Trois Monts Route

The 'three mounts' — over the shoulders of Mont Blanc du Tacul (4,248 m) and Mont Maudit (4,465 m) to the summit. Starts from the Aiguille du Midi cable car (3,842 m): down the exposed snow arête to the Col du Midi plateau and the Refuge des Cosmiques (3,613 m), then serac-threatened slopes on the Tacul, the steep ice wall to the Col du Mont Maudit (~4,345 m), the Col de la Brenva (4,303 m) and the Mur de la Côte to the top. Graded PD+/AD- — steeper, more crevassed and more avalanche-prone than the Goûter route (a 2012 serac avalanche on the Tacul killed nine climbers). Entirely glacier terrain: there is no mapped trail, and the line below is verified cols and refuges joined by approximate points.