Chamonix Spring 2025

A spring trip to Chamonix has just to a close for me as I start the journey back to the Rockies. This was first time visiting the Alps and it did not disappoint. Needless to say the Alps are quite the contrast to the Canadian Rockies. Most notably, the access to alpine terrain via the numerous lifts and of course the much higher number of people simply out in the mountains. Overall I found the easy access and relative busyness to be nice - that being said, I know the month of May is a shoulder season here and the ‘crowds’ I experienced are likely nothing compared to the peaks season in the summer.

Chris hiking up the steep trail from Le Tour

This trip was a bit last minute but one I had always wanted to do having not travelled to the Alps before. I was aware/warned that May can be a tricky month with conditions and that was true. Optimistically my hope was to get on the some of the classic North Face routes such 1958 Eiger, which had been seeing a lot of traffic just prior to my arrival in early April. I did however miss the window for many of these of these routes and the trip ended up being much more skiing, trail running, and easier mountaineering routes. I had anticipated May to be prime season for Mont Blanc on skis and this certainly turned out to be the case. Having some interest in FKTs, I did entertain the idea of having a go at the round trip ski fastest time for Mont Blanc. But, last minute I opted to leave behind some key pieces of gear for this including race boots as it didn’t take long for my bag to reach 23kg. For myself to even have the slightest of chances to reach the summit from town in just under four hours, I would need absolutely every advantage possible. Instead, I focused on exploring the different easier routes up the peak which made for numerous very enjoyable days out.

A view of Mont Blanc, Mont Maudit, and Mont Blanc du Tacul

Along with spending some time on the Mont Blanc massif, I was also able to climb a few routes up the North Face of the Aiguille Du Midi, the Grand Paradiso, a sky race in Châtillon, and many of the impressive trails around the Chamonix valley. Below is a brief summary of what I thought were the more interesting objectives during my stay in the Alps.

Mont Blanc via the Grand Mullets from Chamonix

The day after I arrived in Chamonix I joined Will and Duncan on a trip to ski Mont Blanc via the Grand Mullets route from the church in Chamonix to the summit and back the same way. By the numbers this wasn’t too crazy of an objective but considering the jet lag and lack of acclimatization I knew it would be some real effort and indeed it was.

Starting off from church in the early hours we walked/jogged through town. We were reminded of the party scene here as we were encouraged by some who were still going hard after a long night out. Making our way over to the tunnel we hiked up about 1000 meters before we were able to put our skis on. Crossing the lower glacier was straight forward as we made our way up past the Grand Mullets hut. The slopes we ascended were littered with tracks despite having some incredibly large seracs overhanging the route which apparently can be quite active.

Myself and Will on the summit of Mont Blanc

Around 4000 meters I really started to feel the altitude and felt like I was reduced to one speed - dead slow! Hiking up the Bosses Ridge was uneventful albeit a grind. Knowing that the skis would allow a rapid descent back down to thicker air was reassuring and I sure was glad not to be walking back down. The ski down the North Face of Mont Blanc exceeded my expectations - not only was it rapid but the snow was quite good being a north aspect.

In less than a hour from the summit we would be back down to the snow line where we could change back into running shoes and jog back into town. This route ascended about 3800 meters in total.

Chere Couloir on Mont Blanc du Tacul

The Chere couloir itself is nothing to write home about although it is ultra classic as was evident by the numerous parties on the route. The reason I found this route notable was it felt like my first real ‘Chamonix’ experience complete with both very good climbing conditions and incredibly busy. I simply held on and followed David up the route as he someone led us past about 5 parties - many of whom were likely to spend a very long day out in the mountains! This route is also accessible via the Aiguille Du Midi lift which is a crazy way to reach the alpine to the unaccustomed like myself.

David scrambling up easier terrain above the Chere route on the way to the top of the Tacul

After completing the last of the pitches on the Chere, we continued along the ridge to the summit of the Tacul. This was more enjoyable in many ways than the route itself as we left the crowds behind and scrambled up to a 4000 meter summit. After a quick descent down the Tacul, we made our over to the Arête à Laurence and then the very classic Arête des Cosmiques after a quick stop for cake in the Cosmiques hut. A true Chamonix experience!

Mallory Route on the Aiguille Du Midi

The Mallory Route is a very accessible ~1500 meter snow climb with a few rock steps that is perfect for a short outing in the alpine. It also makes a great fitness I would end up climbing this route a numerous times during my trip. My first time up the route, aided by a great track and the beta from David (who likely knows this route better anyone), I wanted to try and do a fast time. The motivation for going fast in the mountains is for the pure pleasure of it - few things are as enjoyable as cruising around the mountains at a good pace. After all, when you have the fitness, it’s like having a nice sports car - sometimes you want to enjoy it!

Trying to keep the pack light for the Mallory

As happens when doing a route for the first time, even with good beta, I still made a few errors. The more significant one was trying to get through the second crux in the wrong spot as I was misled by tracks I’d later learn were from where skiers (yes the route is skied!) do a rappel. My time at the end of it from the mid station to the gate on the top of Arête du Midi was two hours and six minutes. I’m sure with lighter kit and less messing about in the rock steps, it could be done well under two hours and I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if it has been.

Slow going when you have to bust the trail - quite the different experience to following a well beat in track

Later in the trip with Chris, we would climb the route putting the track in the entire way up some of the worst isothermal snow I have experienced. Needless to say we were not as speedy on this ascent but it was nice to enjoy the same route in very different character. Admiring the uphill ‘s’ turns from the ride back down the Midi was quite satisfying.

Admiring our work on the ride back down, especially the those uphill s-turns

Eugster Direct on the Aiguille Du Midi

Climbing the Eugster was the most enjoyable climbing of the trip and admittedly it would have been nice to do a more routes like this. As I understand it, the Eugster doesn’t come into shape as regularly as many other routes on the Aiguille Du Midi and without good ice/neve can be a harrowing route. Fortunately, we did have good conditions and the route was excellent. Myself and David made good time cruising up the lower section of the route to the base of the steeper difficulties at which point we pulled out the rope.

David climbing a steeper pitch just above the shrund

The climbing was mostly fairly moderate in the m5 ish range with reasonably good protection. The crux pitch was likely at the end with a few body lengths of steeper climbing up a corner where some cleaning of unconsolidated snow was required. From the top of the steeper terrain, the route eventually traverse into the Mallory.

David grabbing the gear before taking off on the 2nd pitch

Mont Blanc via the Goûter Route from Les Houches to Chamonix

This was David’s last day of good weather before he would depart the valley for a trip to Nepal so naturally we wanted to make the most of it. Wanting a good training day, we settled on doing Mont Blanc from his place in Les Houches via the Goûter route this time. At the summit, the intent was for me to ski back down via the Grand Mullets routes and for David to fly off with his wing.

Again we would have to hike about ~1000 meters up dry trails until we would hit snow. As this route is not nearly as popular in the spring as the Grand Mullets, there wasn’t a deep track between in. However, the snow conditions were fantastic we were able to easily crampon up the entire way to the summit. We would only see one other party out on this route until joining up with the Bosses Ridge, which was very busy thanks to the perfect weather.

Scrambling up the terrain just below the Goûter hut

At a few points on the ascent I was considering how much more efficient it was to be carrying up a wing weighing less than a kilo that could bring David right back home in less than ~30min, in contrast to me lugging up my skis and boots, plus the fact I’d be jogging back down at least ~1000 meters after hitting the snow line. That is until it was clear the strong winds meant David would have to hike back down ~1500 meters before being able to take off. Needless to say, David still beat me back by a margin as I opted to finish my tour back at the Church in Chamonix again. Interestingly, this tour worked out to be ~3800 meters of ascent which was almost identical to doing the route from Chamonix.

Monte Zerbion Sky Race in Chatillon

This was a last minute decision to jump into this race but I was very glad I did. Châtillon is located just east of Aosta in Italy, about an hours drive from Chamonix. I had been wanting to visit Italy on this trip and this race paired with a trip up the Gran Paradiso the following day worked out perfectly.

Being part of the Sky running World Series I knew it would be a competitive race and even more so considering the race was Italy, attracting many athletes of the area. The race was a single climb of about ~2200 meters to the summit of Monte Zerbion followed by a fast decent back into Châtillon. I finished in 2:52, which was about 37 minutes slower than the winning time!

Gran Paradiso

The drive up the valley to the trail head for the Grand Paradiso was a highlight in of itself - following a winding road far up the valley, passing through ever smaller villages until finally arriving at Pont, the starting point for the Gran Paradiso. This area has a distinctly different character to the Chamonix valley. It is far less busy and feels very low key in contrast to the buzz of Chamonix.

Arriving at the start of the trail mid-morning, I once again would shoulder my skis and boots and start hiking up the trail to the Rifugio Vittorio Emanuele II where it would be possible to put the skis on. Once I started skinning upwards on a great freeze I made easy upwards progress. Internally I kept remarking to myself how quiet it was for what I understood was a very classic route - that is until I reaching the summit block! Here I seemed to have caught up to the masses. To reach the true summit and the Madonna of Gran Paradiso does require climbing some small rock steps. This explained the traffic jam along with altitude clearly taking the wind out of people.

After a quick visit with Madonna, I clicked back into my skis for one of the most enjoyable descents I’ve done on perfect corn snow. I almost hadn’t noticed the fatigue in my legs from the race up Mount Zerbion the day prior until I tried running back down the trail with the skis and boots back on my pack!

Mont Blanc via the Trois Monts Route

The final route I was interesting to check on Mont Blanc that could be done on skis was the Trois Monts Route. This route commonly starts from the top of the Aiguille Du Midi and passes along Mont Blanc du Tacul, Mont Maudit, and then finally Mont Blanc. Chris was keen to join me up as far as Mont Blanc du Tacul to get some acclimatization as he hadn’t been up high in a while - it didn’t take much arm twisting in the end for him to join me for the whole route!

In my mind it made sense that of course you would summit Mont Blanc du Tacul and Mont Maudit along the way as it was called after all the Trois Monts. However, it turns out that most people bypass these peaks in favour of more direct passage. I was pleased that Chris was willing to humour me as we made a few detours to reach the summit proper of each peak.

Chris retracing our steps back down from the summit of Maudit

After reaching the summit of Mont Blanc, we skied back down the North face of Mont Blanc, this time on less than perfect snow to link back up with the Grand Mullets route. Rather than hiking back down to town, we would take the low traverse under the Aiguille Du Midi to join up with the mid-way station and take the lift back down.

The obligatory sketchy glacier crossing on the lower part of the Grand Mullets route

Trail Running

I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention trail running, considering much of my time was spent on trail (and in the climbing gym) during the many rainy days. The trail running around the Chamonix is spectacular with endless trails in all directions. It was somewhat ironic that when I first arrived many of the trails were empty and it was typical to see no other trail running people out. This of course was just due to the time of year and by late-May, it was as though a switch had flipped and the trail running scene came online. That being said, I’m sure that compared to how busy it can be in August around UTMB this would still be considering the ‘off’ season.

Looking over towards Mont Blanc from Aiguillette des Posettes

Looking down on the ridge of Aiguille du Tour

The trail I would frequent most often was Le Prarion located right above Les Houches. Nicely graded roads lead into a beautiful single track that follows along the ridge. The trail was nicely linked up with a run down into St. Gervais where you could grab a coffee and cake before running back up and over Le Prarion. The trails on the north side of the Valley up towards Le Brévent were also very nice, especially once you could get up into the alpine. One of the nicer longer loops to do is to follow the Marathon du Mont Blanc course from Chamonix towards Le Tour and then up and over Aiguillette des Posettes before descending down into Vallorcine. At this point you can either take the train back to Chamonix or continue along the North side of the Valley back into town.

Unlike the Rockies, one of the biggest pleasures of running around Chamonix is you are never too committed a long run as it is almost always possible to jump on a train or bus to return from where you started!

Robson - South Face