High Life

Intense Ascent

Published on December 5, 2025

Intense Ascent

The birthplace of mountaineering, world capital of harnesses and finely sculpted calves: in Chamonix, climbing isn’t optional — it’s a way of life.

For Beginners – The Ice School

Your first step into the high mountains. The Chamonix Guides Company’s Ice School takes you for half a day of discovery on the legendary Mer de Glace.
Up there, you’ll learn not only the basics — how to walk roped up, handle an ice axe, and set your crampons — but also how a glacier lives, drifts, and melts (much too fast).
It’s an experience of chill and thrill, laughter and awe — and a cold, hard lesson in climate reality.

For the daring: Ice climbing

Think frozen waterfalls, ninjastyle.
With a guide from Evolution 2 or the Chamonix Guides Company, you’ll climb either natural ice formations – frozen stream walls and cascades – or artificial sites like the Bérard Waterfall above the hamlet of Le Buet.
Perfect for beginners, this spot is kept in top shape by local volunteers, and its heated pipe system keeps the ice strong even when the Valley starts to thaw in early spring.
So — ready to hold firm too?
The sport is as physical as it is exhilarating. Truth is, it’s serious fun.

For the Obsessed – The AlpiTrail

If your smartwatch is practically part of your anatomy, and you know exactly what “2000 D+” means – and call it “motivating”, maybe even “fun” – this one’s for you.
With the Chamonix Guides Company, you’ll set off from Le Tour and reach the summit of the Aiguille du Tour (3,542 m) in a single, exhilarating day. With a light pack on your back, you’ll run up the moraine of the Glacier du Tour, following steep, sometimes rocky trails to the Albert 1er Refuge –  a climb that shows no mercy.
Once there, a quick gear change marks the start of the mountaineering sections – mixed routes, rocky passages, and glacial crossings.
Four to six hours later, you’ll finally stand on the summit – no straight lines, no shortcuts, but pure satisfaction. Break time? Not exactly – the descent begins straight away, three to four more leg-testing hours of jogging descent.
Exhausted. Elated.

For Families – Walk a Glacier, Sleep in a Refuge

For a gentler, cosier version of mountaineering, try the family-friendly high altitude experience with the Chamonix Guides Company.
It’s a hike on the Glacier du Tour, a crampon and ice-axe workshop, and a sunset that paints the peaks in firelight, followed by a night in the Albert 1er Refuge.
All without stress – just the right dose of effort (around six to seven hours outdoors) to earn that hearty mountain dinner.
Teens (aged 14 and up) love it – and parents usually ask if they can stay another night.
Good news – the answer’s yes.