'Mont Blanc of the Tacul' — Tacul is a Savoyard patois word for a small plateau or shelf, used here for the broad upper terrace of the Vallée Blanche.
First of the Three Monts traverse to Mont Blanc from the Aiguille du Midi. The normal NW-face route climbs a steep, seraced glacier slope from the Col du Midi.
First climbed in 1855 by a party led by the Chamonix guide Jean Tairraz. The Tacul is the first of the three big snow domes on the classic Trois Monts route to Mont Blanc from the Aiguille du Midi, and its north face — a tilted plateau of séracs above the Vallée Blanche — has been the scene of repeated serac collapses, including a 2012 accident that killed nine climbers low on the route.
Route lines are approximate — drawn from guidebook waypoints, not GPS tracks. Don't navigate by them.
