The Aiguilles Rouges tour in mountain huts
The Aiguilles Rouges Tour is one of the most beautiful hikes of the country of Mont Blanc ! Planned during this trek : wild landscapes, a great variety of ambiance, exceptional panoramas on the greatest summits of the massif, the discovery of the glacial lakes (Lac Blanc, Pormenaz lake, Cheserys lake...). For a perfect ending, we'll ascend Mont Buet, nicknamed 'Women Mont Blanc' since the firsts ascents of Mont Blanc. The view in front of us is exceptional !
An exclusive sportive and committed itinerary to discover THE wild side of the mountains.
Itinerary
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Day 1 AIGUILLETTE DES HOUCHES - BELLACHAT
Rendez-vous at the parking of Les Houches train station at 10am. We start hiking on a small pathway climbing up in laces through a spruce forest. We arrive at the bright glades of the Plan de la Cry at 1450m, facing the Aiguille du Goûter. Magnificent panorama on the Aravis and Fiz mountain range. We join the Pierre Blanche ridge (1697m) from where we dominate the whole Mont Blanc range before continuing in the natural reserve until the Bellachat refuge (2138m).
5 to 6h of hiking / Difference in altitude : +1350,- 149
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Day 2 BELLACHAT - MOETE ANTERNE
We walk along the ridges until we reach the Brévent peak (2525m) from where we enjoy an astonishing view on the Aiguilles de Chamonix and the Verte au Chardonnet. We pass through the Brévent pass (2368m) and descend towards the small valley of Diosaz. We then cross the Arlevé bridge and climb up to the Moede-Anterne refuge (2002 m). We drop off our bags and leave once more for a little roam around the Pormenaz lake.
6 to 7h of hiking / Difference in altitude : +635m, -1011m / Night at the refuge
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Day 3 MOEDE - MT BUET - PIERRE A BERARD
Our pathway guides us to the pasture of Villy (1885m) through alpine lawns and herds of ibexes. We then climb on nice slopes up to the Salenton pass (2526m) and then acsned Mont Buet at 3096m. The view on the Mont Blanc mountain range, Swiss Alps and Jura is spectacular ! Descent to the Pierre à Bérard refuge (1924m) where we rest our weary feet and have some well deserved rest.
7 to 8 h of hiking / Difference in altitude : + 1085m - 1172m / Night at the refuge
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Day 4 PIERRE A BERARD - LORIAZ
Descent to the valley of Berard : we are surrounded by glaciers and hanging patches of snow. We proceed to our hike through the larch forest to climb up the Tré les Eaux valley at the Corbeayx pass (2602m). Only the ibexes are observing us in the Swiss high mountain ambiance. We then cross the border at the Terrasse pass (2648m). We finally descend to the Loriaz refuge (2020m) to spend the night.
7 to 8h of hiking / Difference in altitude : +1084, - 988 / Night at the refuge
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Day 5 CHESERYS LAKE - LAC BLANC
We descend to the hamlet of Buet (1300m) through the diligences pathway. We climb up the Montets pass (1461m), the most Northeast section of the Aiguilles Rouges massif. We climb in laces under the Remuaz. From the Cheserys lake (2211m), we discover the valley of Chamonix and the peaks' reflection ! We the join the Lac Blanc (2352m).
6 to 7 h of hiking / Difference in altitude : + 1052m, -720 m
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Day 6 LAC BLANC - LES HOUCHES
We start our day by joining the Index (2385m) in a mineral universe where the ptarmigan can surprise us ! We walk through a passage of the Glière valley (2461m) at the Cornu pass (2414m) under the Vioz peak. We then join the Plan Praz cable car (1999m). Descent facing the Bossons glacier : we enjoy the last views of Mont Blanc before arriving at Les Houches train station and saying goodbye.
6 to 7 h of hiking / Difference in altitude : + 109m - 1511m
Not ready to leave yet? We can help with travel arrangements to extend your adventure. Itineraries can be modified according to the weather conditions or the fitness level of the participants. As a last resort, the accompanist remains the only judge of the program that he can adapt according to the various imperatives that may arise.
Dates & prices
Departures for French-speaking groups:
No departure for now
Trip code: TAIGR
Included
- Technical organisation of the trekking
- Supervision by the mountain leader
- Luggage transportation
- Accommodation as described in the program (in lodges and refuges)
- Half board and picnics
- Transportation as described in the program
Not included
- Transfers to and from Chamonix, our meeting point
- Application fees (18€ per person)
- Snacks
- Insurance
- Drinks and personal expenses in the mountain lodges
- Meals for the first and the last night in Chamonix
International flights
We can plan your flight to Geneva regardless of your departure city.
We can also arrange a transfer Geneva-Chamonix and Chamonix-Geneva to facilitate your arrival on site.
Terms and conditions
Inscription
By booking one of our travels, the customer bindingly accepts the general terms and conditions of sale. Each customer must fill a registration form. The
booking is definitively registered when the customer has settled the payment of a
deposit of 35 % of the total trip's price (subject to availability at the time
of registration). In case of short term booking – within 30 days before the
travel departure, the full trip's price is due immediately. Payments can be
settled via bank transfer (SWIFT code/IBAN number) or online, directly from our
website (available soon). You will receive an email with a booking confirmation
as quickly as possible.
Facturation
Once your booking registered, we send you an email with the invoice. Full payment is required at
least 30 days before your arrival. If the customer does not settle the payment
of the travel's price within the period agreed upon, Altaï Alpes gets the right to cancel the booking without additional charges.
Annulation
For any reason, if you decide to withdraw from a trip, the amount already paid will be refunded
subject to the following exceptions:
- Cancellation up to 45 days before the agreed beginning of the trip: You will be charged 20 % of the travel's price, in addition with every non-refundable expenses for additional services booked on request (internal flights, site entrance tickets, activities…)
- Cancellation between 44 and 15 days before the agreed beginning of the trip: You will be charged 50 % of the travel's price, in addition with every non-refundable expenses for additional services booked on request (internal flights, site entrance tickets, activities…)
- Cancellation less than 14 days before the agreed beginning of the journey: You will be charged 100 % of the travel's price, in addition with every non-refundable expenses for additional services booked on request (internal flights, site entrance tickets, activities…)
Any cancellation
shall be notified in writing (email, letter or fax). The cancellation
will be effective as soon as we receive your written statement. If we notice early that the minimum number of participants for a trip cannot be
reached, Altaï Alpes will exercise its right of withdrawal
immediately. In that situation, you will be informed of the cancellation of
your travel no later than 21 days before the agreed beginning of the
journey. Altaï Alpes can also cancel a travel in case of major circumstances such as volcanic eruption, civil
disturbances, strikes, weather and climate conditions, in order to ensure traveler's security… In
such cases, you will immediately be refunded of any payments. However, you will not be entitled to any compensation.
Modification du contrat
If any change is made in the travel's contract at the customer’s request, any fee that might arise
from this change shall be paid by the customer. In any cases, every request for
changes shall be notified in writing. In case of external events that could not
be foreseen, Altaï Alpes might change some aspects of the travel contract.
We will endeavour to inform you of any change as quickly as possible.
Prix et révision des prix
All travel
prices for groups on our website have been calculated for the indicated number of
participants. The price list is confirmed after the booking. If
the number of participants is lower than expected, an additional payment charge
might be applied. For each travel and program, we mention the price per person
– valid for the minimum number of participants – and we provide you with
detailed explanations about the services included or not. Any change, of the currency exchange rates or on the price of travel's services in particular regarding the
cost of the fuel, might entail price revision.
Cession du contrat
In case of transfer
of the contract by the customer to an assignee, modification and cancellation
conditions will be applied.
Insurance
We can offer you three
formulas :
- Repatriation insurance : 2% of your trip's price, includes mountain search and rescue fees, disease or injury assistance during your trip.
- Cancellation insurance : 3% of the price of your trip, includes all accidents or diseases, dismissal, transfer, and any events occurring before your departure and preventing you from achieving the trip.
- Multi-risk insurance : 4% of the price of your trip, includes the same features as the cancellation insurance, as well as search and rescue fees, hospitalisation, disease assistance, and medical fees refund during your trip.
If you are not willing to subscribe to any of our insurances,
you must send us the insurance discharge and your travel subscription
confirmation. If you chose any other insurance and assistance contract, please
check that the search and rescue cover is suitable : cover sector, fees,
risk covered. For your information, a minimal fee of 15 000€ is recommended for an appropriate search and rescue cover.
Credit cards offer only a few or no guarantee at all.
Practical info
Staff
Our
trip is supervised by a mountain guide who will give you
the technical information needed for the good progress of the
tour. The guide may have to modify the program in order to insure safety
depending on mountain weather conditions or participants physical conditions.
Food
Lunch and diner :
- Lunch picnics are made of mixed salads, fine meat, farm cheese, crusty bread, fresh seasonal fruits and other local sweet pleasures. They are made by the accompanist at night for the day after: don’t worry if he is leaving you for a short amount of time during the evening, he is certainly making you great food to give you strength the next day!
- In the evening, diners are taken in the different accommodations
- Please take provisions according to your own tastes before leaving: cereal, energy bars (chocolate bars can melt), dry fruits... And feel free to bring some specialties from your regions for aperitifs!
Drinks
Drinks are not included in the trip's price :
please take some money (Swiss francs and Euros) for coffees, fruit juices,
beers, cokes during breaks.. Most of the time, refuges don’t have any card
machines !
Accommodation
- In refuges, people will sleep in 8 to 10 persons dormitories and will be given some blankets (please bring your own sleeping bag). You can use the refuges’ slippers if you want to, no need to bring shoes for refuges.
- Bring some earplugs to avoid being bothered by noises.
- Most refuges are equipped with showers, but not all of them : sometimes there is no tap water in the refuges, only water dripping from the glaciers.
- Some electrical plugs are available in the refuges, but plan to bring a battery replacement for cameras and turn your phone off during the day.
Budget & exchange
France and Italy are in the Eurozone. Therefore, the
unit of the currency is the Euro.
Switzerland uses the Swiss Franc (CHF). It is better
to change money before departure, however euros are widely accepted in
Switzerland.
Credit cards and debit cards are very useful for cash
advances (but don’t forget to bring your PIN number!).
ATMs are available in
most of the towns you will cross during your stay, but there are no guarantees
that your credit card will actually work in France, Italy or Switzerland. Also,
refuges often don’t have EPT (Electronic Payment Terminal): it is best to bring
cash.
Be aware of the fees usually applied when purchasing
products or services on a credit card.
Always take more rather than less, as you don’t want
to spend your trip constantly feeling short on funds.
As currency exchange rates can often fluctuate, we recommend to check the following website for daily exchange rates: https://www.xe.com/
Tips
Clients usually pay for the guides’ drinks : you might find it practical to make a group kitty at the beginning of your stay (no obligation).
Supplied equipment
Equipment for the group (altimeter, compass, maps,
medicine) is provided by the supervision.
Material
Technical material
- Trekking shoes with Vibram sole, that cover the ankle well. You must have already wore them for several trekking so that they are well suited to your feet. Don’t ever leave for a trekking with new shoes or be prepared to face sore blisters.
- Telescopic poles
- A liner sleeping bag·
- Small toilet bag with a quick-drying towel
- Solar cream (face and lips)
- Headlamp with replacement battery and bubbles
- 1.5 litter flask or Camel-back
- Clasp knife
- Toilet paper and lighter
- Two or three plastic bags (100L) to protect your backpack and your belongings if it starts raining
- A Tupperware for lunch salads, with knife, fork and spoon
Personal equipment
- Bonnet
- Hat (or cap)
- Great quality sunglasses (index 3 category)
- 1 pair of polar or warm wool gloves
- Breathable technic underclothing
- Technic breathable under-jumper (carline, light polar fur...) with long sleeves
- 2 technic breathable under-jumper with short sleeves
- Polar coat
- One anorak or coat/ down jacket
- 1 windproof and waterproof Goretex-type coat
- 1 pair of technic breathable tights
- 1 pair of confortable trekking pants
- 1 pair of short or ¾ pants
- 1 pair of windproof Goretex-type pants
- Two pair of socks, one thin and one thick (avoid coton that engenders blisters)
- 1 night outfit
Luggage
A 30L backpack with a large chest strap. Please take a trash
bag to isolate your replacement clothes from humidity.
Your guide's advise :
You will put in your backpack :
- Warm clothes (polar, pants, bonnets and gloves)
- Rain clothes
- One flask
- Camera
- Lunch picnics
As for the transferred baggages :
9kg max, avoid suitcases. Each overspending of
weight can be charged to the owner. In the morning, before departure, you will
have to leave your baggages downstairs, the driver will take care of it. The
inside of the bags must be openable for the Swiss custom officers. Don’t put any
locks.
It is forbidden to bring :
- Computers, tablets, hardware
- Camera
- Valuable objects
Taxis will not take bags
including any of those objects.
Medicine
Your accompanist will be carrying a first-aid kit. However, it
is recommended to bring your own medicine, checked with your general
practitioner:
- Personal medicine
- Painkillers (paracetamol preferred)
- Double-patching
- Elastoplast
- Bandage
- Antiseptic
- Anti-inflammatory
- Antispasmodic
- Anti-diarrhea
- Anti-vomiting
- Intestinal antiseptic
- Eyewash
- Light soporific
- Ear plugs
- Antibiotic
- C vitamin
Non-exhaustive list…
Passport
Please make sure your passport and travel documents are valid.
Visa
- Up to 90 days visit : citizens from most countries do not need a visa to visit France, Italy or Switzerland.
- Over 90 days visit : non-EU or non-EFTA citizens must have a visa to visit France, Italy or Switzerland over 90 days.
For further information, please check the following website : https://france-visas.gouv.fr/
Identity card
For EU citizens, you can use your identity card to travel to France, Italy or Switzerland.
Mandatory vaccines
No required vaccination.
Health information & recommendations
Before your
departure, make sure you are in good physical conditions in accordance with the
activities prospected. The regular practice of an endurance sport is compulsory
for mountain activities. It could be jogging, cycling, swimming, fitness
walking. If you are not trained at all, it will be hard to consider mountain
activities without taking the risk of facing too important physical
complications that would penalize you and your group. Practicing an endurance
sport is compulsory to enjoy the tour as much as possible. Three months before
departure, plan to do one to three sport sessions a week of at least one hour and trekking
of at least 6 hours with an ascent of 350 meter per hour. The best training for
trekking remains mountain walking. Knees problems remain the main issue during
that kind of trekking: please talk to your doctor about it before departure. Please inform
the agency of any medical indications such as food allergies, diabetes, recent
and old cardiovascular events, asthma...
Weather
The
weather in the Alps varies up and down the mountain chain. It
is a mountainous region between 800 and 4000 meters, so altitude plays a big
part in the local weather.
As you climb higher into the mountains it gets 1
degree cooler every 100 meters. It is the case all year around but other
factors such as temperature inversions and winds influence the climate. The
sun plays a very important role too. In the winter, when the sun is lower in
the sky, some lower or north facing valleys are blocked from the sun by
mountains for a large part of the day and are colder.
Spring can be a bit unpredictable : rain, sometimes even
some snow interspersed with hot sunny days.
It can be quite hot in
summer: around 20 to 30 degrees, but the fresh mountain air cools you down
during your hike.
In autumn, temperatures
start to cool down, but it is still perfect conditions for a walking holiday.
During winter time, the
higher you get, the more snow you will see. Snow usually starts to fall in
November and stays until April.
Keep in mind that weather conditions are
unpredictable. Therefore, the trip organization can me modified for your
safety.
Electricity
There will be electricity in most places you will stay. If you are scared to run low on battery, we advise to bring an external battery charger.
In France the power plugs and sockets are of type E. The standard voltage is 230 V and the standard frequency is 50 Hz. Power plugs in France have the particularity of being male and female at the same time : they have 2 prongs and a receptacle. If you need an adapter, please purchase if before departure.
The electrical current in Switzerland is 230V, 50Hz. Swiss sockets are recessed, three-holed, hexagonally shaped and incompatible with many plugs from abroad. They usually, however, take the standard European two-pronged plug.
Electricity in Italy conforms to the European standard of 220V to 230V, with a frequency of 50Hz. Wall outlets typically accommodate plugs with two or three round pins (the latter grounded, the former not).
Local time
France, Italy and Switzerland are in the Central
European Time Zone. Central European Standard Time (CET) is 1 hour ahead of
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT+1).
Like most states in Europe,
Summer Time (Daylight-Saving) is observed in France, where the time is shifted
forward by 1 hour; 2 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT+2).
After the summer months,
the time in France is shifted back by 1 hour to Central European Time (CET or GMT+1).
Sustainable tourism
We do our best to offer
trips subscribed to the principles of responsible and sustainable tourism. Our
aim is to allow visitors to discover the many facets of France, Italy and Switzerland by taking you
off the beaten path and getting you in touch with its nature and residents,
while ensuring that your visits do not have a negative effect on its natural
environment and people.
- Most of our accommodations are run by locals, thus ensuring that the largest part of the revenue generated through your trip will stay within the region.
- France is known for its exquisite cuisine. The art of cooking and the joy of eating are part of everyday life. Each region has its particular foods and flavours which we would like you to explore and appreciate.
- Water is a precious and rare good. Our team and those travelling with us are thus advised to use it with consideration and avoid excessive water use where possible.
- Please try to recycle your waste whenever possible, even though recycling may not be a well-known concept in all areas.
- Be cautious and respectful when hiking. Make sure to wear suitable footwear and avoid picking flowers, moving stones or lighting fires.
My local agent
Christophe
- eee
- Region
- Northern Alps : around Mont blanc
- Activity
- Summer Trekking
- Duration
- 6 days
- Group
- 5 to 8 people
- Code
- TAIGR
- Price
- From €695
- Level
- 4/5
- Comfort
- 3/5
- Language(s)
- French
Strengths
- The extraordinary views of Mont Blanc, the glaciers and the peaks of the massif.
- A protected wilderness, a paradise for hikers.
- The many glacial lakes.
- The ascent of Mont Buet (Mont Blanc des Dames) at 3099m.