Aiguille Verte
4,122 m
France
Also known as Егюий Верт, ეგიუი-ვერტე, +1Also known as
Егюий Верт · ეგიუი-ვერტე · Эгюий-Верт
- Elevation
- 4,122 m
- Prominence
- 689 m
- Difficulty
- 6/10
- Alpine climb
- Best Season
- Jun
- Routes
- 2
RegulationReported 13 Aug 2026
Chamonix municipal order 2026-00719 regulates bivouacking near the Couvercle, Albert 1er, Envers des Aiguilles and Argentière huts from 1 June to 30 September each year: tents tolerated 19:00–08:00 only on marked pitches, booked through the hut warden (five tents at the Couvercle).
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 → Aiguille Verte: straight line 2729 m (limit 200 m)
- danger scan: Refuge du Couvercle → Aiguille Verte: straight line 2729 m above the last hut/bivouac
- danger scan: Refuge du Couvercle → Aiguille Verte: straight line: 69° over 25 m (> 60°, high-res DEM)
- danger scan: Refuge du Couvercle → Aiguille Verte: sustained 63° > 45° on a straight line
- last routed vertex 2724 m from the summit (closed by straight)
- 28% straight-line fallback
- ascent 2588 m vs net gain 2208 m (+17%)
- Refuge du Couvercle → Aiguille Verte: straight (snap_failed; DEM rejected: no path below 45° between the endpoints, 2.7 km)
Sources differ: AD+ (Camptocamp) · Ski: TD+, S5 (Labande) (Camptocamp)
The normal route: from the Couvercle hut across the crevassed Talèfre glacier, then about 600 m of south-east-facing snow couloir at 45–55° to the Col de la Grande Rocheuse and a short snow ridge to the summit. Straightforward in good snow, but the couloir must be climbed and descended in the dark or very early, before the sun releases stones and wet snow.
Elevation Profile
approximate line- Distance
- ≈ 9.5 km
- one way
- Ascent
- ≈ +2,588 m
- −379 m lost on the way up
- High Point
- 4,122 m
- Time Up
- ≈ 10h 34m
- DIN 33466
- Time Down
- ≈ 7h 38m
- DIN 33466 · same way back
Day one: take the Montenvers rack railway from Chamonix, descend the signed ladders to the Mer de Glace and walk up the glacier towards the Leschaux confluence. Painted squares on slabs on the right bank mark the start of a long series of ladders (rebuilt in 2023, shared with the Charpoua approach; a rope and sling are advisable), followed by a path to the Refuge du Couvercle (2,683 m). FFCAM gives 4 h 30 min. The old Égralets ladders have been removed. Day two: leave around midnight to 01:00. Climb north from the hut round the Aiguille du Moine, keeping close to the Ecclésiastiques ridge to avoid the crevasses and seracs of the Talèfre glacier, to the foot of the couloir (about 3,460 m), 2–3 hours. Cross the bergschrund on the right, climb a small secondary gully, exit left onto a spur and join the main couloir coming down from the Grande Rocheuse. At about 3,650 m traverse left into the main branch, which averages about 47° and steepens to about 55° near the top, and climb it to the Col de la Grande Rocheuse (2–4 hours). A snow ridge leads to the summit in about 30 minutes. Descent is by the couloir: about 18 abseils on slings on its left bank (looking down), 50 m stations; 2 × 60 m ropes are best. Be off the couloir before the sun hits it, around 09:00 in summer; after that stonefall and wet snow make it dangerous, and the alternative is the long descent of the Moine Ridge or waiting for the night refreeze. Allow 4–6 hours from the summit back to the hut. The couloir sees regular fatal falls, including a guide and client in 2023 and ski-mountaineers in 2024 and April 2026.
Start
Montenvers1,914 m
- Montenvers rack railway (Chamonix–Montenvers)
- Train (Mont-Blanc Express) or bus to Chamonix, then the Montenvers rack railway.
Stages
| Day | Stage | km | m ascent | m descent | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montenvers → Refuge du Couvercle | 6.8 | 1,043 | 264 | 4h 52m |
| 2 | Refuge du Couvercle → Aiguille Verte | 2.7 | 1,549 | 115 | 5h 44m |
Waypoints
- Station: Montenvers1,914 m
Top station of the Montenvers rack railway from Chamonix
- Feature: Mer de Glace1,688 m
Reached by fixed ladders below Montenvers; walk up towards the Leschaux confluence
- Hut: Refuge du Couvercle2,688 m
- Summit: Aiguille Verte4,122 m
Key Passages
- Ladders from the Mer de Glace to the Couvercle balcony
- Talèfre glacier approach below the Ecclésiastiques ridge
- Bergschrund and secondary gully at the foot of the couloir
- Main couloir, about 47° average, 55° near the top
- Col de la Grande Rocheuse and summit snow ridge
- Abseil descent of the couloir before about 09:00
Equipment
0/12 packedDownloads
Route confidence 70%Overview
A 4,122 m granite and ice peak above the Mer de Glace in the Mont Blanc massif, with no easy way up. Even the normal route, the Whymper Couloir from the Couvercle hut, is a serious AD snow and ice climb with a dangerous descent.
The Aiguille Verte rises north-east of the Mer de Glace, between the Argentière and Talèfre glaciers, and dominates the view from Chamonix together with the Aiguille du Dru on its south-west ridge. Its summit is a snow crest linked to the Grande Rocheuse and the Droites. Gaston Rébuffat wrote that a climber becomes a mountaineer on the Verte, and Chamonix climbers have long treated it as a threshold.
There is no walking route. The normal route is the Whymper Couloir, a south-east-facing snow and ice gully of about 600 m at 45–55°, reached from the Refuge du Couvercle after a long approach by the Montenvers railway, the Mer de Glace and a series of ladders. When the couloir dries out in summer, parties use the Moine Ridge (AD+, III), a long mixed ridge. The Couturier Couloir on the north side (D) and harder ridges and faces are the domain of experienced alpinists and steep skiers.
The mountain has a poor safety record. The Whymper Couloir must be climbed and descended in the cold hours of the night and early morning: once the sun hits it, rockfall and wet-snow avalanches start. Falls in the couloir have killed a guide and his client in June 2023 (an abseil anchor is suspected to have failed), a ski-mountaineer in 2024 and another in April 2026.
Climbing Notes
You need to be fully competent on 45–55° snow and ice with two tools, fast at setting up abseils, and comfortable navigating a crevassed glacier at night. The route demands a midnight-to-01:00 start from the Couvercle hut so that you are back down the couloir before the sun reaches it, around 09:00 in summer. Prepare with snow and ice routes of similar angle and at least a few days above 3,500 m.
The Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix guides the Whymper Couloir at one client per guide, typically after three days of acclimatisation climbs (for example from the Torino hut), with day four for the approach to the Couvercle and day five for the summit. Independent parties should check conditions with the hut warden and the Office de Haute Montagne in Chamonix: the couloir is best when well filled with firm snow, usually from late spring to early July. Later in a dry summer it turns icy and stone-raked, and the Moine Ridge becomes the better option.
Book the Couvercle hut in advance. From 13 August 2026 a municipal order also restricts bivouacking near the hut to five reserved tent pitches.
History
Edward Whymper made the first ascent on 29 June 1865 with the guides Christian Almer and Franz Biner, a fortnight before his ascent of the Matterhorn; they climbed part of the couloir now named after him, then traversed to rocks on the left and finished on the Moine Ridge. A week later, on 5 July 1865, Charles Hudson, Thomas Stuart Kennedy and Michel Croz with Michel Ambroise Ducroz and Peter Perren climbed the Moine Ridge. The first dated complete ascent of the Whymper Couloir was on 21 August 1874 (Cesare Gamba and Julien Grange with porters). The first winter ascent was made on 15 March 1903 by Gustav Hasler and Christian Jossi. Sylvain Saudan skied the Whymper Couloir on 10 June 1968, and Jean-Marc Boivin made the first ski descent of the Nant Blanc face in 1989.
Season
Best Jun- January: Not advisable
- February: Not advisable
- March: Possible
- April: Possible
- May: Good
- June: Best (best window)
- July: Good
- August: Possible
- September: Possible
- October: Not advisable
- November: Not advisable
- December: Not advisable
- Jan
- Winter; hut unstaffed (winter room); winter ascents only for experts
- Feb
- Winter conditions
- Mar
- Steep-ski and winter ascents for experts
- Apr
- Spring snow; avalanche risk in the couloir after snowfall; hut unstaffed
- May
- Couloir often well filled; hut mostly unstaffed (weekend openings vary)
- Jun
- Hut staffed from mid-June; usually the best snow in the Whymper Couloir
- Jul
- Whymper often good early in the month, then the Moine Ridge
- Aug
- Couloir often dry and stone-raked; Moine Ridge preferred
- Sep
- Moine Ridge in stable weather; hut closes late September
- Oct
- Hut unstaffed; autumn snow
- Nov
- Winter conditions
- Dec
- Winter conditions
Access & Permits
- Hut Booking
- Refuge du Couvercle: online via refugeducouvercle.ffcam.fr (FFCAM booking), or phone +33 9 82 12 45 03; reservation also advised for the winter room.
- Fees
- Refuge du Couvercle (FFCAM): EUR 35 per adult per night (EUR 17.50 for FFCAM and reciprocal-club members), dinner EUR 35, breakfast EUR 15 (2025–2026 tariff)
- Refuge du Couvercle out of season (winter room): EUR 10 per night
- Montenvers rack railway ticket
- Rules
- Bivouac near the Refuge du Couvercle (and the Albert 1er, Envers des Aiguilles and Argentière huts) is regulated by Chamonix municipal order 2026-00719 from 1 June to 30 September each year: tolerated only from 19:00 to 08:00 on pitches marked by the warden, with compulsory reservation, maximum five tents at the Couvercle
- The massif is a classified site; camping is otherwise restricted
- Getting There
Chamonix-Mont-Blanc
Geneva (GVA)
- Train to Saint-Gervais-Le Fayet, then the Mont-Blanc Express to Chamonix
- Montenvers rack railway from Chamonix (station next to the SNCF station) to Montenvers–Mer de Glace
- By car: A40 motorway from Geneva to Chamonix; paid parking in Chamonix
Hazards
- Rockfall
- Avalanche
- Glacier
- Crevasses
- Exposure
- Altitude
- Weather
Huts & Shelters
1- 2,683 m
Refuge du CouvercleRefugeStaffedBooking required
64 beds · Staffed 16 June – 25 September 2026; 20-place winter room open outside the staffed season