Brèche

+33 4 50 53 00 88

Guided climbson the Mont Blanc massif

Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, Haute-Savoie

Twelve IFMGA guides working out of one office in Chamonix. Two climbers to a guide on rock and ice, and the day decided the evening before, on conditions.

Ring the officeSee what we run

Day 1

Chamonix

Kit check at the office, and an acclimatisation summit before anything is decided.

1 035 m

Mont Blanc by the Goûter

The guides' office on rue Paccard before six in the morning

One office, one rope team, since 1994.

You are booked with a named guide, you speak to them before the day, and they decide what is safe — not the office, and not the forecast on your phone.

1994
Guiding from the same office on rue Paccard
12guides
Every one of them carries the IFMGA carnet
2to 1
Climbers to a guide on rock and ice, never more
3 842m
The lift we start from, most mornings of the season

What we run, and what it asks of you.

Grades are the French alpine scale. Ratios are fixed: we never add a third climber to make a day pay.

  • A climber on the granite blocks of the Cosmiques Arête, the valley two kilometres below

    Cosmiques Arête

    Aiguille du Midi — rock and snow

    AD−

    Days
    1
    Summit
    3 842 m
    Rope
    2:1
    From
    €480
  • A roped party on the summit snows of Mont Blanc at dawn

    Mont Blanc, Goûter

    Mont Blanc — snow

    PD+

    Days
    3
    Summit
    4 808 m
    Rope
    1:1
    From
    €2 150
  • A skier turning on the Glacier du Géant, seracs behind

    Vallée Blanche

    Mer de Glace — ski

    F

    Days
    1
    Summit
    3 842 m
    Rope
    4:1
    From
    €420
  • Beginners learning crampon technique on a gentle snow slope

    Petite Aiguille Verte

    Argentière — snow

    F+

    Days
    1
    Summit
    3 512 m
    Rope
    3:1
    From
    €380
  • Steep blue ice in a north-facing couloir above the Argentière glacier

    Argentière couloirs

    Argentière basin — ice

    D

    Days
    2
    Summit
    3 450 m
    Rope
    1:1
    From
    €990
  • Ski tourers crossing a glacier plateau, a hut small in the distance

    Haute Route

    Chamonix–Zermatt — ski touring

    PD

    Days
    6
    Summit
    3 796 m
    Rope
    4:1
    From
    €2 980
A snow pit dug into a slope, layers visible in the wall
1

Written Monday 15 September, 18:00 by Olivier Rey

Cold nights have brought the Goûter back into condition.

Freezing level
3 150m
Snow line
3 000m
Wind, 4 000 m
25km/h
Grand Couloir
Quiet

  1. 15 Sep

    Cosmiques dry and busy from eight. Take the first lift and you have it to yourselves for an hour.

  2. 13 Sep

    Two parties turned back on the Bosses in 60 km/h wind. The forecast was right; the summit was not worth it.

  3. 11 Sep

    First proper snow above 3 400 m. Crampons back on for the Petite Verte.

You climb with one of twelve.

Every guide carries the IFMGA carnet and lives within twenty minutes of the office.

  • Portrait of mountain guide Olivier Rey, outdoors in the Alps

    Olivier Rey

    1994

    Four hundred summits of Mont Blanc

  • Portrait of mountain guide Jean-Marc Favre, outdoors in the Alps

    Jean-Marc Favre

    1994

    Trained half the valley's rescue volunteers

  • Portrait of mountain guide Nadia Brun, outdoors in the Alps

    Nadia Brun

    2004

    Sixty crossings of the Haute Route

  • Portrait of mountain guide Camille Berthod, outdoors in the Alps

    Camille Berthod

    2009

    Skis more days a year than anyone here

  • Portrait of mountain guide Sarah Lenoir, outdoors in the Alps

    Sarah Lenoir

    2012

    Ice, and the patience to teach it

  • Portrait of mountain guide Tom Estève, outdoors in the Alps

    Tom Estève

    2019

    Most requested for a first summit

The Chamonix valley at first light, the Aiguilles above the cloud

Half of this job is knowing when to turn round.

Talk to a guide

Tell us the week you have.

Most of our work is private guiding built around the days people can get away. Ring the office between eight and seven and a guide will answer, not an agency.

+33 4 50 53 00 88bureau@breche.example
Brèche, compagnie de guides
112 rue du Docteur Paccard
74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc

Guiding since 1994
© 2026