The ascent of Mont Blanc is a serious "business".
TheCOURSE option is the surest way to have all the advantages on your side.  But it is  necessary to be physically fit before your arrival.

Guide ratio: two people per guide for maximum security and effectiveness.
Programme subject to change depending on the conditions (weather forecast, snow...) but I will do my utmost to make sure you climb Mont Blanc.



Mont blanc informations:

Mount Blanc is the highest peak in the Alps. To climb this beautiful mountain is truly a memorable experience. The magnificent scenery and final exposed summit ridge makes this perhaps the finest snow route in the Alps. The ascent offers a relatively straight-forward, high altitude climb in a dramatic alpine setting suitable for both beginner and intermediate climbers with some mountaineering experience. In addition to the outstanding views and rugged terrain, climbers will experience the luxuries of the well-maintained hut system, European culture, and fabulous food. These features make for a genuinely enjoyable climbing experience.

You will begin the acclimatization process and review skills by climbing a few 4000 meter peaks. Osez-decouvrir.com has put together a unique blend of these peaks to climb before your ascent of Mount Blanc, adding to your overall experience in the Alps.



TRAINING PROGRAM: This trip is physically demanding and we cannot over emphasize the importance of physical conditioning. We suggest you begin your training program at least two months prior to departure. While strength is important, endurance training should be your primary focus. Walking up hills and stair climbing are both excellent ways to condition your lower body. Begin slowly, without the weight of a pack, eventually adding weight as you increase your training pace. Take a long hike (4-6 hours) several times with a weighted pack (40-60 lbs.) up and down hills or on small mountains (weight your pack with water containers and pour out the water before your descent to minimize knee stress). Supplement this activity with running, cycling, swimming, racquet sports, basketball, etc. for additional aerobic conditioning. If possible try to take at least two longer hikes of 6-10 hours with at least 3,000 feet of elevation gain. Several days before your departure you should rest and drink plenty of water.


LEADERSHIP: All our Alps guides have undergone extensive training and examination. Combined with diverse guiding backgrounds and personal climbing and skiing experiences that include ascents of peaks in the Alps and the greater ranges of the world, our guides provide the best possible leadership available.

WEATHER: Be prepared for a wide range of temperatures; from freezing nights, to adverse snow and wind conditions, to bright sunshine intensified by the high altitude. This wide fluctuation in temperature makes it important to bring everything on the equipment list.

FOOD: Osez- decouvrir.com provides dinner and breakfast at the huts, but you must provide your lunch during the day. Bring along your favorite snacks for the summit day.

TRIP CANCELLATION INSURANCE: We strongly recommend the purchase of trip cancellation and travel insurance. This comprehensive travel insurance provides coverage for trip cancellation and interruption, travel delays, loss of baggage and travel documents, baggage delay, medical expenses and emergency assistance. An insurance application is provided will all trip confirmations.

RESCUE INSURANCE: For climbing technical peaks in Chamonix insurance can be purchased in town. Ask your guide for assistance.

GENERAL INFORMATION: This trip is subject to the booking information in the Osez-decouvrir.com Trip Application form. We urge you to read this information carefully and to call us if you have any questions.


The first summiting!

The Bossons glacier, called the Buissons ("bushes") glacier until the 19th century, has a well-defined and important place in the history of the conquest of Mont Blanc, as it served as the access for all the summit attempts before the first success.

Chamonix regularly received two famous visitors at the end of the 18th century. Their lives will be forever tied to a generation of mountain men of the valley as well as the legendary premier ascent.

The first, Bourrit, cantor of the Geneva cathedral, is a great lover of mountains; his writings made the valley famous. Bourrit never concealed his admiration for the guides who carry the supplies and help to make the difficult crossings. The official tariffs do not yet exist, but the guides usually make 4 pounds a day, and the same for each mule. Bourrit writes that if the voyagers are content, they always tip the guide. Always perspicacious, he observed that the tourists sometimes become irritated with the guides when these poor men cannot make the route smooth enough for their clients, or get rid of the clouds that cling to the summits.


Jacques Balmat

Bourrit tried in vain to attain the summit of Mont Blanc. Because of his hot temper, and plagued with bad luck, he will never reach his goal. It was he who, upon the return of the conquerors of the Mont Blanc, will heap all responsibility for the success upon the shoulders of the guide, Jacques Balmat, at the detriment of the client Doctor Paccard, of whose success he was sickly jealous.


Horace Benedict de Saussure The second is Horace Benedict de Saussure, a naturalist from Geneva, who came to Chamonix the first time by foot in 1760, and who will come back each year thereafter. This is the man that Montaigne will denote as a "tete bien faite," a well-made head. An eminent genius and poet, he was capable of conveying the sensations of the Alps. He was also an accomplished athlete, who during his climb of Mont Blanc--the first ascent with a client, would say: "I decided to push on as long as my forces would allow, I did not ever think of the danger involved."

De Saussure is bewitched by the summit of Mont Blanc. He prints an offer for a large compensation for he who can find a route to the summit. His goal is to arrive at the summit and conduct certain experiments there. He knows his guides well: their courage, dexterity and their hunger for money. He knew that in offering a reward for the summit, he would stimulate the guides' motivation to make numerous attempts necessary to finally reach the summit.

Several guides had already tried for the summit, but with a reward at stake, expeditions went off in every direction. The battle for the summit will take on a real sense of competition between the mountain men of the valley. Attempts were made by the Mer de Glace, by Saint-Gervais (when Bourrit would make the summit before de Saussure), by the Bossons and the Montagne de la Cote, which would seem to be the most direct route. In 1785, Balmat got to the Grand Plateau alone; his audacious advance is stopped by a large crevasse that blocks the passage to the heights certain years. Still, it is a real exploit, for he is the first to make it to this final step proceeding a summit attack.

An unstoppable will fuels this man, who is used to roughing it and sleeping under the stars. His wife is quite used to his habit of disappearing several days at a time, only to reappear ripped to shreds and unshaven. In June 1786, he makes it alone the right shoulder of Mont Blanc (he claims) and from there he sees Courmayeur. Bad weather and the fear to not been seen from Chamonix obliges him to return to Chamonix. After having camped on the glacier at the Grand Plateau, he comes back to Chamonix half-hearted and half-frozen.

Soon after, he goes off again with the Chamonaird Doctor Michel Paccard, in whom he has infinite confidence. Jacques will be able to put all of his qualities to the test in the company of his competent and athletic partner. August 8, 1786, at 6:23 p.m., by the force of will, they make it to the summit together. During the descent, Paccard is hit with altitude blindness; hand-in-hand, the two make it back to the village below.

Their success bubbles amongst the guides of the valley. Jacques Balmat receives his reward, plus another prize from the King of Sardaigne, as well as the title "Balmat dit (called) Mont-Blanc." The two were equipped for the ascent with what might be considered the prototype of modern alpinism equipment: alpenstocks, ice cleats, nail socks and gaiters. The alpenstocks proved their worth on several occasions, saving the lives of the two men, fallen several times through the snowbridges into the crevasses at the Junction. Their itinerary for the ascent linked the Montagne de la Cote, the upper glacier de Bossons, the Grands Mulets and the Rochers Rouges.

At this époque, the middle of the 18th century, an ascent of Mont Blanc remains a very perilous adventure, trespassing into the unknown and very expensive. The climbers are considered to be those who trick the grim reaper. The local population, at the latest rumor of an expedition, gather in the square and discuss the possibilities of success.

Each caravan is sighted all along its ascent. A canon salute is given in case of success. Even the hotels offer a salvo, carefully marked on the bill...
Upon the return of the conquerors, it becomes the tradition to offer flowers to the successful and pop the bottles of champagne.
Beginning in 1853, an ascent of Mont Blanc starts to lose its prestige quickly with the contraction of the Grand Mulets cabin and an ever-growing number of successful caravan ascents.