Above Chamonix, the "Mer de Glace", junction of Leschaux and Géant glaciers, is one of the most famous glaciers of the Alps. Till 1996, it was only travelled through by roped parties going up to mountain huts to climb the prestigious summits which surround her: Drus, Aiguille Verte, Moine, Grandes Jorasses, Dent du Requin. Beneath these peaks, dominating Mer de Glace, a new route has been opened in 1996, from Montenvers train station to Couvercle hut, beneath Charpoua cirque. This route has been extended to Leschaux hut in 2001. In July 2001, our luck was in, and we were the first hikers to be allowed to travel through the new section connecting Couvercle and Leschaux huts, an extraordinary experience which you can live now, with one night in one of the smallest huts of the Alps, Leschaux, where you will enjoy the warm welcome of its hutkeeper.
Extended to Jorasses cirque, and Requin hut (where you will face the Vallée Blanche ice-fall), this glacier trek is the most beautiful stroll for beginners in the Mont-Blanc group, with parts on short and easy "Via Ferrata", glaciers and footpaths, offering all-round wiews in the heart of Chamonix mountains.
Comfortable mountain huts will welcome you each evening during this glacier trek, a original programme to hike in Chamonix valley.
Duration: 4 days, one Mountain Guide for 5 to 6 hikers. Your Mountain Guide is a French IFMGA Mountain Guide, speaking fluently English with a near-native comprehension
We equip you, free of charge, with helmet and mountaineering harness.
This programme is particularly suitable for families: normal efforts for children on form, from 14 years, and tapering rates for parents and children taking part in the same programme.
Meeting Place: day 1, Chamonix, by 07.20 a.m. (except in June and September, meeting time 7.50 a.m.), at the Montenvers train station (not to be confused with SNCF railway station, located at 200 meters). Do not be late, we will quickly catch a train going up to Montenvers. End of the course: day 4, Chamonix, beginning of the afternoon.
Tour Itinerary:
Day 1: The Montenvers train will bring you up to an altitude of 6,263 feet. A short footpath, and a few fixed ladders will bring you down to the glacier.You will then adjust your crampons, and easily cross the glacier towards its right bank where begin the balcony footpath and easy via ferrata leading to Couvercle mountain hut (8,816 feet). Night in the hut. Duration of walking: 6 hours. Difference of level: 3,045 feet up, 492 feet down.
Day 2: Breakfast on the sunny terrace of Couvercle hut. Traverse of Talèfre glacier. Footpath down to Pierre à Bérenger. Easy via ferrata up to Leschaux gullies. Footpath down to Leschaux mountain hut, height 7,730 feet. Night in the hut. Duration of walking: 4 hours. Difference of level: 623 feet up, 1,709 feet down.
Day 3: Breakfast facing the famous Grandes Jorasses North Face. Way down to Leschaux glacier. Nice tour on the glacier. Crossing the Tacul glacier, we reach the left bank of "Mer de Glace". After pic-nic, ascent on a footpath + steep ladders up to Requin mountain hut (8,254 feet), facing the Vallée Blanche ice-fall. Night in the hut. Duration of the stage: 5 hours. Difference of level: 1,706 feet up, 1,181 feet down.
Day 4: Descent to "Mer de Glace". Easy way down on the glacier till the foot of Montenvers fixed ladders, which ascent will bring us back to Montenvers train station. From there, way down to Chamonix in the Montenvers train.
Duration of the stage: 3 hours. Difference of level: 492 feet up, 2,484 feet down. Separation in Chamonix by midday.
Training:
- Technical level: you are a complete beginner in Glacier Trek and mountaineering, but you are used to walk through hills and low-altitude mountains. Your Mountain Guide will teach you the basic techniques of mountaineering, to walk safely with your crampons, linked with the rope to the other members of your roped party (two roped parties will be formed).
- Fitness level: you practise twice a week either walking, running, or biking. The average pace is 1,000 feet of rise per hour, with a difference of level climbed each day rising from 492 feet to 3,045 feet. The average time of walking is 4 hours and a half per day.
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Price Includes:
- Guiding by a mountain Guide, and his expenses
- The following group equipment: radio linked to the relief organization, pharmacy, survival blanket, ropes, maps, compass, GPS, altimeter
- The free loan of a mountaineering harness and a helmet
- Lodging and half-board in the mountain huts from Day 1 dinner included to Day 4 breakfast included
- Roundtrip ticket on Montenvers mountain train
Price Excludes:
- Optional insurances GENERALI/EUROP ASSISTANCE
- Your lunches (picnics)
- Your drinks in the huts
- Your personal expenses
- The personal equipment and the technical equipment required for this tour
- Generally speaking, all the expenses not indicated in the paragraph "the price includes".
Also see tour packages in:
Europe
France
Outdoor: Mountain Ranger
Glacier Tours
Mountain/Rock Climbing
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