Glacier trekking at 3,000m

You are a high mountain guide based in Méribel: what is your story?

I have been a mountain guide in Méribel for at least 20 years. I live in Bride-les-Bains but I am originally from Moûtiers. I arrived in Méribel thanks to Frédéric Saint Guilhem, a former high mountain guide and hotelier in Méribel. At the time, he was looking for a young guide to help him, and that is how I came to work in Méribel.

The Vanoise is a range that I like very much. The landscapes combine the green of the mountain pastures, the blue of the sky and the white of the glaciers which culminate at 3,000 m. This creates a very special atmosphere, one that you don’t find in other mountain ranges.

How does the Bureau des Guides in Méribel work?

At the Méribel guide office, there are 5 high mountain guides and 2 mid-mountain walking leaders in the summer. However, in winter, we are about ten guides for ski touring, off-piste skiing or ice climbing.

How does an introduction to glacier trekking work?

We offer 2 options.

• Over 2 days: we go up to the refuge the day before to be able to do the glacier very early the next morning.
• Over 1 day: we leave Méribel very early in the morning and return in the afternoon.

It is important to know that in summer, a glacier hike must be done very early in the morning. The reason is simple: when it is oo hot, the snow melts. You sink into the snow, so it’s harder to walk. It can also be a bit dangerous because on a glacier there are crevasses that can be more or less covered by snow bridges. Early in the morning, when the snow is hard, you can walk on these snow bridges without sinking. To stay safe, you have to be off the glacier by noon or 1pm.

Which glacier hikes do you recommend for an introduction to mountaineering near Meribel?

For the first option, which involves going up to a refuge on the first day, you can go to the Col de la Vanoise refuge to do the Pointe de la Réchasse or the Pointe du Dard located on the dome of the Vanoise glaciers. The Col de la Vanoise refuge can be reached in a 3-hour walk from Pralognan via the Lac des Vaches. The approach is already a journey in itself, as the setting is magnificent. This refuge is located at 2,500m and the summits are at 3,200m. From the refuge, you have to walk for 2.5 to 3 hours to reach the summit.

Then there is also the Péclet-Polset refuge, which allows you to climb to the Polset dome at 3,501m. The climb requires 4 hours of walking, but the glacier is much more substantial than the first option. It is a glacier with crevasses and seracs, it is still a glacier walk, but in a different atmosphere from the dome of the Vanoise glaciers.

Finally, there is the option that we propose for the day, leaving from Meribel. We leave early by car to reach a road situated at 2,800m, above Val Thorens. We arrive there at 7 am. We then go up to the Chavière glacier, and from there, several options are possible depending on the level of the participants: climb to 3,200 m or climb to the Gébroulaz mountain at 3,509 m.

Mountaineering is a discipline that can be frightening, what do you think is the reality?

Glacier trekking is the ideal discipline for getting started in mountaineering. It carries very little risk, far less than steeper mountaineering routes. On these beginner routes, there are no steep slopes where you could get hurt by slipping. These are glaciers with gentle inclines.

The only real danger is crevasses. That’s why we’re roped together. If someone falls into a crevasse, they stay near the surface and climb out easily.

On a more personal note, I’ve been a guide for 25 years, and I’ve never fallen into a crevasse myself, nor have I ever seen a client fall into one. The rope in mountaineering is like a seatbelt in a car. You wear it, but that doesn’t mean you’ll ever need it.