Please sign in to post.

Chmamonix hikes in late June: what kind of warm clothing?

We will be in Chamonix in mid to late June. We plan to do the Grand Balcon Sud hike and the hike along the Arve River to get there (hikes 2 and 5 from RS France 2007). It looks like the highest point we will get to will be Plan Praz at 2000 meters.

For the rest of our 3 week trip we will be in warmer places -- Paris, London, Tuscany and the Cinque Terre -- even Aosta, I expect, will be warmer than these hikes.

Do we need winter coats for the Chamonix hikes? Could we get by with bringing long underwear (how many layers?) and sweaters? We are a bit short on middle-weight jackets in our family and don't want to buy them for the trip. (Our family includes 3 teenage girls, in case that shapes anyone's clothing advice.)

My teenagers are just indulging me by going to someplace even a little bit cold after a Chicago winter of hour-long public transit commutes to high school, and are also not pleased with having to put more into their suitcases. Any help would be appreciated.

Posted by
17418 posts

Rather than a winter coat, you should have a rain/winndproof jacket that you can layer over a light fleece or sweater if it is cold. It could well be warm and sunny, even up on the Grand Balcon, but the weather in the mountains can change quickly so you should be prepared. We did the whole hike in shorts and T-shirts and never needed our jackets, but we carried them along just in case.