Climbing Mont Blanc Unguided | Western Europe's Highest Peak

This is Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps, and these are my friends and me standing right on top of it. It's been on the bucket list for years now and this summer we finally decided to go for it. So join us on this unforgettable adventure as we climb it unguided, following the classic Gouter route. Good afternoon everyone, right now we are in a small village called Les Houches, about 10 kilometers away from the famous Chermony, and this is where our Mont Blanc journey begins. We've already been on the road for the whole week, we climbed Blinenhorn on Monday, Bishorn on Tuesday, and now after two days of chilling it's finally time for the big one. Our initial plan was to board the tramway du Mont Blanc, which would then take us to a hut at 2400 meters, where we have a reservation, and then from there we would go for the summit tomorrow. But earlier today we got an email saying there was a fire near the train station, and for safety reasons the tramway is shut down for the day. So we were basically left with two options, go home or find another way, and we did. We're gonna start here in Les Houches, take a cableway to 1800 meters, and then walk for another 600 to the hut, and from there everything should go as planned. The name of the water is Mont Blanc. And I better not tell you what a challenge it was to find a parking here. We've been doing that for the past three hours. Time to board the cableway. So we are here, and this is the cableway we are taking, and then from here we're gonna walk 600 vertical meters to the cottage. And then tomorrow we'll start our summit push to the Teterosse hut, and then Gouter cottage, and then to the summit of Mont Blanc, hopefully. One for you, and one for you. The return ticket is 23.5 euros. We just had a police check. They checked if we have a cottage reservation, because if you don't have one you can't climb Mont Blanc. From here we need to walk for about two and a half hours to the cottage called Nite de Aigle, and of course I totally mispronounced that up there behind that one is Mont Blanc. It's hot as hell out here, but sunscreen is the lifesaver. Up there we can see the Gouter cottage. It's 2000 meters higher than we are right now. These are proper, but way less cooler than the Crocs. Let's go! We are like Sherpas with these huge backpacks. Mine weighs like 15 kilos. We're gonna leave our shoes here and pick them up on the way down. Jesus Christ, it's hot. It started raining lightly, but it shouldn't be anything concerning. I really appreciate that light rain right now. Yeah buddy, that's what I'm talking about. The weather is not looking promising today, but tomorrow it should be all right. There we go. Our shelter for the night. Nice. Let's go Nick. Holy ----. Too strong, too strong. We're checked in and now we will go to our rooms. The name of the room is Tricote. So we are 18, 17 and 11. 11, someone is up here. 17, 18. Okay, I'm gonna sleep here. Peter will be here. And Nick is going to be in the corner. The plan is simple now. Eat something and go to sleep as fast as possible, because we're gonna set off at midnight. We will go downstairs to the dining room. Almonds for Anne. 600 calories per 100 grams. It's interesting how basically the whole cottage is empty, because the tramway to Mont Blanc was cancelled, and therefore everyone cancelled their booking. The rain stopped and now the weather is getting better. And the views are amazing. I only have to brush my teeth now and go to sleep. We've changed our plans a bit. We're gonna start at 11, not at midnight. It's like the cottage is abandoned. All right. Now we're gonna go to sleep. So see you at 11. Good morning. It's half past 10. I'll just walk. But it doesn't matter. I feel okay. Bye. I'm just gonna get ready now. And it's okay that I need to wake up. And then we will set off. Morgan, Morgan. Are we ready, boys? Okay. How much did you sleep, man? About 12 minutes. And you? Drink a Red Bull. 12 past 11. Are we ready? Aye, aye, captain. The first stop is Teterose cottage. We've been on the way for one hour and we gained 332 meters. Teterose hut was about 15 minutes of the main route. So we decided to skip it and continue straight to the Gouter cottage. Shortly after, we met a friendly guy who joined our team. This right here, unfortunately, you can't see it. But I'll show it to you on the way down. It's called Grand Collor. This is the most dangerous part of the route. It's not technically difficult, but it's dangerous because rocks are constantly falling down. And they can even be the size of the suitcase. So right now we are crossing it one by one. Some other guy has joined us. And now he's part of our team. Yeah, it's loose. This one is safer. Nice. Great. The most dangerous part of the route is behind us. It's gonna be like this all the way up to the Gouter cottage. Come on, Nick. We have to put on crampons here. Yeah, buddy. 3807 meters. Nice. 50 meters left to the Gouter cottage. Gouter cut. Nice. After 5 hours of hiking, we arrived to Gouter cottage. And we're gonna have a short break. 4.36, so... Yeah, I'd say we should be here at 5. So we go at 5.15. We need to get these calories, man. We are ready to push for the summit. We're gonna make a rope team now. We have 40 meters of rope. I'm gonna be the first. And Peter is gonna be the last. Everyone good? Nice. All right, time to push for the summit. 1000 vertical meters left. It's freezing outside, but soon the sun is gonna come up. It's 10 degrees right now, plus the wind. If we can gain 200 per hour, it would be awesome. Now let's wait till it gets a little brighter. The wind is only getting stronger. I just can't wait to step on the summit. All good? Okay, nice. Finally the sun is rising. 1000 meters. Look at that view. Getting better by the minute. Amazing. That's another 4000 meter peak. And up there is Dome du Gouter. And behind it is the summit of Mont Blanc. We are just below 4200 meters. And yes, you can feel the altitude. It's gonna be a tough battle, but I ain't giving up. There you are. Look at that. Mont Blanc. But it's far away, man. Jesus. Beautiful. Thank God this shelter is here. We're gonna have a short break here and get ready for the summit. Definitely. The wind is getting stronger and stronger, but we decided to push for the summit and turn around if it gets too strong. The wind stopped for a second. 300 vertical meters left. It's dense. Just like that, on the 16th of August at 11.38, we finally reached the summit of Mont Blanc. All our efforts were rewarded with incredible views. I was speechless. A huge goal finally achieved. It's quite crazy to think about all the famous mountaineers who once stood here, enjoying this same magnificent view. It truly was a special moment and I was so happy to be able to share it with my friends. For a brief 15 minutes, we had the summit entirely to ourselves. After about half an hour on the summit, we decided it was time to head back. What an amazing experience. One I'll never forget. It got a bit cloudy. I hope it won't start raining. Down there you can see the Gouter cottage. Jesus, that really isn't looking good. Look at that. Gouter cottage. And it looks like we're gonna have to descend in the fog. That's pretty shitty. And I really hope it won't start raining because then we are deep in the ass. And we have to descend 1400 meters in that. Rain cover, just in case. All right, time to go. The guy who joined us in the morning decided to stay at the Gouter cottage and head back the next day. He was really lucky to get a spot since the hut is always fully booked. But I guess they keep a few spots open just in case. Anyway, we continued down toward the Grand Colort. The terrain here was rocky and exposed in some places with a few sections protected by cables and others where we had to scramble a bit. We could hear a few rocks tumbling down the Grand Colort every 10 to 15 minutes which was pretty nerve-wracking. But you can't deny that the fog makes everything look way cooler. So 700 vertical meters of this. Nice. So this is the Grand Colort I was talking about in the morning and we'll have to cross it down there somewhere. I will set up POV mode because, you know, cameraman never dies. Let's go. Let's hope I don't get hit by a huge rock. Three, two, one. Let's go, Nick. I believe in you. So yeah, this is the most dangerous part of the route. But it's not technically difficult. We have to descend another 700 vertical meters. That is Charmony. And we safely made it back. Good morning. It's 8 a.m. We woke up like 20 minutes ago and now we are walking towards the valley. We have 700 vertical meters to descend. After that, we're gonna take the cableway and then an eight-hour drive back to Slovenia. Hello. We got our Crocs, man. Yeah, mission retrieving the shoes and Crocs. Oh, got them. Crocs retrieved. Now please tell me this ---- works. Let's see. I mean, you have to try French croissant if you're in France. We are back where it all began. I'm so glad we found this bakery. I got myself a baguette and a croissant. And we're waiting for Peter. He went to pick up our car. Let's go home. Nine hours, man. Well, our month-long journey has officially come to an end. A lot of planning has gone into this. A lot of gambling with the weather. And at the end, they tried to **** us with the tramway. So yeah, that's it. Bye.