The first thing we did was arrange our travel and accommodation and book guides. We went with Compagnie des Guides de Saint Gervaise. Some climbers from the French side start from Chamonix which is also a ski destination so Saint Gervaise may be a less hectic base. One of our guides told me that ascending from Saint Gervaise via tram and then up the Grand Couloir to the Gouter (the route we took) allows better acclimatization. He said that the climbers taking the cable car from Chamonix ascend a greater height more quickly (1,376 to 3,790m) and are hence more prone to altitude sickness. By contrast the Saint Gerviase tramway stops at the Nid d’Aigle (Eagle’s nest) at 2,372m.

French mountain guides are well regulated professionals who must undergo extensive training. All of our guides were seasoned mountaineers (and capable of smoking, drinking and chasing women at high altitude) and I would recommend the Guides de Saint Gervaise without hesitation. However some of them didn’t have great English so bear this in mind if you don’t speak French. My friend, whose father lives in France, booked the guides over the phone and email. We needed to provide them with desposits and insurance details. We got insurance through the British Mountaineering Council (by first becoming members of the Mountaineering Council of Ireland ). You can use your MCI card to get discounts of 10 or 15% in outdoor shops including in Northern Ireland (such as the costwold outdoor store in Belfast)

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