Home · Granite rock climbing

May – October · Chamonix · UIAGM guided

Chamonix granite,
climbed properly.

Rough, featured, generous rock, cracks you can get a whole hand into, and belays hanging over the Mont Blanc massif. Nine routes on this page, from your first day on alpine rock to the Grand Capucin.

Check dates Where to start
9 routes
Plus anything else
4c – 6b+
Grades (US 5.7 – 5.11a)
May – Oct
Season
1–2
Climbers per guide

The rock

Why people cross
a continent for this

Mont Blanc granite is coarse, crystalline and absurdly grippy, split by cracks that take gear and fingers in equal measure, and it stands in a place where a cable car puts you at 3,800 m before breakfast. That combination — world-class rock, alpine position, lift access — does not exist anywhere else in Europe, and it is why Chamonix has been the centre of alpine rock climbing for a century. A hundred years of climbers have come here for this rock, and it still delivers.

1
Your first granite
The Brévent, the Petits Charmoz, the Aiguille du Peigne, the Aiguille du Moine. Grade 4 to 5b (US 5.5 – 5.8), and no previous alpine experience needed.
2
The classics
The Papillons, the Rébuffat, the Pointe Lachenal. 5c to 6a+ (US 5.9 – 5.10b), full days, lift at each end.
3
The big granite
Several days at the Envers des Aiguilles, or the Grand Capucin at 6b+ (US 5.11a). Trips rather than outings.
4
Or a route of your own
There are hundreds of routes here and nine on this page. If you arrive with a line in mind, bring it — that is usually a better day than anything I would have picked.
On requestper guide day

Every route here is quoted as a guide fee, privately — your own rope, never shared with strangers. Whether one or two climbers go on it is decided by the route. Lifts, hut nights and rental gear are separate and listed under each route.

Climbing, not mountaineering? If what you want is a summit rather than a rock route, the Mont Blanc program and the 4,000 m peaks above Zermatt are the other half of the summer.

Group one · your first granite

Where the rock
stops being a crag

Four outings for someone who can climb a bit but has never done it at altitude, on a ridge, with a glacier underneath. None of them asks for a hard move. All of them ask for the things a climbing wall never teaches: moving fast on easy ground, trusting your feet on granite, being roped on terrain where falling is not an option. The Aiguille du Moine adds the other half of the apprenticeship: a hut, a glacier crossing and a long abseil descent, with the climbing still easy. Do one or two of these and the rest of this page opens up.

The sunny side of the valley · AD, 5b–5c (5.8–5.9) · May – Oct

Le Brévent
2,525 m8,284 ft

Chamonix has two sides, and this is the one that looks at the other. The Brévent faces Mont Blanc across the valley, catches the sun all day and is reached by cable car from the middle of town — which makes it the first real multi-pitch day for most people, and the day we keep when the high mountain is out of condition. Long routes, solid rock, and the whole massif in front of you from the first pitch to the last.

1
Cable car, then ten minutes’ walk
Planpraz and the Brévent lift from the centre of Chamonix put us at the top of the routes. No glacier, no three-hour approach, no four-in-the-morning start — we are climbing shortly after breakfast.
2
Abseil in, climb out
Most of the lines here are climbed back up to the lift, so the day starts by going down the face and ends on the terrace at the top. The belays are equipped, which is what makes this the place to learn how a multi-pitch day actually runs.
3
Six to eight pitches, facing Mont Blanc
Slabs, cracks and corners at a grade that lets you look around. And there is a lot to look at: the Drus, the Verte, the Aiguilles, the Bossons glacier and Mont Blanc itself, straight across the valley the whole way up.
—
Where it can go
There is a lifetime of climbing in the Aiguilles Rouges, from easy classics like the Frison-Roche up to routes a good deal harder. We pick the line on the day, from how you climb the first pitches and what the weather is doing on the other side.
AD · 5b–5cGrade (US 5.8–5.9)
Full dayDuration
1–2Climbers per guide
May – OctSeason
On requestguide fee

Guide fee for the day, privately. Lifts — yours and, as is standard in the Alps, the guide’s — rental of climbing gear and your insurance are not included.

Level required. No alpine experience needed. If you have climbed indoors or at a crag and can second around 5b (US 5.8), you can have a very good day here — and this is where we go to build towards the bigger routes.
Ask about the Brévent

First alpine rock · AD, 4c (5.7) · June – September

Petits Charmoz
traverse

The gentlest way into alpine granite above Chamonix, and the one I use most often as a first day. A traverse rather than an up-and-down, low enough that it holds less snow than anything higher, and short enough that nothing about it is intimidating — while still being unmistakably a mountain rather than a crag.

—
What the day looks like
Up from the Plan de l’Aiguille, onto the rock, and across the traverse with the whole Chamonix valley underneath you. Moving together on the easy sections, pitched where it matters, and abseils to come off. Back at the lift with the afternoon still in front of you.
—
Why start here
Because the gap between a climbing wall and a route like the Aiguille du Peigne is bigger than people expect, and this is the bridge. You learn to move on granite, to be comfortable on a rope above exposure, and to go at a pace that gets you down in time — which is the skill everything else on this page depends on.
—
Who it suits
First-timers on alpine rock, and climbers who have only ever clipped bolts. Also a good shakedown day at the start of a week before something bigger.
AD · 4cGrade (US 5.7)
Half dayDuration
1–2Climbers per guide
Jun – SepSeason
On requestguide fee

Guide fee for the day, privately. Lifts, any hut night — yours and, as is standard in the Alps, the guide’s — rental of climbing gear and your insurance are not included.

Level required. You should be able to climb around grade 4 indoors or on a crag and be comfortable with heights. No alpine experience needed — that is the point of the day.
Ask about the Petits Charmoz

A real summit · D · June – September

Aiguille du Peigne
3,192 m10,472 ft

One of the great Chamonix Aiguilles and a summit in its own right, standing directly above the Plan de l’Aiguille. The normal route is the classic: slabs and cracks on superb granite with a few steps of real climbing, a proper top, and an abseil descent. It is the day where the valley stops being scenery and starts being a mountain you have stood on.

1
Early lift, then the slabs
First cable car to the Plan de l’Aiguille and a walk in under the face. The route starts on slabs that take the morning sun, which is why we are on them early and why the day begins better than most.
2
Up the normal route
Pitched climbing on rough, well-featured granite: cracks, corners and slabs with a few harder steps where the route picks its way through. Nothing desperate, plenty that makes you think, and the exposure building steadily as you go.
3
The summit, and the abseils
A small, airy top with the Aiguilles on one side and the whole valley on the other, then down the abseil line and back to the lift. A full day that finishes at a cable car rather than at the bottom of a long walk.
—
And the harder lines
The Peigne has far more than its normal route. Les Lépidoptères goes at D 5b, the Contamine-Vaucher at TD 6a and the North Ridge at TD 6a+ — the same mountain, two or three grades up, when you want it.
DGrade
Full dayDuration
1–2Climbers per guide
Jun – SepSeason
On requestguide fee

Guide fee for the day, privately. Lifts, any hut night — yours and, as is standard in the Alps, the guide’s — rental of climbing gear and your insurance are not included.

Level required. Comfortable seconding around 5a to 5b (US 5.7 – 5.8) on multi-pitch rock, steady on exposure, and fit for a full mountain day with an abseil descent. A day on the Petits Charmoz first is the usual preparation.
Ask about the Aiguille du Peigne

First granite summit with hut nights · PD− · 3 days · June – August

Aiguille du Moine
3,412 m11,194 ft

The one that turns a day out into a trip. Three days based at the Couvercle hut, reached by the Montenvers train, the crossing of the Mer de Glace and the ladders up the far side. The south ridge is the easiest line on the mountain at PD−, on excellent granite, with the Grandes Jorasses opposite and the whole Mer de Glace underneath. The climbing is friendly. The scale is not.

1
Day one — Montenvers, the glacier and the ladders
Train from Chamonix to Montenvers, down onto the Mer de Glace and across it, then the ladders up the far side to the Couvercle hut at 2,687 m. It is a memorable approach in its own right and most people arrive grinning. Afternoon at the hut, dinner, early night.
2
Day two — the south ridge, and back to the hut
Away early, across the glacier to the foot of the route, then up the south ridge on clean granite. Nothing on it is hard — PD−, with steps of real climbing between stretches of easy ground — and all of it is in one of the finest positions in the massif. Back down to the Couvercle for a second night, which is the whole point of doing it in three days rather than two: you climb without one eye on the last train.
3
Day three — down, or across
Out the way we came in, back over the Mer de Glace to Montenvers. Or, if conditions and legs allow, we make a traverse of it and come down by the Refuge de Leschaux instead — a different side of the glacier, different ground underfoot, and a far better last day than retracing your steps.
PD−Grade
3 daysDuration
1–2Climbers per guide
Jun – AugSeason
On requestguide fee

Guide fee for the three days, privately. The Couvercle hut nights — yours and, as is standard in the Alps, the guide’s — the Montenvers train, rental of climbing gear and your insurance are not included.

Level required. No hard climbing, but a long day on your feet: comfortable moving on a rope over easy ground and short steps, steady on exposure, and fit for the walk in with a pack. A day on the Petits Charmoz or the Aiguille du Peigne first is the usual preparation.
Ask about the Aiguille du Moine

Group two · the classics

The routes people
come here for

Chamonix granite at its most famous: rough, featured, generous rock, cracks you can get your whole hand into, and belays hanging over the whole massif. These are full days at grade 5c to 6a+ with a lift ride at each end — the reason the valley has the reputation it has, and the level most visiting climbers are aiming at.

Classic · D+, 5c (5.9) · June – September

Arête des
Papillons

A short, concentrated and quite perfect ridge on the rocky spur running down from the Aiguille du Peigne towards the lift station. Sustained climbing at 5c on immaculate granite, a scrambling descent rather than an abseil epic, and all of it close enough to the Plan de l’Aiguille that the day never feels like a commitment — which is exactly why it gets climbed so much.

1
Short approach, straight onto rock
From the Plan de l’Aiguille it is a quick walk to the foot of the arête. You are climbing early, which is half the charm.
2
The ridge itself
Pitch after pitch of clean granite at around 5c, never desperate and never easy, with the Chamonix valley dropping away below. If you have climbed on grit or on granite anywhere, this will feel like home.
3
Scrambling descent
Off on foot rather than a long abseil line, back to the lift. It is one of the reasons the route works so well as a day.
D+ · 5cGrade (US 5.9)
Full dayDuration
1–2Climbers per guide
Jun – SepSeason
On requestguide fee

Guide fee for the day, privately. Lifts, any hut night — yours and, as is standard in the Alps, the guide’s — rental of climbing gear and your insurance are not included.

Level required. Seconding 5c (US 5.9) on multi-pitch rock, comfortable on exposure, and able to move efficiently between pitches. A step up from the Aiguille du Peigne rather than a different world.
Ask about the Papillons

Classic · TD+, 6a (5.10a) · July – September

Rébuffat
Midi south face

Gaston Rébuffat’s route on the south face of the Aiguille du Midi, and probably the single most sought-after piece of rock in the massif. Sun-warmed granite at 3,800 m, climbed in a T-shirt with glaciers underneath you, five minutes from a lift station — a combination that exists almost nowhere else. TD+ with a crux around 6a.

1
First lift, then the descent to the face
Out of the Midi station and down onto the glacier shoulder to reach the foot of the face. Short, but it is an alpine start in every other sense.
2
The route
Sustained, beautifully featured granite: cracks, corners and the exposure you would expect at this altitude. Around 6a at the crux, with the rest well within reach if you climb that grade at sea level — bearing in mind that nothing feels like your grade at 3,800 m.
3
Topping out at the station
The route finishes back near the lift, which means no long descent at the end of a hard day. The combination of serious climbing and a cable car home is the whole reason this route is so popular.
—
The alternative next door
The Éperon des Cosmiques — Rébuffat-Pierre, TD− 6a+ — is the same idea one step along and often the better choice when the south face is busy.
TD+ · 6aGrade (US 5.10a)
Full dayDuration
1–2Climbers per guide
Jul – SepSeason
On requestguide fee

Guide fee for the day, privately. Lifts, any hut night — yours and, as is standard in the Alps, the guide’s — rental of climbing gear and your insurance are not included.

Level required. Leading or confidently seconding 6a (US 5.10a) on trad granite, comfortable at altitude, and efficient at belays. This is a serious route in a serious place, however short the approach looks.
Ask about the Rébuffat

Classic · TD, 6a+ (5.10b) · July – September

Pointe Lachenal
Contamine

A compact granite route on the little peak out on the Vallée Blanche, reached by walking out from the Midi across the glacier. The Contamine gives you genuinely alpine climbing at 6a+ with a short approach, a quick descent, and the whole Mont Blanc range standing around you while you do it.

1
Out across the glacier
Roped across the Vallée Blanche from the Midi to the foot of the Pointe. Twenty minutes that turn a crag day into a mountain day.
2
The Contamine
Clean granite at a sustained 6a+, short enough to be done well within the day and good enough to be worth the trip. Harold et Maud next door goes at 6b if you want more.
3
Back to the lift
Off the top and back across the glacier for the last cable car down. The timings matter here — missing the last lift is a long walk.
TD · 6a+Grade (US 5.10b)
Full dayDuration
1–2Climbers per guide
Jul – SepSeason
On requestguide fee

Guide fee for the day, privately. Lifts, any hut night — yours and, as is standard in the Alps, the guide’s — rental of climbing gear and your insurance are not included.

Level required. Seconding 6a+ (US 5.10b) on granite, happy roped on a glacier, and comfortable at 3,600 m. A good first “real” alpine rock route after the Papillons.
Ask about the Pointe Lachenal

Group three · the big granite

Where you sleep
on the mountain

Longer, harder, and no longer a day trip. The Envers des Aiguilles means a hut above the Mer de Glace and several days of ten-pitch routes without going back to the valley; the Grand Capucin is the icon of Mont Blanc granite and asks for 6b+ at nearly 3,900 m. These are trips rather than outings, and I will ask what you have climbed before we plan one.

Multi-day · TD to TD+, 6a+ – 6b (5.10b – 5.10c) · June – September

Envers
des Aiguilles

The best granite in the massif and the finest few days of rock climbing I can give anybody. The Montenvers train and a walk up to the Refuge de l’Envers des Aiguilles, perched above the Mer de Glace, and from there route after route of ten-pitch granite on the back side of the Aiguilles — without ever going back down to the valley.

1
In by train and on foot
Montenvers from Chamonix, down onto the Mer de Glace, and the walk up to the hut. You arrive in the afternoon, eat, and the climbing starts the next morning.
2
Days of ten-pitch routes
Guy-Anne l’insolite and Bienvenue au Georges V on the Pointes des Nantillons, Le marchand de sable on the Tour Rouge, Children of the Moon on the Aiguille du Roc — TD to TD+ at 6a+ to 6b, all of them long, clean and well equipped. Which ones we climb depends on your level, the weather and how the first day goes.
3
As many days as you want
Two days is the minimum that justifies the walk in. Three or four is when it starts to feel like a trip rather than an outing, and the hut makes that easy.
—
Why it is special
There is no lift, no crowd from the terrace, and no going down at night. You wake up with the Grandes Jorasses opposite and climb straight off the doorstep. That is a different experience from anything else on this page.
TD – TD+Grade · 6a+ – 6b (US 5.10b–5.10c)
2+ daysDuration
1–2Climbers per guide
Jun – SepSeason
On requestguide fee

Guide fee quoted per trip, privately, once we know how many days. The hut nights with half board — yours and the guide’s — the Montenvers train, rental of climbing gear and your insurance are not included.

Level required. Seconding 6a+ to 6b (US 5.10b – 5.10c) on granite over long routes, fit for consecutive days of ten-pitch climbing, and comfortable with abseil descents. Tell me what you have climbed and I will pick the routes around it.
Ask about the Envers

Expert · TD+ to ED1, 6b+ (5.11a) · July – September

Grand Capucin
3,838 m12,592 ft

The red tower standing alone above the Vallée Blanche, and the most photographed piece of granite in the range. The Swiss Route and O Sole Mio both climb it at 6b+, on superb rock at nearly 3,900 m, with the approach from the Torino hut and the Skyway. It is the route people spend years getting ready for, and it is worth the wait.

1
Torino hut, Italian side
Up by the Skyway and a night at the Torino. The Italian side is the sensible approach and it puts you close to the foot of the route for an early start.
2
The route
Pitch after pitch of immaculate red granite at a sustained 6b+ — the Swiss Route or O Sole Mio, depending on conditions and what suits you. Long, committing, and at altitude, so everything costs more than the grade suggests.
3
Abseil and out
Down the abseil line and back across to the lift. A big day that ends properly tired.
—
Weather decides
This is not a route to start on a doubtful forecast at that altitude. We agree the objective and keep the dates flexible around it — build spare days into your trip.
TD+ – ED1Grade · 6b+ (US 5.11a)
2 daysDuration
1Climber per guide
Jul – SepSeason
On requestguide fee

Guide fee quoted on request, one climber per guide. The Torino hut night — yours and the guide’s — the Skyway, rental of climbing gear and your insurance are not included.

Level required. Confidently seconding 6b+ (US 5.11a) on granite, experienced on long alpine rock routes, and acclimatised. Several of the routes above this one on the page are the normal way in.
Ask about the Grand Capucin

What you get

Included
& not included

The same for every route on this page. You are paying for the guide, the rope and the judgement about which route and which day — the mountain’s own costs stay separate and visible.

Included

  • UIAGM certified mountain guide, privately — your rope only
  • Choice of route and timing for your level and the conditions
  • Rope and the technical climbing equipment for the rope team
  • An honest answer about what you are ready for next

Not included

  • Lifts and mountain trains
  • Hut nights, including the guide’s, as is standard in the Alps
  • Rock shoes, harness and helmet
  • Mountain clothing and personal kit
  • Food, drinks and anything consumed on the mountain
  • Accident and mountain rescue insurance
  • Travel and accommodation in the valley
  • Anything not specified above
Rope size is set by the route, not by availability — some routes take two climbers on a rope, others only one. All climbing operates under UIAGM safety standards. Valid accident and mountain rescue insurance is the responsibility of each participant. Rock shoes, harness and helmet can all be rented in Chamonix; tell me what you are missing and I will point you to the right shop.

Before you book

Common
questions

What grade do I need?
There is something here from around grade 4 upwards. The Petits Charmoz goes at 4c (US 5.7); the Brévent and the Aiguille du Peigne ask for around 5b (5.8), the Papillons for 5c (5.9), the Rébuffat for 6a (5.10a), the Grand Capucin for 6b+ (5.11a). Assume everything feels a grade harder than the same move at a valley crag — altitude, exposure and a pack all take their cut.
I climb in US grades. How do they convert?
Every number grade on this page is French, with the US (Yosemite) equivalent in brackets next to it: 4c is 5.7, 5a is 5.7, 5b is 5.8, 5c is 5.9, 6a is 5.10a, 6a+ is 5.10b, 6b is 5.10c and 6b+ is 5.11a. The letters in front — PD, AD, D, TD, ED — are something else entirely: they are the overall alpine grade of the day, taking in the approach, the length, the altitude, the descent and how committing the route is. A 6a pitch on the Rébuffat, which finishes within sight of a cable car, and a 6a pitch most of the way up the Grand Capucin at nearly 3,900 m are the same moves and nothing like the same day — and that is exactly what the alpine grade is there to tell you.
I only climb on bolts. Is that a problem?
Not at all, and you do not need to place gear — that is my job. What changes is everything around the climbing: moving fast on easy ground, abseiling, managing a rope on a ridge, being high up with no bolt in sight. The first group of routes exists precisely to bridge that gap, and most sport climbers find it takes a single day.
When is the best time?
Early June to late September for the granite in the massif, and from May to October on the Brévent, which is lower, faces south and opens the season at both ends. Early June carries more snow on the high ridges and the south faces are not always dry yet. July and August are the most reliable. September is often the best of the lot: cold, dry rock, stable weather and far fewer people on the classics.
What do I need to bring?
Rock shoes, a harness, a helmet, and warm mountain clothing — the rock is at 3,000 to 3,800 m (9,800 – 12,500 ft) and the weather is not valley weather. The rope and the technical kit come from me. Everything else rents easily in Chamonix.
Is there a tradition I should know about?
Yes, and it is a good one. Here the day traditionally ends with the client buying the guide a drink or a meal once you are back down. It is not part of the price and nobody will ever ask you for it — but it is how most good days end, and it is usually when the day finally gets talked through properly.

May – October

What do you
want to climb

Tell me the grade you lead and second, your dates, and whether you have climbed trad or at altitude before. If you already have a route in mind, even better — send it and I will tell you honestly whether it is this year or next.

WhatsApp · +41 76 270 13 49 @carlitos_molina_guide molinamountain@gmail.com
WhatsApp