Allan and Lesley Witton, John and Judith Willson, Tim Pattison, Roger Hand, Don and Dot Witton

The idea of this route came from scanning in slides of the 1983 MGS Foreign Trek to incorporate into that year’s Trek Log. This year we followed a very similar route from Chamonix as far as the Chanrion hut and Mont Avril, but omitted the final section across the Giétro glacier to Arolla, and we made use of huts than camping. The first half of the route was a 6-day section from Planpraz to Champex, through the Aiguilles Rouges and the northern part of the Mont Blanc Massif, and culminated in an ascent of one of the Pointe d’Orny peaks (3220 m). The second 4-day section was a loop at the head of Val de Bagnes using the Pannossière and Chanrion huts and included a whole-day excursion to Mont Avril (3347 m) as a finalé.

Route outline  Day 1. Planpraz > Refuge de la Flégère  2. Chalet Alpin du Tour  3. Hotel Col de la Forclaz  4. Relais d’Arpette  5. Cabane d’Orny > Pointe d’Orny II  6. Champex > Martigny (hotel)  7. Fionnay > Cabane de Panossière  8. Cabane de Chanrion (2 nights)  9. Excursion Mont Avril  10. Mauvoisin

Below is a slide show of a selection of images from Mont Blanc – Grand Combin

All the images in the slide show are taken from the illustrated log below, where their locations are given. Click on the file name to view it..

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