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A 2 day trek to Aiguille du Tour (3540m) via the Albert hut

A 2 day trek to Aiguille du Tour (3540m) via the Albert hut


Postby mountainstar » Thu Aug 09, 2012 11:42 am

Date walked: 01/08/2012

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A 2 day trek to Aiguille du Tour (3540m)
via the Albert refuge (2702m).

1st/2nd August 2012.
Day 1.

Weather: mainly hot and sunny.

Again we were lucky with our good weather for our 2nd high trip of our holiday. :D
With a short day ahead there was no rush to start, we got the cable-car up from Le Tour, from there we said our goodbye’s to Alan, Lillian, Diane (Who were all off home in the morning) and Carol who would await for us to return the next day, they went walking on the lower hills whilst we set off on the good track that slowly climbs the hillside up to the Albert hut.

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Setting of for the Albert hut

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Chamonix valley

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Brevent

There are great views down the Chamonix valley as you climb, and the Mont Blanc mountain range captivates your view.

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Chamonix valley

The path is much steeper as we neared the hut, which resembled as mixture of a monastery and a prison from below.

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Albert hut path

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Albert hut path

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Aiguille du Chardonnet

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Mont Blanc

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Albert hut route

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Albert hut

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Albert hut

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Albert hut

We reached the hut in an easy 2.20mins, time for an (expensive :( ) beer, but well worth it! :)

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Beer time, Albert hut

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camping site, Albert hut

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Auguille du Tour

This is a very busy hut, being the usual 1st stop on the Haute route (which we hope to do next year) so its as well we had booked a few days earlier. Its certainly not as nice as the Refuse du Requin that we stopped in a few nights previous, The evening meal was ok, the breakfast was medeocre and the toilets were dire…the hole in the ground sort :shock: .

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Thunder clouds forming

In the evening during our evening meal the cloud bubbled up to give us some rain and thunder over Chamonix (so we were told, although we never heard it) So no spectacular sunsets for us that night, just a few more beers to sup until bedtime around 9.30pm.
This time I had a good nights sleep, thanks to remembering my ear-plugs this time :thumbup: .

Day 2.
Weather: Cloud early, then mainly hot and sunny, colder on ridges up high.

We awoke at 5.30am and away by 6.30am. After a few hundred meters we were over the rock and onto the glacier, it got fairly steep as we climbed high, but we moved fairly fast, by now acclimatised to the altitude.

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En route to Auguille du Tour

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En route to Auguille du Tour

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Early morning sun, Auguille du Tour

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Early morning sun, Auguille du Tour

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Early morning sun, Auguille du Tour

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Auguille du Tour

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En route to Auguille du Tour

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En route to Auguille du Tour

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En route to Auguille du Tour

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En route to Auguille du Tour

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The Col to Auguille du Tour

We clambered over a rocky col (Not worth taking the crampons off for this short scramble) to the glacier on the other side, then more steep slopes led to the foot of the rocky spires of the Aiguille du Tour.

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Views on Auguille du Tour route

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Views on Auguille du Tour route

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Views on Auguille du Tour route

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Views on Auguille du Tour route

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Views on Auguille du Tour route

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Mont Blanc framed

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Mont Blanc framed

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View to Switzerland

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Views on Auguille du Tour route

We left our rucksacks and ice gear to climb up the shattered rock, the whole mountain side was so loose, extreme care had to be taken not to dislodge rocks as we climbed. After about 4 pitches that were needed for safety we reached the arie summit. Brilliant views down the Mont Blanc range and across the cloud inversion to the mountains of Switzerland.

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The climb up to Auguille du Tour


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Auguille du Tour summit

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Auguille du Tour summit

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Auguille du Tour summit

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Auguille du Tour summit view

Our route down was the same as our route up, once off the rock and cool air up high, we were back in the hot sun for the rest of the walk down.

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Looking back to the Auguille du Tour ridge

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Aiguille du Chardnnet

So a nice cold beer was again very welcome in the Albert hut at around the halfway point.
Yet another awesome walk to file into the memory bank.

The video of the trek can be seen here:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d83aHqMYe3U&feature=youtu.be
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mountainstar
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Re: A 2 day trek to Aiguille du Tour (3540m) via the Albert

Postby garyhortop » Thu Aug 09, 2012 11:52 am

Just fantastic - the photo's of Mt Blanc are awesome! There are few parts as well that look like it could be the moon! Amazing trip MS! :D
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Re: A 2 day trek to Aiguille du Tour (3540m) via the Albert

Postby ChrisW » Thu Aug 09, 2012 3:57 pm

Absolutely stunning again Mountainstar, great choice of music again too, it's almost enough to get me down to the video camera store. The photos are beautiful and the glaciers just spectacular. What an incredible experience. :clap: :clap: :clap:
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Re: A 2 day trek to Aiguille du Tour (3540m) via the Albert

Postby jonny616 » Fri Aug 10, 2012 7:14 am

Brilliant again. I did some lower level walking there & thought the views were the best Chamonix had to offer & i was only at 2500 meters. :D
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Re: A 2 day trek to Aiguille du Tour (3540m) via the Albert

Postby SusieThePensioner » Fri Aug 10, 2012 1:04 pm

Great report, Alan, and some amazing photos :thumbup:
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Re: A 2 day trek to Aiguille du Tour (3540m) via the Albert

Postby malky_c » Fri Aug 10, 2012 9:52 pm

Excellent couple of walks posted there. Will have to bite the bullet and get something booked in the Alps in the next few years. Cheers for sticking it all together :D
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Re: A 2 day trek to Aiguille du Tour (3540m) via the Albert

Postby b-illie » Wed Aug 15, 2012 3:40 pm

Personally, I would always prefer Scotland to the Alps but these pics are incredible! What a tour!
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Re: A 2 day trek to Aiguille du Tour (3540m) via the Albert

Postby mountainstar » Wed Aug 15, 2012 3:46 pm

Thank you all for your replies.
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Re: A 2 day trek to Aiguille du Tour (3540m) via the Albert

Postby Colin1951 » Wed Aug 15, 2012 4:37 pm

What a great outing, well done! I've always skipped Chamonix as a base in favour of the Swiss resorts (Saas, Arolla, Grindelwald) because there seems to be a shortage of attractive "easier" Alpine routes but this looks wonderful.
Next year.....
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Re: A 2 day trek to Aiguille du Tour (3540m) via the Albert

Postby SMRussell » Wed Aug 15, 2012 6:09 pm

JUST GORGEOUS!

Another hike for the bucket list
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