Aiguille du Jardin
4,035 m
France
Also known as ეგიუი-დიუ-ჟარდინიAlso known as
ეგიუი-დიუ-ჟარდინი
- Elevation
- 4,035 m
- Prominence
- 37 m
- Difficulty
- 6/10
- Alpine climb
- Best Season
- Jun
- Routes
- 2
AdvisoryReported 1 Jul 2024
On the Arête du Jardin a rockfall damaged the jammed-block chimney below the crest (reported by La Chamoniarde in July 2024; month only given); it is now passed with aid and takes longer.
camptocamp.orgRegulationReported 13 Aug 2026
Chamonix municipal order 2026-00719 of 13 August 2026 regulates bivouacking around the Refuge du Couvercle; contact the warden for details or to book.
refugeducouvercle.ffcam.fr
Routes
2Approximate line — not for navigation
An automated check found that parts of this line could not be matched to mapped trails, so it may stray far from the real route. Use it for planning only, with a map and a guidebook.
Why? 8 check notes
- danger scan: Refuge du Couvercle → Grande Rocheuse: straight line 2754 m (limit 200 m)
- danger scan: Refuge du Couvercle → Grande Rocheuse: straight line 2754 m above the last hut/bivouac
- danger scan: Refuge du Couvercle → Grande Rocheuse: straight line: 72° over 25 m (> 60°, high-res DEM)
- danger scan: Refuge du Couvercle → Grande Rocheuse: sustained 64° > 45° on a straight line
- 28% straight-line fallback
- ascent 2570 m vs net gain 2121 m (+21%)
- Refuge du Couvercle → Grande Rocheuse: straight (snap_failed; DEM rejected: no path below 45° between the endpoints, 2.8 km)
- Grande Rocheuse → Aiguille du Jardin: dem (snap_failed, 0.3 km)
Sources differ: AD (Couloir Armand Charlet variant to the col) (Camptocamp)
The Aiguille du Jardin is a satellite on the east ridge of the Aiguille Verte and is normally reached as an extension of the Verte's Couloir Whymper: from the Col de la Grande Rocheuse over the Grande Rocheuse, down to the Col Armand Charlet and up the short W ridge (III) and a snow crest to the summit. Only sensible when the couloir is frozen.
Elevation Profile
approximate line- Distance
- ≈ 9.8 km
- one way
- Ascent
- ≈ +2,570 m
- −448 m lost on the way up
- High Point
- 4,097 m
- Time Up
- ≈ 10h 41m
- DIN 33466
- Time Down
- ≈ 7h 52m
- DIN 33466 · same way back
The Aiguille du Jardin (4,035 m) lies about 300 m east of the Grande Rocheuse on the Arête du Jardin. Its usual way up, given as the normal route by the 4,000er guidebooks (AD+), follows the Aiguille Verte's Couloir Whymper to the Grande Rocheuse and then the ridge east to the Jardin. Day one: from Chamonix take the Montenvers train and the gondola down to the Mer de Glace, walk up the glacier and climb the Égralets ladders to the Refuge du Couvercle (2,683 m), 4–5 hours. Day two, leaving around midnight: follow the right bank of the crevassed Talèfre Glacier to the bergschrund of the Couloir Whymper (about 3,430 m) and climb the couloir (45–55°) to the Col de la Grande Rocheuse (about 4,050 m). Climb the short rock step to the Grande Rocheuse (4,102 m), then follow its east ridge down to the Col Armand Charlet (3,998 m), turning the gendarme at the foot of the Grande Rocheuse, and cross the airy col on its crest. Two pitches of about 25 m of steep, physical III on the W ridge and a short snow crest lead to the flat summit, about an hour from the col. A steeper shortcut is the Couloir Armand Charlet, the narrow couloir right of the Whymper, which leads straight to the col (AD, about 200 m at up to 53°, with a short icy goulotte about a third of the way up). Return the same way to the Col de la Grande Rocheuse (parties report abseils of about 25–30 m on the Jardin and Grande Rocheuse ridges and up to 50 m below the Grande Rocheuse summit on the Verte side), tag the Verte if you wish, and descend the Couloir Whymper by abseil only while it is frozen, otherwise by the long Arête du Moine. Camptocamp now considers the Couloir Whymper reasonable except in summer.
Start
Montenvers1,914 m
- Chamonix–Montenvers rack railway and Mer de Glace gondola
- Train to Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (via Saint-Gervais), then the Montenvers rack railway and the Mer de Glace gondola.
Stages
| Day | Stage | km | m ascent | m descent | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montenvers → Refuge du Couvercle | 6.8 | 1,043 | 264 | 4h 51m |
| 2 | Refuge du Couvercle → Aiguille du Jardin | 3.0 | 1,529 | 184 | 5h 51m |
Waypoints
- Station: Montenvers1,914 m
Rack railway from Chamonix; gondola down to the Mer de Glace
- Feature: Mer de Glace1,970 m
- Hut: Refuge du Couvercle2,688 m
- Summit: Grande Rocheuse4,100 m
- Col: Col Armand Charlet3,994 m
not on route line
- Summit: Aiguille du Jardin4,035 m
Key Passages
- Égralets ladders up to the Couvercle hut
- Bergschrund and upper Couloir Whymper (45–55°)
- Rock step to the Grande Rocheuse and descent to the Col Armand Charlet
- Airy crest of the Col Armand Charlet
- W ridge of the Aiguille du Jardin (two pitches of III)
Equipment
0/12 packedDownloads
Route confidence 65%Overview
A 4,035 m granite summit on the east ridge of the Aiguille Verte above the Talèfre basin, reached from the Couvercle hut either over the Grande Rocheuse after the Couloir Whymper (AD+) or by the Arête du Jardin (D-). Technically one of the harder 4,000 m tops of the Mont Blanc massif.
The Aiguille du Jardin stands on the Arête du Jardin, the ridge that runs east from the Aiguille Verte over the Grande Rocheuse and the Col Armand Charlet towards Les Droites, between the Talèfre basin to the south and the Argentière glacier to the north. With only about 37 m of prominence it is a satellite of the Verte, but seen from the Couvercle hut it looks like an independent peak, its south face defended by steep red granite buttresses. A secondary top on the Talèfre side, the Pointe Eveline (4,026 m), is named after Eveline Carmichael, who first climbed it.
There are two practical ways up. The guidebook normal route (AD+) climbs the Verte's Couloir Whymper, crosses the Grande Rocheuse and descends to the Col Armand Charlet before a short ridge of UIAA III to the summit; the narrow Couloir Armand Charlet is a steeper shortcut to the col. The classic summer line is the Arête du Jardin itself (D-, IV), approached by the couloir below the Col de l'Aiguille Verte and often continued to the Verte. Both involve steep snow and ice, mixed ground and abseils at 4,000 m.
Couloir conditions dominate everything: the Couloir Whymper and its neighbours are south-east facing, raked by stonefall once the sun arrives, and Camptocamp now treats them as spring and early-summer routes rather than summer ones.
Climbing Notes
This is for experienced alpinists: you need to climb 50° snow and ice efficiently in the dark, move together on exposed mixed ridges, climb UIAA III–IV in boots and handle multiple abseils on fixed anchors that should be checked. Be well acclimatised; easier 4,000 m peaks and a night or two above 3,000 m beforehand are normal.
Typical plan: Montenvers train, Mer de Glace and the Égralets ladders to the Couvercle hut (4–5 hours); start around midnight; for the normal route be up the couloir by first light, tag the Grande Rocheuse and the Jardin (and usually the Verte), and be off the couloir before it warms, or descend the Arête du Moine. In summer, when the couloirs are dry or loose, the Arête du Jardin is the usual choice. Many parties hire a Chamonix guide. Book the Couvercle hut in advance and note the Chamonix bivouac rules around the hut.
History
Émile Fontaine made the first ascent on 1 August 1904 with the guides Joseph Ravanel and Léon Tournier, traversing from the Grande Rocheuse along the ridge. The Arête du Jardin was first climbed in descent on 7 July 1924 by Émile Robert Blanchet, Jean Chaubert, Armand Charlet and Antoine Ravanel, and in ascent on 19 August 1926 by Charlet, André Jacquemart and G. de Longchamp. In 1932, aged 72, the Austrian 4,000er pioneer Karl Blodig made the first solo ascent by the north-east couloir of the Col Armand Charlet, a year after a storm had turned him back. Will Sim and Ben Tibbetts climbed a new route on the west pillar in 2018.
Season
Best Jun- January: Not advisable
- February: Not advisable
- March: Not advisable
- April: Possible
- May: Good
- June: Best (best window)
- July: Good
- August: Possible
- September: Good
- October: Possible
- November: Not advisable
- December: Not advisable
- Jan
- Winter; only for very experienced winter alpinists
- Feb
- Winter conditions
- Mar
- Winter conditions
- Apr
- Couvercle hut staffed from early April; couloirs can be in good condition when cold
- May
- Good couloir conditions in cold spells
- Jun
- Often the best month: couloirs still snowy and frozen
- Jul
- Couloirs drying and loose; Arête du Jardin the better choice
- Aug
- Couloir Whymper not advised in summer; ridge only in cold spells
- Sep
- Colder nights can bring the couloirs back into condition; hut staffed until late September
- Oct
- Winter room only; short days
- Nov
- Winter conditions
- Dec
- Winter conditions
Access & Permits
- Hut Booking
- Refuge du Couvercle (FFCAM): online via refugeducouvercle.ffcam.fr; reservation also advised for the 20-place winter room.
- Fees
- Montenvers rack railway and Mer de Glace gondola ticket
- Refuge du Couvercle (FFCAM) overnight fee; winter room bookable outside the staffed season
- Rules
- Bivouacking near the Refuge du Couvercle is regulated by Chamonix municipal order 2026-00719 (13 August 2026); contact the hut warden
- The old path and ladders from Montenvers down to the Mer de Glace are closed; use the gondola
- Getting There
Chamonix-Mont-Blanc
Geneva (GVA)
- Train to Saint-Gervais-Le Fayet, then the Mont-Blanc Express to Chamonix; or bus from Geneva airport
- Montenvers rack railway from Chamonix, then the Mer de Glace gondola down to the glacier; about 4–5 hours from Montenvers to the Couvercle hut via the Égralets ladders
Hazards
- Glacier
- Crevasses
- Rockfall
- Altitude
- Exposure
- Weather
- Avalanche
Huts & Shelters
1- 2,683 m
Refuge du CouvercleRefugeStaffedBooking required
64 beds · Staffed from early April to the end of September; 20-place winter room outside the staffed period