Climbing Mont Blanc: Introduction

• Introduction
  
• Preparation - Booking
  
• Preparation - Fitness
  
• Preparation - Gear
  
• Training Days
  
• Restday
  
• Ascent Day 1
  
• Ascent Day 2 - Up
  
• Ascent Day 2 - Down
  
• Epilogue
  

[caption id="attachment_122" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Mont Blanc"][/caption]

Mont Blanc is the highest European mountain west of the Urals. It stands 4,810 metres above sea level, on the Franco-Italian border, its summit always snow-capped and its flanks and sister peaks snaked in giant frozen rivers known as glaciers. This is an account of climbing Mont Blanc with my three friends on 21-22 August 2008. I’m writing it because there were not many good English accounts on the web that I managed to find before I went. (Of course since I started writing this I found loads). If you have any comments or queries please let me know via the comment box at the bottom.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I am not a mountaineer and this does not in any way constitute a comprehensive guide. Even though this route is not very technical you should hire a qualified guide and be fully prepared and trained. Many fatalities occur here every year. More lives have been claimed on Mont Blanc than on any other mountain. A woman watched her husband and three children fall to their deaths three weeks ago. The week before our ascent about seven people died in the Alps and a serious avalanche claimed at least eight climbers in the massif two days after we got down.

Now read on >> Preparation - Booking