Mont-Blanc
Single Push
1 day - guided tour
Climbing Mont Blanc from the valley to the top (4 810m of altitude) in one day! What a great challenge!
3 800m of ascent, 3 800m of descent in 24 hours. The goal is not to be faster than Kilian Jornet (round trip from Chamonix in less than 5 hours) but to reach the summit of the Mont Blanc from Les Houches (1000m) without using the ski lifts and without sleeping.
Before you sign up for it, please contact us so we can exchange and make sure you are ready for it. The Mont Blanc is not trail running, it is mountaineering and even if we will do it in a “trail running style”, the commitment is very different than a trail running race (no back up, no assistance,…).
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Day 0:
Let’s have a drink in Chamonix to start knowing each other and check your equipment.
Day 1 : Acclimatization day
We highly recommend you to take a prep/acclimatization day with your guide to check everything. No matter how fit you are, how fast you can run, hike, cycle down in the valley, it is a complete different story above 4 000m. Since our bodies all react differently it is very important to acclimatized before. Contact us for advices on how to get as ready as possible.
Please note that we are all different and our reaction to altitude can be very different from the others. Acclimatization, even for fit trail runners, is the key to the summit. If you manage to train beforehand at least twice (walking, hiking, etc.) between 2 500m and 3 000m of altitude, it will help you prepare well.
The DAY!:
Depending on the weather forecast, you will decide with your guide at what time you will leave from Les Houches (1 000m). Usually, departure is around 8/9pm, meaning you have all day to rest and prepare your gears and food for the ascent.
It takes about 4 hours to get to Tête Rousse hut, where we will change our shoes and get changed from a “trail running” to an more “alpine” style: harness, crampons, mountaineering boots, helmet…We will also have a drink and some “breakfast”.
From there, it is another 3 hours to get to the Gouter hut at 3 800m. This is the most difficult part because it is a mixed terrain, with some easy scrambling but it can be quite tiring when you are not use to it. And the altitude starts affecting us too.
After the Gouter hut, we are on glaciers and it is easier to find our rythm even if we get higher and higher. After Vallot observatory, at around 4300m, we will follow a snow ridge all the way to the summit. The hill is becoming steeper too, but summit is getting closer!!!
From the Gouter hut it takes normally around 5/6 hours.
In total, it is a 10 to 15 hours effort to reach the summit and another 5 to 7 hours to go down by the same itinerary.
We should get back down in the afternoon of day 3.
We recommend to stay overnight in the valley and not head back home straight away. This is a 20-hours ascent and you will need some rest after this great adventure.
A mountain guide can reasonably look after a maximum of 2 people during the Mont Blanc ascent. For the one push ascent, please make sure you know each other well with ideally the same physical level.For safety reason, you need to know and understand that it will not be possible to split the group and leave one of you behind while the others will keep climbing.
Be aware that the program can be modify, changed, adapted by your mountain guide according to weather forecast , mountain conditions and your physical abilities.
We will not organize group because this kind of ascent is really based on your fitness and from our experience, mixing people that do not know each other before leads to frustration. A mountain guide will not take more than 2 people on his rope.
Included:
- UIAGM / IFMGA international mountain guide. Our guides speaks fluent English and beside the safety of your group, and their knowledge, they will make your alpine experience unforgettable.
- Collective mountain equipment (rope, carabiners,…)
Not included:
- Drinks and snacks. Possibility of getting some drinks and food on the way up and down at the Tete Rousse hut
- Personal equipment (you can rent everything with our partner shop)
- Insurance
- Accommodation in Chamonix (contact us if you would like some help with accommodation)
- Transportation to Chamonix (we can help you arrange your transfer from GVA if needed)
Options on request : Contact us
- Transfers to/from Chamonix
- Accommodation in Chamonix
Duration : 2 days
Level : Expert
Period : From mid-May to mid-September
Group size : 1 to 2 people per guide
Guided tour
Destination : France