Miage (Dômes de)

Overview

The long snow-covered ridge of the Dômes de Miage is one of the most beautiful ridges of the Massif du Mont Blanc with the Arête Kuffner at the Mont Maudit and the Arêtes de Rochefort, and the less difficult.. This doesn't mean easy to climb : the glacier of Tré la Tête is crevassed and the ridges can be icy. The most covered route is the traverse over the ridges (description lover). This route doesn't reach the principal summit : the Oriental summit on the other side of the Col des Dômes is 3 meters higher as the Occidental summit. The whole Dômes crest spreads over 3 km from the Col de la Bérangère in the west to the point 3580 where the ridges of the Dômes de Miage meet the ridges of Durier and the ridges of Tré la Tête with the Col des Dômes (3564 m) in the middle.

Different summits :

- In the east of the Col des Dômes :

1) Principal East Dôme (3673m)

2) Second East Dôme (3672m)

- In the west of the Col des Dômes :

1) First Dôme

2) Central Dôme (3633m) : the pearl of the crest, esthetically perfect

3) Occidental Dôme (3670m), the highest point reached by the usual crossing over.

Getting there

- By air : International airports:
* Geneva
Tel: 00 41 22 799 31 11 - Fax: 799 31 40
France exit at the airport
Tel: 00 41 22 798 20 00


* Lyon Saint-Exupéry
Tel: 00 33 4 72 22 72 21
Regular coach services:
Tel.: 00 33 4 72 35 94 96

* Annecy Haute Savoie Airport
Tel: 00 33 4 50 27 30 06
Transfers: Taxi to the SNCF railway station
Chambéry Airport
Tel: 00 33 4 79 54 46 00
Transfers: Taxi to the coach station or SNCF railway station

- Nearest station : St Gervais les Bains - Le Fayet station
12 km (7.5 miles)

DIRECT TGV (high speed train) SERVICE, PARIS/SAINT GERVAIS at weekends
Direct trains to Paris - Lyon - Nice - Marseille, etc.
Connections for TGV service in Annecy - Aix-les-Bains - Bellegarde
For more information: www.sncf.fr
Direct line to SNCF railways:
00 33 8 92 35 35 35

Pick up services at the station:
Taxi Besson: 8-seater minibus and 6-seater minivans by prior arrangement:
Tel. : 00 33 4 50 93 61 47 - Fax: 00 33 4 50 78 07 67
SAT bus services
74190 PASSY
Tel : 04 50 78 05 33 - Fax : 04 50 78 07 62
For more information: www.sat-leman.com

- Start point : Les Contamines, 9 km over Saint Gervais (D 902)

- From Chamonix, take E 25 (N 205) direction Les Houches, exit Le Fayet to Saint Gervais.

- From Paris:
A6 then A40 autoroute to Mâcon Nord, then towards Geneva, then Autoroute Blanche to the Passy exit (12 km / 7.5 miles from the resort).

- From Lyon:
A42 Lyon-Pont d'Ain then A40 Mâcon-Geneva.
A43 Lyon - Chambéry - Annecy - Le Fayet

- From the south of France:
Marseille - Lyon A7 or Marseille - Valence A7, then Valence - Grenoble and A41 Grenoble - Passy A40.

Routes overview

1) Traverse

2) East Dôme

Other mountains of the Tré la Tête Massif

- Mont Tondu 3196 m with Pain de Sucre and Pyramide Chaplan
- Aiguille des Lanchettes 3073 m
- Pointe des Lanchettes 3085 m
- Dôme de Neige 3592 m
- Aiguille des Glaciers 3816 m
- Aiguille de la Lée Blanche 3697 m
- Aiguilles de Tré la Tête 3930 m
- Tête Carrée 3732 m

Red tape

Parking free at Notre Dame de Gorge or at Le Cugnon.
A large part of the route crosses the Natural Reserve of Les Contamines. Created in 1979, the les Contamines Montjoie Nature Reserve covers a surface area of 5500 hectares from an altitude of 1000 to 3890 meters.
This wide altitude range reveals the presence of a mixed fauna : ibec, chamoix, royal eagle and typical flora : spring gentiane, ferruginous rhododendron...

When to climb

From june to september
Weather conditions : Meteo Chamonix

Maps and Books

- Map : TOP 25 3531 Saint Gervais - Massif du Mont Blanc. Be careful to have a new edition. On older maps, the Refuge des Conscrits is the OLD one, not placed in the well position.

- Book : Sommets du Mont Blanc - Edition Glénat from Jean-Louis Laroche and Florence Lelong : "Les plus belles courses de facile à difficile".

Huts

- Refuge des Conscrits 2602 m - Spring - summer - at the foot of the Dômes de Miage, 5 hrs from Les Contamines
Tel.: +33 4 79 89 09 03
CAF (French Alpine Club) Bernard Bottolier - 90 beds: 3 dormitories sleeping 18, 2 dormitories sleeping 8 and 5 rooms sleeping 4

- Refuge de Tré la Tête (1970 m) - Spring - summer - 2 1/2 hrs from Les Contamines
Tel.: +33 4 50 47 01 68
Madame TUAZ - 75 beds, 60 in dormitory and 15 in rooms

- Refuge Durier
- Refuge du Plan Glacier
- Refuge Robert Blanc

Climbing History

First ascent : E.T. Coleman with F. Mollard and J. Jacquemont, 2 september 1858.

Descant with skis :
- NECouloir : Jacky Bessat le 10 august 1973
- Miage collar W face
* S Couloir : Daniel Chauchefoin january 1976
* N Couloir : Jacky Bessat 8 september 1972
- Arête Métrier : Paul Clément and André Giraud 22 june 1968

Touristic Informations

Home page of Les Contamines Montjoie

Church of Notre Dame de la Gorge

"An extremely ancient place of pilgrimage with a curious Baroque-style oratory, covered with Renaissance frescoes and gilt, in the purest tradition of Savoie's religious heritage..." wrote Roger Frison Roche in Mont Blanc aux sept Vallées.
The adorable Church of Notre-Dame de la Gorge, a neat white chapel with a painted facade where many a young lady has dreamed of being wed, marks the end of the road and the start of the mountain trails to the Dômes de Miage

External Links

• Refuge des Conscrits
  Page of the Compagnie des Guides of Saint Gervais (in french)
  
• Meteo Chamonix
  Weather in the valley of Chamonix and Mont Blanc Massif (in english)
  
• Aiguille de la Bérangère
  Summitpost page of Aiguille de la Bérangère
  
• Les Contamines-Montjoie
  Home page of Les Contamines-Montjoie
  

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Images

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