UKC

Having just been up there, and paid whatever it was to stay, I can report that in my H/O the place is a money laundering operation for le mafia francaise. Why build a new hut with nice taps in the toilet but never have ANY water running through them. Oh wait a minute, it's so you buy water for 6euro a pop just to wash your hands after a high altiturd. And yes, it's high and making water is hard up there but a multi million euro project must have some snow melting machine for basic hygiene. Frankly I'll try 3 M's next time if I go up Mont Blanc again.

In reply to nicjbuk:

Jokes on them I never use water in a hut, preferring the local red wine, which is usually one part wine, two parts water already. Perfect to give you the trademark "romantic mountain alcoholic" breath when your brush your teeth.

In reply to nicjbuk:

1.5 litres of water is €6 at the cosmiques hut too. But the 3 mont route is nicer than the gouter.

In reply to anthonylewis:
Cosmiques don't have much water either and what little there is isn't suitable for drinking anyway from what I recall. These huts are above 3,500m, you can't really expect water there... takes a lot of effort and money to melt water.

In reply to nicjbuk:

haven't come up the Gouter route, only down it (After the 3M's route) and before the new hut was built. I was amazed, and horrified by the amount of human waste lying around up there.

Bottled water please.

In reply to anthonylewis:


About a third of Geneva Airport prices.

I really like new hut. It's way much better compared to old one.

In reply to nicjbuk:

melt your own snow next time

In reply to Pero:



Luxury. At the Bordier hut in 2005 a 1.5L bottle of water was 18 Swiss francs. For a half litre bottle it was 7 francs - so equivalent to 21 francs for 1.5L.

In reply to nicjbuk:
Just go to a Swiss hut and you will soon realise €6 for a bottle of what is cheap.
I paid 4swiss franc for a litre of snow melt.

In reply to nicjbuk:

Your trying to become a naturalized Scotsman by being as tight fisted as possible. Good effort, its working. Next time I'll pay for your water for the fortnight and you can pay my drink. LOL

In reply to nicjbuk:

Carry a small pack of wipes.

In reply to nicjbuk:

Having gone up the Trois Monts and down the Gouter a couple of weeks ago, what was more frightening than the lack of water in the toilets was that dinner and breakfast cost more than the nights stay. I had a beautiful fillet steak in Chamonix for €31, a couple of days before. Now, the Tart a Flet they served up in the Gouter wasn't half bad but €50 for dinner and brekkie is a bit 'strong'. They know you don't have a whole heap of choice though. For me the 2am start from Cosmique, night at Gouter and cross the Grand Couloir fairly early on the descent was worth it though from a safety point of view. We'd have been dead on our feet (if not dead from rockfall) if we'd tried to get from Cosmique to Nid d'Aigle in the same day. We could have gone down to the Tete Rousse but it would still have meant crossing the Couloir mid afternoon.

In reply to crice:

For a 2am start, is it even worth paying to sleep there? Can you get away with paying for dinner, lurking around a couple of hours longer then heading out? Taking a bag for a discreet nap nearby? I never sleep that well in huts anyway.

In reply to Bserk:


Yes, that's a good idea if you can find clean snow (so harder in the summer than in spring). I've done it on a ski touring trip. A small but efficient jetboil style stove and a 210g gas cartridge don't weigh much but will last a couple of days (perhaps less so at very high altitude).

In reply to crice:
Helicopters aren't cheap either...

In reply to El_Dave_H:

You probably won't sleep that well in the huts, I think it's an altitude thing. I struggle to get to sleep at the best of times though. The Huts were both pleasant enough. 'Lights out' is by about 9pm but you can bed down shortly after dinner so you get a good few hours rest. Whilst tents are occasionally seen below the Cosmique the official line is that camping is not allowed. We did pass one very brave chap in a bivvi bag nr the top of the Tacul but I wouldn't fancy it.

In reply to crice:

The altitude, the snoring, the heat (does no one ever want to crack a window open).....

Saw the Gendarmes taking tents down in the Valle Blanche a few weeks ago actually, it's not something I'd probably risk if I did want to avoid a night in a hut, so I'd probably go with the bivy bag option, albeit not on the summit of Tacul!