Mont Blanc du Tacul

4,248 m

'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.

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Coordinates45.8567° N · 6.8881° E

UIAA rank№ 24 / 82

CountriesFrance

Normal gradePD · peu difficile

First ascent1855 · Charles Hudson, E.S. Kennedy and party (guideless British team)

Typical seasonJuly to September

Photo of Mont Blanc du Tacul — Photo: Rémih · CC BY-SA 3.0

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.

History

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.

Location

Summit · huts that serve as bases for routes on this peak

Major routes

NW face from Cosmiques (Normal route)

PD+Topo ↗

Vertical / summit day700 m gain · 4h

The standard ascent and the first leg of the Trois Monts route on Mont Blanc. From the Cosmiques hut the route crosses the Col du Midi onto the NW face and climbs ~750 m of steady snow (35–40°) past several huge crevasses and a serac band, finishing on the broad summit. Notorious for serac-fall accidents — the upper face is unforgiving in unsettled conditions.

Sections

Refuge des Cosmiques (3613 m)→Col du Midi (3532 m)−81 m30m

Col du Midi→Summit (4248 m)+716 m3h 30m

Huts on this route

Refuge des Cosmiques3,613 m

Triangle du Tacul (north face, classic ice route)

D · difficile

Vertical / summit day220 m gain · 4h

Short ice/mixed face below the summit ridge (Goulotte Chéré, Modica-Noury, etc.), 200–300 m of 70°+ ice. Often climbed as an objective in its own right and topped out on the Tacul summit.

Huts on this route

Refuge des Cosmiques3,613 m

Featured in tours

Mont Blanc Trois Monts1-2 daysPD+

Nearby huts

Refuge des CosmiquesCAF · year-round3,613 m Rifugio TorinoCAI · year-round3,375 m

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