UKC

I've used this a lot in the summer for climbs around Mt Blanc, usually with the 5/10 day non consecutive pass so I can take advantage of any weather window, but I've never been too clear on how to avoid the huge queue (except by getting the 'climbers' lift very early in the morning) I've asked them but they never seem too clear either. I have a couple of questions for anyone who knows the secret.

1) I know that if I buy a multi-day non consecutive pass then I don't have to queue up each time to buy a ticket but how do I (and they) know which lift I can get on in any particular day and how do I get the black plastic number thing that that lets me on to a particular lift?

2) When I did the trois monts a couple of years ago I needed to show my passport to buy the multi-day non consecutive ticket as they scanned the photo to put on to the ticket. But I hear you can buy this over the internet. If so how do you get your photo on it - or isn't it needed?

(Because we queued up one time we were late starting the Cosmiques arete and missed the last cabin down. Next day they didn't open the lift because of high winds so we spent two nights and nearly three days on the floor at the Aiguille du Midi with no food or water. - Still, it got us acclimatised! )

In reply to doc_h:

How to avoid the queues... haha! Very good, I enjoyed that.

But no, seriously, the best way to avoid the queues at the Midi is to use it only in December.

But no, seriously, the best way to deal with the queues is to arrive early with a friend, one of you join the queue for the plastic chits and the other loiter near the gate (sometimes they don't use the chits, sometimes they hand the earliest bin numbers out at the gate, sometimes they Only give them out at the window), and then as soon as you have your chits go and have a coffee and a torsade across the road.

There really is no secret... just arrive early and deal with it.

In reply to doc_h:

Buy yourself one of those little badges with IUGM on it (or something like that, I'm not really sure). They're selling cheap Chinese copies at Technique Extrem at the moment.

In reply to doc_h:

go early, set your alarm clock.
take turns with one of you going early, while the other/s shops for snacks, coffee etc... and have breakfast there.

you can buy the valley passes at the train station to Montenvers too, much quieter there, at any time of day. But, you'll still need to queue for your specific cabin tickets at the cable car.

In reply to doc_h:

walk up!

Once did this as an Alpine novice, arrived late, queue was massive, so walked up and climbed the Col du plan to the midi top station, think of the bragging rights.

In reply to doc_h:

Become an IFMGA certified guide.

Thanks to all the people who replied with 'useful' suggestions. Yes I have gone in early September with no queue whatsoever and yes, if I pretend to be a French guide I realise I get treated like some sort of demigod (Only fair really. They do own all the mountains after all, having built them themselves stone by stone <grin>)

But my question was serious. The A du M web site says you can buy the non-consecutive multipass on line but it also says 'Photo Required from 4 non-consecutive days' so how do you get your photo to them? For their Rapidcard the description says 'No more queueing at the ticket office' but doesn't explain how you get the chit to let you on a particular lift.

When I asked at the ticket desk last week I was told that with a multipass I can book a particular cabin via the Internet on the day before I want the lift but I still have to queue up for the chit with the number. So I can't really see what I'm gaining in terms of time. In fact its worse. If I book, say, the 11am one, what happens if wait in the queue for two hours and don't get to the ticket desk until 11:01?

If anyone has actually managed to book a cabin via the internet when using a multipass please can you explain how it works and how you get the chit.

In reply to summo:

Yes, that's what I often do.

In reply to Andy Clarke1965:

I was there in the summer that first they dropped the cable across the road, hillside etc.. then a few weeks later when in manual mode, out of hours, an operator crashed the cabin into the building.

It was a faff getting on the mountain but the routes were quiet.

In reply to doc_h:

If you have an annual you can book midi cabins. It may be worth looking through the CMB website to see if that is ongoing. If you buy a certain number of days that may be an option. You may end up being forced to queue anyway. I'd turn up early and get your cabin number pronto as suggested earlier.

In reply to doc_h:

Walk up the zig zags!

In reply to Removed User:

That won't help me understand the booking process! It would be easier - and probably quicker - to become fluent in French

In reply to doc_h:

To be honest, you don't sound like you're much craic in a queue, so I'd like to change my advice to "sleep in, arrive late, go tomorrow instead."

The early morning queue is all part of the fun in my opinion, and however much of a hassle you think it is, it's still a thousand times easier than the alternative.

And I'll swap you that number nine for these two number eleven if you want.

In reply to doc_h:
Yes you can book online for a small fee (couple of euros) but you have to be quick because only a certain number of places in each cabin can be reserved. I think you can book a specific cabin and then you go to the separate reservations window round the side from the main ticket windows and they give you the cabin number. At least I imagine that's how it works, haven't ever bothered with booking. Turning up early is the best bet.

Depending on how busy it is, sometimes they don't bother with cabin numbers for the first few trips, sometimes they do and then you have to queue up to get a number, which is always annoying when you have a multiday pass or a rapid card.

If you're only going up to stay at a hut/bivvy as opposed to do a route that day, it's worth going late afternoon once the queues have died down.

In reply to Misha:

Thank you. That's the sort of explanation I was looking for. I've seen the reservation window but never quite understood how it works and I've always queued up for the chit, even for one day routes. The process seems a bit clearer now. Yes, I was really thinking of the times when I'm going up to a hut, or to bivi to get an early start on a route the next day so its not important that I get an early lift, I was just trying to understand what the French operators had said about multipass and lift booking.

When I first did the MB Trois Monts route around 45 years ago we got the first lift up with no problems and did it all in one day, staying the night down near the Tete Rousse on the way down (I was in my twenties but got delayed by a partner with AMS). When I repeated the route a couple of years ago it was September and there were no queues. Now I'm planning on doing it one more time this summer so thought I'd try this booking thing. Seems it's not worth the trouble - back to queuing!