Product Description

A guidebook aimed at alpinists seeking lower grade snow, ice and mixed climbs (F to AD+, with climbs of D) and reflecting all recent changed topographical conditions due to the steady glacial and snowfield retreat created by climate change.The climbs are selected from across the range and are easily accessible from well appointed mountain huts and useful telepheriques and mountain railways. This book is beautifully illustrated with photos that show both the detail of the mountain or approach and also the haunting beauty of the fabulous peaks of the Mont Blanc Range - including clearly the mainspring of alpinism's continued popularity to climbers of all ages.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27429 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 95 pages

Customer Reviews

not bad
This book contains decent descriptions of the main route(s) on 21 peaks in the Mont Blanc massif. Size wise, the book is halfway between a coffee table book and a small top guide. Sadly it isn't great at being either. As a coffee table book, it lacks the nice hardback format and big format photos. As a topoguide, it lacks the gritty detail. The translation from the French is not that great either - the writing is OK, but it's not a cracking read.

The choice of routes is also a bit limited: on Mt Blanc Tacul for example, there are the normal route and two climbs on the triangle. No Gervassuti/Jager couloir, no supercouloir etc etc. The description of the north face of the Tour Ronde is tiny. For Les Courtes, there is nothing on the north face, and the Aiguille Verte is not mentioned at all... and so on.

It also advertises itself as reflecting recent topographic change, yet gives no explanation to what those changes have been (except a passing mention of the rockfall that wiped the Bonatti pillar off Les Drus, which in any case is not represented with any routes in this book). It says it covers ice climbs too, but I can only think of two routes in the book that would qualify as such.

For a climber who has all the topo guides and everything published on the massif, and still wants more to read, it's still not a bad book... and it's good to dip into for ideas, simple maps etc. There are also some nice routes and pictures from the less-frequented northern part of the massif (plateau Trient) which could inspire a climber to look elsewhere than just the Vallee Blanche/Mer de Glace/Argentiere.

However it is no real use as a comprehensive topo. For this you'll need:

1) The Mont Blanc Massif - Selected climbs (vols 1&2) by Lindsay Griffin (Alpine Club).
- a bit dated with dul B&W photos but fairly comprehensive, and in english.

2) Michel Piola's topo guides -- various available in english and french, for the rock climber.

3) Neige, Glace et Mixte - le topo du Massif du Mt. Blanc - (tome 1&2) by Francois Damilano (JMEditions).
- The best available and the most up to date (2006), and I believe an english translation is now available (check with needlesports). Top class colour topo photos and even more routes (alpine/ice/mixed) than all the above put together. Essential.

4) for anyone only keen on Mt. Blanc itself, Damilano also has a good, separate book on the main routes to the summit.

Finally, no Mt. Blanc massif climber should be without Gaston Rebuffat's 100 finest routes -- which succeeds as a coffee table book and a topo guide.

The Laroche-Lelong book is a pleasant, inoffensive addition to the above, but by no means essential.

All that said, if you have no books on the Mt. Blanc massif and want something simple to start off your reading with, it would not be a bad place to start.