In reply to Dave Rumney:
> (In reply to jon)
> So do you think it just goes more or less straight across from the hut to get on the North Ridge?
Yes, across and up. It obviously depends on conditions, glacier etc. Also of the state of the ridge which can be icy.
> Just looking at a photo's I took of MB from Aiguilles Rouges last summer and the route to get from Aiguilles Plan to the Grands Mulets hut looks fairly complicated and dangerous.
It is. It's called la Jonction. However, whenever I've been through it (once on skis and a couple of times in descent on foot), it's passed remarkably easily - though dangerously. In the summer the slope between the hut and the junction can be very crevassed. I've seen long ladders in place, in the past.