Mont Blanc Policy
In 2008 we made major changes to our Mont Blanc
courses. These proved very successful both in making our Mont Blanc courses a safer, more enjoyable experience for clients and guides alike, and improving our success rate for the peak.
In recent
years, common practice for companies offering Mont Blanc
courses has been to run an inflexible itinerary, first with
training and acclimatisation
days on a high guiding ratio then with extra guides hired
at the end of the week for the actual ascent of Mont Blanc
(by
a set
route).
While undoubtedly lowering the cost, this approach has major
drawbacks for clients. The time slot for the summit day is
narrow (usually one day) making success very weather dependent.
Committing to a specific route irrespective of conditions can
compromise safety as well reduce chances of success. Also,
guides hired at the end of the week have no opportunity to
build up a relationship with you to prepare as well as possible
for the ascent.
ISM's Mont Blanc Special course has a 2:1
guiding ratio throughout. A pair
of climbers works with the same guide throughout the course.
The guide gets to know your skill level, strengths and weaknesses
and has ample opportunity to resolve any problems you may have
with equipment etc. which come to light during the ascent of
the first peak. There is time to build up personal relationships,
enabling the guide to anticipate any potential problems on
Mt Blanc and to plan the ascent accordingly.
The 2:1 guiding ratio throughout also means that there is
as much flexibility as possible on the summit
day and the route
of ascent. If bad weather is forecast for later in the week
we will do our level best to get you adequately acclimatised
and prepared for a summit attempt earlier in the week. Also,
if one route to the summit happened to be in safer condition
than another, we are able to change plans at any point. Success
with safety is our aim.
If you have one week for your alpine holiday and Mont
Blanc is your principal objective, the 6-day Mont Blanc
Special course is ideal. We begin
by climbing another high peak to acclimatise and to teach/refresh
all the skills needed for
Mt Blanc, and then we take weather and conditions into account
to plan the route and the best day for our summit climb. There
are three possible summit days for Mont Blanc
on this course.
Mont Blanc is a serious mountain with a high number of accidents
every year. Safe enjoyment of the mountains is our goal at
ISM and we have structured our Mont Blanc course to ensure
that this is not compromised.
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