Les Droites
4,000 m
France
- Elevation
- 4,000 m
- Prominence
- 422 m
- Difficulty
- 6/10
- Alpine climb
- Best Season
- Jun
- Routes
- 1
Hut closedReported 1 Sep 2025
The Égralets ladders between the Leschaux glacier and the Couvercle path were dismantled in September 2025 (month only given). The hut is now reached via the ladders and equipped path of the Balcons de la Mer de Glace.
camptocamp.orgAdvisoryReported 31 May 2026
In May 2026 a party found several abseil anchors on the descent gully poor or dangerous; bring cord, maillons and pegs to reinforce them.
camptocamp.orgRegulationReported 13 Aug 2026
Chamonix municipal order no. 2026-00719 of 13 August 2026 regulates bivouacking around the Refuge du Couvercle; check the terms with the hut or the town hall before planning to bivouac.
refugeducouvercle.ffcam.fr
Routes
1Approximate 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 → Les Droites: straight line 2932 m (limit 200 m)
- danger scan: Refuge du Couvercle → Les Droites: straight line 2932 m above the last hut/bivouac
- danger scan: Refuge du Couvercle → Les Droites: sustained 55° > 45° on a straight line
- last routed vertex 2925 m from the summit (closed by straight)
- 30% straight-line fallback
- ascent 2452 m vs net gain 2086 m (+18%)
- Refuge du Couvercle → Les Droites: straight (snap_failed; DEM rejected: no path below 45° between the endpoints, 2.9 km)
- unresolved waypoints: Glacier de Talèfre, East buttress couloir
Sources differ: AD (SummitPost) · D- (Camptocamp trip report, 15 June 2026 (felt grade, short dry-tooling at about M4))
The easiest way up Les Droites is already a serious mixed climb: from the Couvercle hut across the Talèfre glacier, a 200 m couloir at about 45°, a 100 m band of mixed ground and rock on the south-east face, then 45–50° snow and a snow crest to an airy summit block. Descent is by about seven abseils from old anchors and a stonefall-prone south-facing slope, so very early starts are essential.
Elevation Profile
approximate line- Distance
- ≈ 9.7 km
- one way
- Ascent
- ≈ +2,452 m
- −366 m lost on the way up
- High Point
- 4,000 m
- Time Up
- ≈ 10h 07m
- DIN 33466
- Time Down
- ≈ 7h 20m
- DIN 33466 · same way back
Day one: from the Montenvers station of the rack railway (1,913 m) go down to the Mer de Glace, follow it and the start of the Leschaux glacier, then leave it on the right bank at the yellow markers and climb the long ladders and the Balcons de la Mer de Glace path (handrails and ladders, airy) to the Refuge du Couvercle (2,683 m). The old Égralets ladders were removed in September 2025 and the Charpoua ladders in 2016. Allow about 3 hours. Day two: parties usually leave the hut around midnight. Descend to the Talèfre glacier, follow it north and at about 3,000 m turn right towards the east buttress of Les Droites. Climb the right-slanting couloir that cuts the buttress (200 m, about 45°) onto the south-east face; if the couloir is in poor condition, the slope below the Col des Droites and a ramp leading left onto the buttress is easier. Traverse up right to rock terraces, then work up and left through a barrier of mixed ground and rock about 100 m high, leaving a large reddish rock tower (the 'console') on the left; several lines are possible and route-finding in the dark is hard. A 45–50° snow slope leads to a snow crest and the foot of a rock tower; turn it on the right and climb an easy mixed corner (fixed rope) to the summit block at 4,000 m. Recent parties took about 6–6½ hours from the hut; SummitPost gives 4–5 hours. Descend by a 25 m abseil or downclimb to the tower, then about seven abseils of up to 40 m down the snow and mixed gully to its left, mostly on its true left bank, from pegs, spikes and old cord: bring cord, slings, maillons and a few pegs to back up the anchors, which were described as poor or dangerous in places in May 2026. A traverse left at the bottom leads under the Col des Droites; descend its 40° slope to the Jardin de Talèfre and the glacier and return to the hut (about 5 hours summit to hut). The gully and slopes face south-east: be off them by mid-morning because of stonefall, icefall and wet-snow slides.
Start
Montenvers1,914 m
- Montenvers rack railway (Chamonix–Montenvers)
- Train to Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (Saint-Gervais–Vallorcine line), then the Montenvers rack railway to Montenvers.
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 → Les Droites | 2.9 | 1,413 | 101 | 5h 17m |
Waypoints
- Station: Montenvers1,914 m
Top station of the Montenvers rack railway from Chamonix
- Feature: Mer de Glace1,688 m
Follow the Mer de Glace and the start of the Leschaux glacier
- Feature: Balcons de la Mer de Glace1,688 m
Long ladders and an equipped path from the right bank of the Leschaux glacier (not on route line)
- Hut: Refuge du Couvercle2,688 m
- Summit: Les Droites4,000 m
East (main) summit
Key Passages
- Ladders and equipped path of the Balcons de la Mer de Glace
- Bergschrund and 200 m couloir (about 45°) through the east buttress
- 100 m mixed and rock barrier below the red 'console'
- 45–50° snow slope and snow crest
- Mixed corner with fixed rope to the summit block
- Seven abseils down the south-east gully from old anchors
- 40° slope below the Col des Droites
Equipment
0/12 packedDownloads
Route confidence 69%Overview
A long granite ridge between the Aiguille Verte and Les Courtes whose east summit just reaches 4,000 m. Famous for its 1,000 m north face, it has no easy side: the normal route from the Couvercle hut is an AD+ mixed climb with a long abseil descent, best done very early in late spring or early summer.
Les Droites form part of the wall of granite peaks that separates the Argentière glacier to the north from the Talèfre basin to the south, east of the Aiguille Verte. The ridge has two summits: the east summit at about 4,000 m and the west summit at 3,984 m. Its north face, about 1,000 m of steep ice and rock above the Argentière glacier, is one of the great hard climbs of the Alps.
The south side, above the Talèfre glacier and the Couvercle hut, is friendlier but still serious. The normal route climbs a 45° couloir through the east buttress, a band of mixed ground and rock on the south-east face, and steep snow to a small, exposed summit block. The descent is by about seven abseils down a south-east-facing gully from old anchors, followed by a 40° slope below the Col des Droites. Everything faces the sun, so parties leave the hut around midnight to be off the face by mid-morning.
It is climbed far less than most Mont Blanc 4,000ers. Conditions are usually best from late April to late June, when the couloir and upper slopes hold good, frozen snow; in a dry summer the route becomes a stonefall trap. The approach from the Montenvers railway has changed with the retreat of the Mer de Glace: the Égralets ladders were removed in 2025 and the hut is now reached by the ladders of the Balcons de la Mer de Glace.
Climbing Notes
You need to be competent on 45–50° snow and ice with two tools, on mixed ground up to about M4 in crampons, at route-finding in the dark, and at building and backing up abseil anchors; this is not a first 4,000er. Fitness matters: the summit day is 10–12 hours hut to hut with a midnight start. Many parties take a guide; Chamonix guide companies offer the route.
Typical itinerary: Montenvers railway from Chamonix, about 3 hours over the Mer de Glace and up the Balcons de la Mer de Glace ladders to the Refuge du Couvercle; leave around midnight, 6 hours or so to the summit, then the abseils and the Col des Droites slope back to the hut by late morning, and down to Montenvers the same day or the next. Scout the start of the couloir the afternoon before if you can.
Go after a good overnight freeze in late spring or early summer, and turn round if the snow is soft. Bring cord, maillons and a few pegs for the abseil anchors, which 2026 parties found poor in places. Ask the hut keeper about the glacier and the couloir before committing.
History
The west summit (3,984 m) was first climbed on 16 July 1876 by W. A. B. Coolidge with Christian Almer father and son. The higher east summit followed on 7 August 1876, climbed by Henri Cordier, Thomas Middlemore and John Oakley Maund with the guides Johann Jaun and Andreas Maurer. Jacques Lagarde and Bobi Arsandaux climbed the Couloir Lagarde on the north-east face on 31 July 1930. The north face was first climbed by Philippe Cornuau and Maurice Davaille over six days, finishing on 10 September 1955, and Reinhold Messner soloed it in 8½ hours in 1969.
Season
Best Jun- January: Not advisable
- February: Not advisable
- March: Not advisable
- April: Possible
- May: Good
- June: Best (best window)
- July: Possible
- August: Not advisable
- September: Possible
- October: Not advisable
- November: Not advisable
- December: Not advisable
- Jan
- Winter; very rarely climbed
- Feb
- Winter conditions
- Mar
- Winter conditions; Couvercle winter room only
- Apr
- Couvercle staffed from early April; spring snow, possible in a cold spell
- May
- Good snow in the couloir and on the face after cold nights
- Jun
- Best period; most recent ascents fall in June
- Jul
- Possible early in the month; face dries and stonefall increases
- Aug
- Usually dry, loose and exposed to stonefall
- Sep
- Possible after early-autumn snowfall and freezing nights; hut closes late September
- Oct
- Hut unstaffed; short days
- Nov
- Winter conditions
- Dec
- Winter conditions
Access & Permits
- Hut Booking
- Refuge du Couvercle (FFCAM): online via refugeducouvercle.ffcam.fr, +33 9 82 12 45 03 or +33 7 71 57 77 85.
- Fees
- Refuge du Couvercle overnight fees (FFCAM; members' discount); winter room EUR 8.50 per night paid in the honesty box
- Montenvers rack railway ticket
- Rules
- Refuge du Couvercle: booking required, including for the unstaffed period, to limit overcrowding
- Bivouacking near the Refuge du Couvercle is regulated by Chamonix municipal order no. 2026-00719 of 13 August 2026
- The Égralets ladders (removed September 2025) and the Charpoua ladders (removed 2016) no longer exist; use the Balcons de la Mer de Glace ladders
- Getting There
Chamonix-Mont-Blanc
Geneva (GVA)
- Train to Chamonix-Mont-Blanc on the Saint-Gervais–Vallorcine line (connections from Geneva, Annecy and Martigny)
- Montenvers rack railway from Chamonix to Montenvers (1,913 m), then on foot over the Mer de Glace
- In spring the Couvercle can also be reached on ski from the Aiguille du Midi via the Vallée Blanche
Hazards
- Rockfall
- Crevasses
- Glacier
- Avalanche
- Exposure
- Altitude
- Weather
Huts & Shelters
1- 2,683 m
Refuge du CouvercleRefugeStaffedBooking required
64 beds · Staffed from early April to late September; winter room with about 20 places in the old hut