UKC

Hey! Me and a few other climbers are considering doing an accent of Mont blanc via the cosmique route traverse/trois mont. We are hoping to climb late july or early august. Does anyone who are local or with first hand knowledge have recommendations regarding late july or early august? which one of the two time slots are the conditions most likely to be favorable (crevasse and avalanches)? Is one of the time slots considerably worse then the other?

Thank you in advance.

The weather is pot luck. This year July or August could be the better month. All you can do is book your flights, give yourself the longest window you can and hope for the best.

August last year was weeks of a heatwave and everything was slush by mid-day.

The good thing about the Cosmique hut is they always appear to have spaces and don't seem to mind last minute changes.

Allo! Allo?

It varies year to year but over the last few years July would be more likely to be better conditions than August.

You get what you get... but the earlier the better, The days of August being "Cham time" are in the past 

Are you fit, competent, fast your feet, not winter novices? 

No real input on late July vs early Aug (and realistically there’s maybe not much difference). My only direct experience of the Trois Monts was descending that way in July (2019). We abbed the Maudit shoulder (it was steep, hard ice) and descended a vertical and free hanging fixed rope to get down a big crevasse at the base of the NW flank of the Tacul, and I think either of those would have been a bit interesting in ascent (especially the Maudit shoulder with a single light axe, depending what you’re carrying). So it can be difficult in July but that doesn’t mean it will be. I also went down the NW face of the Tacul in early Sept 2021 and it was overall in better condition than 2019 (no fixed rope), so it really depends as others have said.

Also given you ask about avalanche risk - worth noting that there are seracs over the NW face of the Tacul, so even if the rest of the snow conditions are okay there is still an avalanche/serac risk that can’t be fully mitigated, and they do go sometimes. Just the nature of the route.

To be fair this reads like it was written by chat gp

That's why i just asked them a question to see what does or doesn’t come back. 

With inbuilt irregular spelling and grammatical subroutines as well?

In reply to:

Or perhaps someone whose first language isn’t English? I have nothing to say to the OP question, but plenty to say about monolingual English speakers who cannot make allowances to foreigners addressing them in their own language in a fairly comprehensible way … 😏

I can generally always spot those who have English as a second or third language, their grammar is better than mine! If the op reappears I'll give a proper reply based on their experience or ability. 

Yeah, my first language is not english. I'm a fit 22 year old who have done most of my mountaineering in Hurrungane. I do some ice climbing, rock climbing etc, and have done beginner avalanche and mountaineering courses. My partners have the same experience as i do, plus climbing In nepal. But none of us has climbed in the alps before. We are doing Gran Paradiso and Arête des Cosmiques beforehand..

July / august, it's a lottery, it's like me asking about summer in Hurrungane, it could be normal or record breaking hot. Recent alpine summers have had periods when the freezing level even at night was above summits, apart from being heavy going under foot, the hazards are obviously greater too. 

Personally I'd book the hut if you feel the need, but I'd try to only eat there in the evening, rest, a few hot chocolates and then head off for the 3 summits at 2200ish when they'll kick you out anyway as a non resident if you've not booked a bed. Do all three at night, you'll miss the views on the way up, but have better conditions under foot.

Plan on the leader of the rope having two axes just in case it's steep on Maudit, but by July this will be known in advance. You'll reach the summit if fit and reasonably acclimatised around 0500-0600, sun will be up, a few quick photos and head down, you can chill once you've crossed the couloir. Me, i wouldn't reverse the route back to cosmiques, as you'll be fighting the flow of daytime climbers heading up and it's longer. However, if it's very warm at night, the couloir will be lethal and I'd not recommend it, even early in the morning. These are decisions you'll need to make once there and you see the weather. 

Night time is still dangerous, seracs still fall, don't linger in risky places. Go steady, drink lots even if it's not sunny etc.. keep admin pauses to a minimum and you'll make good time. Plan ahead, do bag drops when you tick summits(out and back to tacul), but have some day glo on your straps so there's zero chance you miss them etc.. trust your instincts, if something doesn't feel right it probably isn't, you can always go back again another time.