where are you looking to go...
Which routes are you interested in...
Our team are here to help you find the best option to suit your goals and experience.
Simply add your details below to receive your tailored suggestions
Published: 06.01.2021
Last Updated: 29.09.2021
Standing on the summit of Europe’s highest peak, enjoying views all the way to the Mediterranean on a clear day is to be at the apex of a climb that might have started six to nine months ago.
If you’re looking for a post pandemic challenge that will change your shape and potentially improve your long term health, then Mont Blanc at 4,809 metres above sea level could well be it.
The mountain is not the hardest technical climb in the world (though harder than far higher mountains such as Mount Kilimanjaro and Aconcagua).
As an entry level high altitude peak, Mont Blanc is something accessible for a weekend rambler with a lot of training.
Over this article we will look at what you need to do if you’re at a baseline of fitness where a five to seven mile walk over tough terrain is about your limit.
You will likely take the Gouter Route as a beginner ascending Mont Blanc.
The trek to the summit of Mont Blanc and back to Chamonix will take three days.
Taking a cable car from Les Houches (8km from Chamonix), you then take a tram to Nid d’Aigle at 2,372 metres where you will begin your hike.
The hike is 2-3 hours to Refuge de Tete Rousse (3,167m) where you will spend your first night.
The trek will afford you views of the Chamonix Valley and will give you a taster of the fun to be had tomorrow!
This is going to be an 8-10 hour day with an early morning start.
Via a 700 metre rock face and scramble with some rope work around the Gouter grand couloir you will climb to Refuge du Gouter (3,835m).
You will spend the night here but you’ve some climbing to do now!
The next bit involves a snowfield so you will don your crampons and climb up the Dome du Gouter to the Vallot Emergency Shelter at 4,362m.
You need your head for heights at this stage so make sure it is screwed on, as you’ll be going up a narrow, exposed ridge to the summit.
As you wait to summit, enjoy the views of the Italian, Swiss and French Alps.
Be aware that up to 200 people a day will be wanting to do the same, so enjoy your brief moment at the top, get your photo taken and get ready to descend.
You then descend the way you came up to Refuge du Gouter where you will spend the night at altitude.
This will take about 5-6 hours back to the cable car and hotel for beer and steak frites.
You’ll enjoy every drop!
Sounds simple doesn’t it?
Mont Blanc has a reputation of killing the unwary and unprepared.
It isn’t a particularly tough mountain as high altitude mountaineering goes (nor is Everest for that matter) but it catches out those who don’t respect it.
There is nothing for it but to have a mountain guide.
A guide will take you up the mountain but will also be able to recognise mountain sickness and take appropriate action.
They will also train you and get you across the difficult stuff further up.
In booking one you will get your two nights in the refuges as part of the package.
You cannot get in a refuge without booking in advance.
We would also suggest that you book a guide who will offer a training and acclimatisation package over six days as we discuss later.
You cannot get used to rarified air without actually going up and breathing it.
This may well mean ascending another 4,000+ metre summit so you get to enjoy a full week of mountaineering!
The global pandemic could mess things up but we would suggest booking your mountain guide now for an ascent in August.
Now that’s a bit more fun than booking on a cruise ship to burn money, take your liver to its limits and potentially be locked in your cabin for two weeks thanks to someone else on the ship being wrongly tested negative!
The guide will supply the crampons, helmet, harness, ice axe, hard shell pants and jacket, backpack (if you don’t have one) and mountaineering boots.
If you are trying to go easy on your budget you can hire the gear from Chamonix.
You will need your own walking poles, thermals, underwear and Factor 50 sun protection as well as the things that make life good.
Don’t forget your paracetamol or ibuprofen – this is essential for the daily aches and pains.
High calorie snacks are important too – everything your personal trainer hates with high, fast carbs that you’ll burn through every breathless second on summit day!
All guides will offer basic refresher training before you head to the summit but some offer a week long training course in the UK to get up to speed.
They can also assess you on the training course, giving you advice as to how much you need to push yourself to achieve summit readiness.
Mountain sickness is a sudden surge of nausea and extreme weakness that can hit anyone.
This comes from there being too little oxygen in the air for your body to manage.
If you experience it there’s no choice but to get back down the mountain in a hurry.
Though insurance is advised that will include helicopter evacuation, choppers can’t always get up there thanks to clouds part way up.
A mountain guide will get you into a refuge in these instances and put you in a Gamow pressure bag for around two hours to get you fit to return to safety.
If you ignore your mountain sickness and it escalates to acute mountain sickness then you might not make it home.
Acute mountain sickness can involve an oedema on the lung or brain – life changing problems if you survive it.
The best way to avoid it is through acclimatisation at altitude.
Not even a trek up Ben Nevis will get you ready for this, let alone Mount Snowdon!
We said earlier that a good Mont Blanc guide package will involve a day or so at altitude on another, easier 4,000+ metre peak.
That should significantly reduce the risks of having to bail out, and is well worth the investment if you have put so much time, effort and money into such an ascent like this.
To climb Mont Blanc your minimum fitness level needs to be where you can climb at least 1,500 metres in a day in rarified air.
Guides on Mont Blanc compare that to being able to climb Mount Snowdon from Llanberis twice in a day with a day pack.
That’s no mean feat!
Though the distances you cover daily on the summit attempt will be relatively small, on your summit day you will be climbing and descending for 8-10 hours.
Much of that will be at heights where there is far less oxygen than at sea level.
That means you need to have a high level of cardiovascular fitness.
This also means you need to start working on your fitness now.
If you’re in the age range 35-50 you’re a fairly typical age for those who want to summit Mont Blanc.
That could mean you are a bit tubby. This needs to change!
If a five to seven mile hike on tough terrain is challenging, that means you need to tackle three things:
As a target you should be doing hard physical training three hours a week and a decent walk on the fourth day.
Never mind a half arsed New Year’s resolution you need to make some changes now!
You need to get used to eating simple carbohydrates only on a day you have had exercise.
That could well mean four days in every seven on a Month Blanc summit challenge.
Broadly speaking you need a varied vegetable and protein diet to burn off the flab and feed the muscles when they have been worked properly.
If you can hook up with a personal trainer even for one or two sessions they will give you a fairly standard patter of what we have covered above.
Don’t crash diet or take diet pills – as soon as you stop you will just pile it back on.
That’s why a permanent change to your diet is necessary.
A sensible high protein/vegetable diet with carbs only as required combined with a committed exercise routine will see you shed the kilos, and keep off the lard once it has gone.
If you look online you will be surprised at how delicious and interesting such a diet can be – and you can even have chips or a curry once a week once you have nailed it down without too much of an impact on your body shape.
Don’t starve yourself on the hill either – bring good food for a hike and munch as you go.
On a decent 10 – 15 miler you will burn a goodly amount of calories so use it to enjoy things like bread and cheese as an exception to the diet you will have at home.
To get to the level of fitness where you will be able to comfortably tackle Mont Blanc you need to get your walking gear and start some cardiovascular training now.
From a walking perspective you should aim at a five to seven mile walk every two weeks and a 10-14 mile walk on weekends between.
You should start stretching those treks to the point a 10-14 mile walk is your shorter walk and 20 is an acceptable day out by summer.
Do remember that a 20 mile walk in Bedfordshire isn’t the same as a 20 mile walk on the South Downs or in Yorkshire!
If you are in East Anglia, get on a train and do those walks where there are some real hills.
At the same time you should also be working out in the gym.
However, you can only push your body so hard. There’s no point in injuring yourself on week one!
There are a number of apps available that can put you through a good training regime from a low level of fitness.
Peloton offers a circuit training course that costs £12.99 a month, while for £0 you can sign up to an app called Caliverse that offers a free, 24 week calisthenics course.
If you need a bit of a push and human interaction more even than Peloton offers you can look online for a personal trainer offering online courses.
Expect to pay £100 a month for small group online personal training.
The advantage to a personal trainer is they can advise on an appropriate diet regime.
There is two parts to this – heights and determination.
In climbing Europe’s highest mountain you will look down a lot of cliffs.
On the final run to the summit you will be on a ridge with big drops either side.
Sadly the best training for heights is to get used to them – there is no pill the doctor will give you!
If you feel uncomfortable standing at the top of a viewing tower, do it more often.
Be sensible around cliffs (the Jurassic Coast and Yorkshire coasts are both prone to sudden deterioration for example) but where safe, walk close to them and get used to looking down.
Ever look at a top class marathon runner and wonder how they do it?
Their body is degrading as they run at two-hour pace and is warning them every last step.
Training to get to two-hour pace is about subduing the body’s urge to give up.
Psychology is key.
You need to give yourself praise for your successes and be kind to yourself for the missed benchmarks.
However you need to press for those benchmarks doggedly.
As you learn about pain you learn of ‘good pain’ and ‘bad pain’.
On a Mont Blanc ascent you will feel a lot of good pain!
This is the level of good pain a marathon runner will feel – unbearable to people unused to endurance sports.
The psychology is what will get you up the mountain when everything inside you just wants to go back and curl up in your bunk.
As you physically train and press your body to be ready for the mountain, your mind will have to learn to help achieve that as ultimately your body even if in a high state of fitness would rather go to the pub to lift pints and enjoy the view from Chamonix!
It is your mind that wants that view from the summit and sense of achievement and will get you up there to enjoy it.
So, to climb Europe’s highest summit you’ve got to change your diet, become a gym bunny and an endurance athlete in body and psychology.
In terms of New Year’s resolutions that’s no bad thing is it?
Get training and book your place for 2021 and beyond!
If you love hiking, climbing, trekking and the mountains, you’re in the right place.
You’re a Trek Addict!
Explore hiking, trekking and mountaineering routes with our independent route guides.
Our team help you to identify routes which match your dreams and your experience.
We work with a wide range of suppliers to bring the right products to you, at the best possible price.
We make a commission from our partners, but you'll still enjoy the best rates available anywhere today!