Mont Blanc Italian Normal route [PD+] | 4800m
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Route Information
Mont Blanc (4810 m) is the highest mountain in the Alps, and is ranked 11th in the world in topographic prominence. There are four normal routes to the summit, the routes are not difficult but also not without danger. All normal routes end in Bosses ridge, so that part is often crowded. In the current route, we took the Italian Normal route for ascent and Gouter route for descent. I will describe here the Italian normal route, Gouter route is described in details here.
Warning: This is an alpinistic route. In order to do this route, you must have a sufficient physical and technical preparation.
I will divide the route in 3 parts:
From valley to Rif. Gonella (4-5 hours): There are free buses from Courmayeur that takes you to Val Veny, that's the starting point of the hike. You will see a lot of people till the glacier lake close to Rifugio Combal. After the glacier lakes, you have to stay on the ridge on the left of glacier. The path eventually goes on the glacier. There are big crevasses and they are hidden under big moving boulders. So you have to be very careful. There is no marked path and its very easy to get lost in clear visibility. Finally when the glacier finishes an easy climb (max grade II) leads to the hut.
From Rif. Gonella to Piton des Italiens (3 hours): From the hut there is clear path till Dome glacier. From there usually the path is visible in summer but it can be difficult to follow in the dark. The glacier is full of crevasses, steep and sometimes very icy. In my opinion this is the most difficult part of the entire tour. When the glacier ends, you climb on the ridge. There is a rope for security (watch out of the falling rocks by other climbers).
From Piton des Italiens to Mont Blanc (4 hours): The ridge offers amazing views of Mont Blanc massif. There might be some snow, and ice so you have be very careful. In the beginning the ridge is narrow and exposed but it becomes wider as you approach Dome du Gouter. From Dome du Gouter you go down where the path meets the Gouter route. From here follow the ridge to the summit as described in the Gouter route.
Descent: Follow Gouter route.
Weather: Although the weather is very unpredictable here, this mountain decides it's own weather. So better prepare for any kind of weather. This website provide the weather forecast at the summit.
Webcam: Towards Aiguille de Bionnassay, Towards old Gouter hut
Here is the list of gear I carried:
- Rope
- 2 Cordelette loops
- Rigid boots for crampons
- Helmet
- Normal hiking shoes for walk from Gouter hut to valley
- Ice axe
- Crampons
- Hiking poles
- Harness
- Couple of locking carabiners
- Warm clothes
- Gaiters
- Polarised Sunglasses
- Headlamp with spare batteries
- Food and drinks
- Sunscreen
- First aid kit
- Map, altimeter, compass etc.
| Technical Difficulty | Very Difficult | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gear | Hiking Boots , Hiking Poles , Klettersteig Set , Helmet , Gloves , Ropes | |||||||||||
| Popularity | 3 | |||||||||||
Route statistics
| Highest point | 4800m | |||||||||||
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| Total gain | 3162m | |||||||||||
| Total loss | 3879m | |||||||||||
| Duration | 21h55m | |||||||||||
| Distance | 31.2Km | |||||||||||
| Rating | 3924 | |||||||||||
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