Initiatory race
Once propelled to the top of the Aiguille du Midi via the eponymous cable car, we cross the windy galleries to the entrance of the small ice tunnel giving access to the ridge.
After having put on harness and crampons, we move forward, roped and ice axes in hand, to cross this passage, tapering and aerial, to the debonair glacier of the Col du Midi.
The adrenaline goes down and then gives way to wonder.
On this vast space, stand huge and orange granite arrows on which we can guess roped climbers.
Under the sun, we advance to the foot of the south face of the Aiguille du Midi to reach the Col du Midi.
We then go from snow to rock, starting with a slightly steep slope, before following this famous "Arête à Laurence", which owes its name to the route taken by the historic guardian of the Cosmiques refuge, located upstream. .
From rock to rock, budding mountaineers concentrate on their steps, while enjoying a unique atmosphere, overlooking the Bossons glacier and the view of the Petit and Grand Plateaux, the Dôme du Goûter, and the historic route of the ascent of Mont Blanc.
After a short passage on a fixed rope, we reach the terrace of the Refuge des Cosmiques directly.
Read alsoChamonix: how to prepare for the Vallée Blanche ski descent
Night perched at the Refuge des Cosmiques
At 3613 m above sea level, the building seems embedded in rock and snow.
The second highest mountain refuge in France welcomes mountaineers on their way to the summit of Mont-Blanc via the 3 Monts route, but also for less technical runs around it, such as the Cosmiques ridge or the Lachenal crossing.
This refuge, open from mid-February to the end of September, can accommodate up to 120 people.
Created in the 1930s for scientific observation purposes, it was managed until 1991 by the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) to study cosmic rays (hence its name!).
It is now the property of the Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix.
The sunset from the terrace offers a totally unique spectacle that leaves expert mountaineers and novices alike speechless.
Up there, it is very quickly dinner time: the good meal is engulfed in a relaxed atmosphere on the large tables, then everyone goes about their business, leafing through a book from the collection on site, looking through the menu or offering her services to babysitters to wipe the dishes!
At this altitude you should not imagine sleeping like a baby: slight headaches or stomach aches are common, the number of beds per dormitory is high, and the departures of certain mountaineers take place in the middle of the night... But the spectacle of the little one morning makes you forget everything.
Le Refuge des Cosmiques: €52 per night in a dormitory with breakfast.
Mandatory reservation.
Such.
: 04 50 54 40 16
Glacier hike: crossing the Vallée Blanche
View of the Vallée Blanche from the Aiguille du Midi.
Adobe Stock
Between the Aiguille du Midi and the cross-border Pointe Helbronner, this crossing of the Vallée Blanche immerses everyone in a unique high mountain universe, surrounded by mythical peaks.
The walk is carried out roped and crampons on the feet, but does not have any specific difficulty apart from the aerial descent of the Aiguille du Midi ridge.
The evolution on the glacier however requires a certain concentration, making sure to follow the guide's track, while advancing tight rope.
On the upper basin of the Glacier du Géant, between crevasses and seracs, you can admire the peaks and further on the different levels of the Alps... A journey that also allows the guide to decipher the evolution of this thousand-year-old landscape.
After 3 hours of walking without great elevation, the arrival is on the Italian side at Pointe Helbronner!
The opportunity is too good to enjoy a real cappuccino on the terrace of the "Rifugio Torino" before embarking for a return via the Panoramic Mont-Blanc gondola.
5 km by air which allows you to see the heart of these glaciers and their deep entrails from above.
This itinerary can be done in one day from the Aiguille du Midi.
Price 2023 crossing the Vallée Blanche: €290 per person with supervision by a mountain guide and ski lifts.
Address Book
Have a drink at the Bistrot des Cristalliers
Once back on the ground in Chamonix, a drink at the Bistrot des Cristalliers is a pleasant option.
In the small rue des Moulins, the vaulted and nicely furnished room allows you to taste a fine selection of quality “living” wines, served by enthusiasts, wines of course, but also mountain wines and the legendary Crystals.
Neo-alpinists dug by the effort will revel in the local tapas and other small refined dishes based, here too, on well-selected products.
109 Rue des Moulins, 74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc.
Visit the Crystal Museum
Like Jean-Franck Charlet, the best known of them, Chamonix crystal-makers have thousands of stories to tell, some of them very incredible.
These generations of mountaineers-hunters of thousand-year-old quartz veins and of this precious pink fluorite in the granite walls, display a superb collection at the dedicated museum.
In addition to the treasures of the massif, multicolored minerals from the bowels of China, India, Brazil or Russia also sparkle in all their diversity.
Crystal Museum.
650, Rector Payot driveway.
Such.
: 04 50 54 78 39. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. during school holidays.
From 2 to 6 p.m. outside school holidays.
Sleep at the Cosmiques hotel
Colourful, stylish and functional, this is an ideal base camp with 17 rooms.
Hotel Cosmiques / Photo press
Stick to the theme by spending a night at the Cosmiques hotel.
Colourful, design and functional, here is an ideal base camp of 17 rooms in this building with multiple lives built in 1897. It mischievously plunges its guests into the golden age of skiing and mountaineering, through a gallery original photos from the 1960s to 1990s and well-received neon looks.
A trip into the world of
“gliding, climbing, intense and sometimes crazy life, as only one can find in Chamonix.
»
Hotel Cosmiques, 37 Imp.
Rhododendrons, 74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc.
Such.
: 04 85 30 02 01
Read alsoHotel Cosmiques in Chamonix, the expert opinion of Le Figaro
Chamonix guide company
House of the Mountain, 190 place of the Church.
74,400 Chamonix.
Such.
: 04 50 53 00 88, chamonix-guides.com
High Mountain Office
General and practical information, information spaces on mountain risks, specific information and practicability.
House of the Mountain, church square.
74400 Chamonix.
Such.
: 04 50 53 22 08 / chamoniarde.com
How to come to Chamonix
By train:
TER, TGV or Léman Express to Saint Gervais-les-Bains-le-Fayet then Mont-Blanc Express line to Chamonix.
By car:
direct access via the Autoroute blanche (A40).
By plane:
Geneva airport (88 km) then bus or train.
