Mont Maudit

4,465 m

France, Italy

Also known as Мон Моди, Monte Maudit, +3

Мон Моди · Monte Maudit · მონტ-მაუდიტი · Mont Maudit / Monte Maudit · Мон-Моди

Elevation: 4,465 m
Prominence: 162 m
Difficulty: 5/10; Easy alpine
Best Season: Jul
Routes: 2

AdvisoryReported 24 Aug 2025
An Italian climber was killed and his partner injured by a serac fall on the north face of Mont Blanc du Tacul, on the approach used by the Mont Maudit normal route.
reference-trail.fr
AdvisoryReported 8 May 2025
A serac fall of about 60,000 m³ from the hanging glacier east of the Triangle du Tacul (about 3,750 m) triggered a large avalanche towards the Col du Midi; two climbers were buried and rescued with minor injuries.
chamonix.net
AdvisoryReported 5 Aug 2024
At 03:00 a serac fall from the upper north face of Mont Blanc du Tacul triggered an avalanche that reached the Col du Midi and hit 11–15 climbers on the Three Monts route; one died and four were hospitalised.
explorersweb.com

Routes

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Approximate 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: Mont Blanc du Tacul shoulder → Col du Mont Maudit: straight line 1402 m (limit 200 m)
danger scan: Mont Blanc du Tacul shoulder → Col du Mont Maudit: straight line 1402 m above the last hut/bivouac
danger scan: Mont Blanc du Tacul shoulder → Col du Mont Maudit: sustained 48° > 40° on a straight line
ascent 1320 m is 1.8× the net gain 725 m: the line probably detours down and back up (not a traverse)
73% approximate geometry
DIN time down 5.33 h vs published 3.0 h (+78%)
Refuge des Cosmiques → Mont Blanc du Tacul shoulder: glacier (snap_failed, 2.5 km)
Mont Blanc du Tacul shoulder → Col du Mont Maudit: straight (snap_failed; DEM rejected: no path below 40° between the endpoints, 1.4 km)

AlpinePD+GlacierNormal route

Sources differ: PD (UKC/Rockfax (Trois Monts route))

The first two-thirds of the Three Monts route to Mont Blanc: from the Aiguille du Midi and the Cosmiques hut over the serac-threatened north face of Mont Blanc du Tacul to the Col Maudit, up a 40–50° slope to the Col du Mont Maudit (4,345 m), then a short snow-and-mixed ridge to the summit. Allow 5–7 hours from the hut.

Elevation Profile

approximate line

Distance: ≈ 5.7 km; one way
Ascent: ≈ +1,320 m; −594 m lost on the way up
High Point: 4,465 m
Time Up: ≈ 6h 18m; DIN 33466
Time Down: ≈ 5h 20m; DIN 33466 · same way back

Mont Maudit is usually climbed as a summit in its own right on the Three Monts route, or as a short detour from it on the way to Mont Blanc. Take the first Aiguille du Midi cable car from Chamonix to the top station (3,776 m), descend the arête and cross the snow bowl to the Refuge des Cosmiques (3,613 m) in 30–45 minutes; most parties sleep there. From the hut, cross the Col du Midi plateau and climb the north face of Mont Blanc du Tacul, trending right to its shoulder at about 4,080 m (about 2 hours). This face is crevassed and threatened by seracs: move quickly beneath them, and expect one or two bergschrunds. Descend slightly to the Col Maudit (about 4,030 m), pass under large seracs heading west, then climb the north face of Mont Maudit to about 4,250 m and head west to the bergschrund below the Col du Mont Maudit. A few steep metres over the bergschrund lead to a 40–45° slope (often icy, steeper in places) of about 50 m; belays on rocks partway and a wooden stake at the col (4,345 m). From the col, either follow the north-west ridge left over snow and easy mixed ground (about 250 m, UIAA I+, around 40 minutes) or contour south behind the col and climb the west-facing slopes to the summit. A good variant finishes up the corniced east ridge from the Épaule du Maudit. Descend the same way, usually with one or two abseils from the Col du Mont Maudit to the bergschrund, and reclimb about 250 m to the Aiguille du Midi (about 3 hours from the summit).

Start

Aiguille du Midi3,740 m

Aiguille du Midi cable car from Chamonix
Train (Mont-Blanc Express) or bus to Chamonix, then the Aiguille du Midi cable car.

Stages

Day	Stage	km	m ascent	m descent	Time
1	Aiguille du Midi → Refuge des Cosmiques	1.4	146	289	1h 14m
2	Refuge des Cosmiques → Mont Maudit	4.3	1,174	307	5h 04m

Waypoints

Lift:
Aiguille du Midi3,740 m
Hut:
Refuge des Cosmiques3,593 m
Shoulder:
Mont Blanc du Tacul shoulder4,247 m
Route passes below the Tacul summit (4,248 m)
Col:
Col Maudit4,032 m
not on route line
Col:
Col du Mont Maudit4,336 m
Summit:
Mont Maudit4,465 m

Key Passages

North face of Mont Blanc du Tacul (seracs, bergschrunds)
Serac zone below the Col Maudit
Bergschrund and 40–50° slope to the Col du Mont Maudit
North-west ridge (snow and easy mixed) to the summit

Equipment

0/10 packed

Downloads

Route confidence 55%

Overview

The 4,465 m snow summit between Mont Blanc du Tacul and Mont Blanc, on the French–Italian border. Most people cross its shoulder on the Three Monts route; the summit itself is a short, steep detour from the Col du Mont Maudit, and the Kuffner Ridge is one of the finest mixed ridges in the range.

Mont Maudit ('cursed mountain', a name once applied to the whole Mont Blanc group) is the third summit of the Three Monts route from the Aiguille du Midi to Mont Blanc, 1.8 km north-east of the main summit. Its north side is a broad glacier face above the Col Maudit, its south-east side a long, sharp frontier ridge falling to the Col de la Fourche above the Brenva glacier.

There is no easy way up. The normal route is the Three Monts approach from the Cosmiques hut: the serac-threatened north face of Mont Blanc du Tacul, the Col Maudit, then a 40–50° slope to the Col du Mont Maudit and a short ridge to the top, graded PD+. Almost all of it lies above 4,000 m and faces north, so it is cold, often icy and exposed to windslab after snowfall. The Kuffner (Frontier) Ridge from the Fourche bivouac, graded D, is the classic harder route.

The Tacul and Maudit north faces carry real objective danger: an avalanche killed nine climbers on Mont Maudit on 12 July 2012, and serac falls on the Tacul face caused accidents again in 2024 and 2025. Choose cold, settled conditions, start early, and avoid the route after fresh snow and wind.

Climbing Notes

You need solid glacier skills, efficient cramponing and the ability to climb and belay a short 45–50° ice slope at 4,300 m, plus good acclimatisation: sleep at the Cosmiques or another hut above 3,000 m and climb an easier 4,000 m peak first. Fitness for 8–10 hours of effort above 3,600 m, including the 250 m reascent to the Aiguille du Midi at the end of the day, is essential.

Typical itinerary: afternoon cable car to the Aiguille du Midi and a night at the Cosmiques hut; leave around 01:00–04:00, summit in 5–7 hours, back to the Aiguille du Midi before the last cable car. Many climbers combine it with Mont Blanc du Tacul, or tag it on the way to Mont Blanc by the Three Monts route. For the Kuffner Ridge plan two days with a night at the Fourche bivouac. Many parties hire an IFMGA guide from Chamonix or Courmayeur. Check the avalanche bulletin and the Chamonix mountain office (OHM) before going; serac falls on the Tacul face are unpredictable.

History

First climbed on 12 September 1878 by Henry Seymour Hoare and William Edward Davidson with the guides Johann Jaun and Johann von Bergen. The south-east (Kuffner or Frontier) Ridge was first climbed on 2–4 July 1887 by Moriz von Kuffner with Alexander Burgener, Josef Furrer and a porter. On 12 July 2012 a windslab avalanche on the north face below the Col du Mont Maudit swept away several roped parties that had set out from the Cosmiques hut, killing nine climbers, among them the British guide Roger Payne.

Season

Best Jul

January: Not advisable
February: Not advisable
March: Possible
April: Possible
May: Possible
June: Good
July: Best (best window)
August: Good
September: Good
October: Possible
November: Not advisable
December: Not advisable

Jan: Winter; very cold, Cosmiques winter room only
Feb: Winter
Mar: Ski mountaineering; Cosmiques hut staffed from mid-February
Apr: Ski mountaineering; windslab risk
May: Ski-alpinism; serac fall on the Tacul face on 8 May 2025
Jun: Good snow cover; check avalanche risk after storms
Jul: Main season
Aug: Col du Mont Maudit slope often bare ice; serac falls in heat
Sep: Often stable and quiet; icy slopes and open bergschrunds
Oct: Cosmiques hut closes mid-October; short days
Nov: Winter
Dec: Winter

Access & Permits

Hut Booking

Refuge des Cosmiques: reservation required, contact the hut directly. The Fourche bivouac cannot be booked.

Fees

Aiguille du Midi cable car ticket
Refuge des Cosmiques: half board, reservation required

Rules

Camping and bivouacking are prohibited in the classified Mont Blanc site on the French side, except where specifically allowed; use the huts
If continuing to Mont Blanc and descending the Goûter route, the Haute-Savoie prefectoral decree requires a reservation at one of the Goûter-route huts

Getting There

Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (France); Courmayeur (Italy) for the Helbronner approach

Geneva (GVA)

Train (Mont-Blanc Express from Martigny or Saint-Gervais) or bus to Chamonix, then the Aiguille du Midi cable car
From Courmayeur: Skyway Monte Bianco to Pointe Helbronner for the Cirque Maudit and Kuffner Ridge approach
Road access from Geneva via the A40 to Chamonix

Hazards

Glacier
Crevasses
Avalanche
Altitude
Exposure
Cornices
Weather

Huts & Shelters

Refuge des CosmiquesRefugeStaffedBooking required
148 beds · Staffed mid-February to mid-October
3,613 m
Bivouac de la FourcheBivouacUnstaffed
10 beds · Always open, unstaffed
3,674 m