Hey all! My wife and I are going to Chamonix in Mid May. We are going to do the Aiguille du Midi lift no matter what.
We also want to do a hike, and ideally want to do the Le Grand Balcon Nord hike. It seems like the weather varies year to year on whether that hike is doable due to snow.
Does anyone have tips around that?
If it doesn't work, does anyone have any alternate hikes or activities we can do instead?
Thanks!
It would take a poor snow year / a very warm spring for the Grand Balcon Nord to be doable in May, since it is on the shady side.
So far, 2025 checks both conditions, but it can still snow until May. You'll have to check locally.
I can't think of any good alternatives in May, since the cable cars on the Brévent side won't be running yet.
Please check Chamonix dot net for opening times and hours. ADM is open in May but almost nothing else. Train Montenvers is open in May, but close for works for May 12 to 23. You will need to ride that train from your walk back to Cham. If ADM is a must, book one time slot and check closely the weather and cable open updates to decide whether you need to change your slot. You can base yourself a few days in Annecy and make a day trip to Cham.
We stayed in Cham for five nights first week of Sept '24. First day we couldn't see any mountain tops. Second day foggy and raining but we took the train to visit mer de glace in heavy rain. I watched meteo blue and Chamonix web to decide to keep our booking to ADM. It was sunny and beautiful, people sunbathed at the top, we also did Panorama MT which is fabulous. People arrived that day were lucky cos the lifts open till late. The next two days were also sunny and beautiful in the village but they closed ADM because of the wind up there. I did the Brevent and Flegere walks and it was beautiful with no wind. Last day we did the tram and saw nothing because of the fog.
With limited openings and weather concern, your best bet is to stay in Annecy and do ADM only on a good day.
We will also be in the Chamonix and would like to experience Aiguille du Midi if the weather cooperates.
Since we are on a 35 day trip to France, we don’t want to bring a winter coat to use for one day. Is there anywhere in town to rent a coat to do the lift? If not, would you still recommend it with our spring jacket?
