's available to hire?
- Ice axes, hard hats, harnesses and crampons are available to hire locally. See Optional Extras for prices.
What do I need to bring?
Equipment
- Ice axe for general mountaineering (between 50 and 70cm depending on your height)
- Standard, steel mountaineering crampons
- Helmet – standard, hard plastic climbing helmet
- Climbing harness (adjustable so that it is comfortable over all your layers), with 2 screw-gate carabiners
- Trekking poles – foldable
- Rucksack – mountaineering specific, 30-50L. It must have an ice axe strap to stash your ice axe when you are not using it, and a rain-proof cover.
Clothing
- Mountaineering B2 or B3 Boots and gaiters (if you're not sure whether your boots are crampon compatible, check out this handy guide.
- 3 sets of socks and thermal tops
- Lightweight hardshell hooded top and bottoms
- Warm hat and 2 pairs of gloves. One pair should be thick mountaineering gloves and the second a thinner pair suitable for mid-mountain conditions.
- Insulating layers: we suggest a thin lightweight fleece and a synthetic or down jacket
- Mountaineering trousers
- Shorts, hiking shoes and trainers - nice to wear around town and on the approach to climbing days
Other
- Earplugs
- Water bottles, up to 2L
- Sun protection, including: sunglasses (category 4), goggles, sun hat, factor 30-50 high mountain sunscreen, lip salve/block
- Head torch and spare batteries
- Sleeping bag silk liner (you don’t need the sleeping bag itself as blankets/duvets are provided in the huts)
- Personal first aid – blister kit, aspirin, or paracetamol
- Cash for extra drinks/snacks in huts
- ID
All items
Payable Before Departure
All items
… Per Person
Climbing Harness
Payable Before Departure
Climbing Harness
… Per Person
Crampons
Payable Before Departure
Crampons
… Per Person
Hard Hat
Payable Before Departure
Hard Hat
… Per Person
Ice Axe
Payable Before Departure
Ice Axe
… Per Person
Single room - From:
Payable Before Departure
Single room - From:
… Per Night
Twin/double room - From:
Payable Before Departure
Twin/double room - From:
… Per Night
Optional Private Room Upgrade in Chamonix (3 nights)
Payable Before Departure
Optional Private Room Upgrade in Chamonix (3 nights)
…
Private transfer to/from Geneva Airport to Chamonix (each way up to 8 people)
Payable Before Departure
Private transfer to/from Geneva Airport to Chamonix (each way up to 8 people)
…
Private transfer to/from Geneva Airport to Chamonix (round trip to 8 people)
Payable Before Departure
Private transfer to/from Geneva Airport to Chamonix (round trip to 8 people)
…
The people were fabulous! Truly remarkably wonderful!! They made us feel welcome and cared for our needs - truly amazingly awesome!
Organisation was great.
The huts and organisation was good. Both summits gave perfect timing to learn, rest. Excellent trip
The level of experience I gained was great.
We partner with the World Land Trust to ensure this trip achieves Net-Zero emissions. We also support their Buy an Acre programme, helping local communities to buy and protect natural habitats in perpetuity.
What's the number?
It works out on average at 173kg of CO2 emissions per person, including all local transport, accommodation, food, activities, guides, staff and office operations.
The only thing it doesn’t include right now is flights and travel to the destination. We do make an overall estimate across all our customers separately, but as we don’t book flights, have customers from all corners of the world, and no way of reliably knowing their travel plans, we simply can’t include an individual number in the figure on display here. We’ve got a goal to fix that, so that when you book, there is a way to measure and mitigate the carbon emitted by your flight too.
But what does the number mean?
Yep, hard to picture eh? To give you an idea:
- Driving 1000miles/1609km would be approx. 281kg of CO2 in an average car (or 140.5kg per person if there was 2 of you in it).
- A return economy class flight London - New York would be approx. 1,619kg (1.66 tonnes) per person.
- 10 trees in a temperate forest are estimated to remove approx. 250kg of CO2 from the air in a period of 5-10 years.
What are we doing about it?
Our trips are relatively low-carbon by design, and we're working with all our hosts to develop long term carbon reduction plans. We partner with the World Land Trust to ensure this trip achieves Net-Zero emissions. We also support their Buy an Acre programme, helping local communities to buy and protect natural habitats in perpetuity, ensuring the protection of the reserve and its wildlife.
Want to know more?
Amazingly, no international travel company has ever publicly published their carbon measurements before, as far as we know. We believe that must change, quickly. So we’re openly sharing the method we used in the hope that other companies will be able to more easily follow suit and build on what we've done so far. You'll find it all here.
Previous technical mountaineering experience isn't required as full skills and training will be provided by the guides. However, you do need a high level of cardiovascular endurance, all-round fitness, a can-do attitude and plenty of determination.
You need to be able to hike comfortably with a heavy pack for up to 10 hours at a moderate pace, a good head for heights and good overall balance and awareness. Your guides will teach you the skills you need during the first three days of the trip - such as walking with crampons whilst attached to your guide with a rope and how to use an ice axe.
For your Mont Blanc summit attempt the guide to climber ratio is 1:2. This means for groups of 6 people there will be 3 mountain guides.
In short, no. Whilst we will always strive to get you to the summit safely, sometimes the weather or the conditions of the mountain don’t play ball. When there is precipitation, high winds and low visibility for example, we cannot guarantee reaching the summit and will sometimes recommend an alternative. We fully trust and back the trip leader to make these final decisions based on their years of experience on the mountain, with safety as a top priority.
However the vast majority of people reach the summit successfully.
Sometimes the conditions on Mont Blanc are too dangerous to attempt a summit. If the weather or conditions on the mountain on the day of your summit mean that your guides need to make this call, the group will move to a different mountain range nearby to tackle a substitute ascent.
As the climate heats up and Europe experiences hotter temperatures at the height of summer, the conditions in the Alps are worsening, particularly on Mont Blanc. There have been increased rockfalls during August in recent years, leading to unavoidable accidents. In August 2022, the mayor of Saint-Gervais at the foot of Mont Blanc took the decision to close the mountain refuges at Goûter and Tête Rousse due to dangerous rockfalls. For this reason, we have taken the decision not to offer this trips that go for the summit during August in future years.
When you trek in the mountains, there's always the risk of getting altitude sickness, regardless of how old, young, fit or unfit you are. We would expect most trekkers to feel some mild symptoms of altitude sickness (headache, sleeplessness, heavy breathing) when over 3000m. Our guides are trained to identify the symptoms of altitude sickness so if any more serious symptoms are noted, there is a strict procedure regarding extra care or a rapid descent or evacuation if needed. All of our trips have been designed with altitude best practice in mind so acclimatisation days have been built in and our experienced guides follow advice to ‘walk high and sleep low’.
Sure can! Over 70% of our travellers travel solo, it’s a great way to meet like-minded people.
All of our guides are friendly, hand-picked and highly experienced, with many years in the guiding industry. They are of various nationalities but all speak a good level of English and are very attentive. Their primary role is to get you to the summit and back safely, but they also provide a high level of customer service and are very interesting people to spend time with. They like to share their knowledge of the mountains and their experiences, so don’t hesitate to ask questions and pick their brains. Lastly, they know Mont Blanc like the back of their hands and this is the most important thing when it comes to making key decisions in the mountains and providing the safest possible experience.
In short, alpine and prone to change, so you'll need to prepare for all weathers and dress in layers. Put it this way – it’s called the ‘white mountain’ for a good reason. The climbing season runs from mid-June to late September and between those dates there is no better or worse time to attempt the climb. The beginning and end of the season can be snowy/ cold, and the middle months can be busier and the hotter temperatures can cause afternoon storms.
Summit success varies from season to season but remains consistent throughout the months. If the weather shuts you down, your host will endeavour to find the closest mountain in the area with better weather and thanks to their base location they are generally able to find an equally beautiful alternative within driving distance in France, Italy or Switzerland.
Yes there will be a place to leave excess luggage at the hotel.
For current advice about travelling in France, have a read of the UK Foreign Office pages here.
Our recommended travel insurance provider is Campbell Irvine.
Travel insurance is compulsory for all of our adventures and you are required to provide your policy information before departing.
Your insurance should include adequate protection for overseas medical treatment, evacuation/repatriation, your baggage and equipment and the specific activities involved on your adventure. We also strongly recommend it includes cancellation and curtailment insurance, should you be unable to join your trip for specific reasons such as illness.
We fully endorse Campbell Irvine as their insurance offers all of the above, so get in touch with them or call on 020 7938 1734 to get your insurance sorted. We suggest that you book travel insurance as soon as you book your adventure, just to cover you for any last-minute life changes. We know you’re an active lot and injuries do happen!
We automatically convert prices from the local currency that a host receives to your chosen currency. We update our exchange rates on a daily basis so this does mean that prices displayed on the site are subject to currency fluctuations, which is why you may see them change over time.
If you wish to change the currency you pay in, head to the bottom of the page.
All of our group adventures are specially designed for adults to enjoy (18+) as we want these adventures to bring together outdoorsy people who are truly like-minded. Children can be accommodated on some private departures.
You're always in good company on one of our adventures.
Our trips are typically made up of a mixture of solo travellers and small groups of 2 or 3 friends, with most in their 30s-50s.
Our sociable adventures are solo-friendly by design and naturally attract outdoorsy people with a shared mindset; a love for adventure, a desire to push themselves and meet awesome, like-minded people along the way.
It’s this camaraderie that has so often turned a great adventure into a life-changing one.
Don't just take our word for it:
- 95% of people rate the group dynamics on our trips 5/5
- 90% of people recommend joining a trip to make new friends
- 75% of people have met people on our trips that they would now consider friends
See here for more info about the Much Better Adventures tribe.
Interested in a more exclusive experience? Opt for a 'Private Group' through the dates and prices tab to book this adventure for just you and your chosen companions.
Our team of Adventure Hunters create exclusive adventures with highly vetted, specialist hosts. We only work with independent, local in-destination experts who know the very best places to explore and how to stay safe. See here for more info about the local teams we partner with.