Chamonix: The Grand Balcon Nord, Part 1
Mer de Glace - Signal Forbes Hike
The Grand Balcon trails are high altitude treks in the Chamonix valley that are usually easy to get to, do not have a lot of challenging ascends and descends, and will offer you some of the most beautiful panoramas of the surrounding peaks. Grand Balcon Nord offers it all: the stunning views of Mont Blanc, Aiguille du Midi, incredible views of the valley, fantastic lookout over the Mer de Glace glacier and the surrounding mountains.
The Grand Balcon Nord trail is marked as “easy” on Chamonix’s official trail map. As you know, I’ve done a couple of trails of this grade, I take it that Alpine trails with the grade “easy” don’t mean the same thing I think easy means. All I can vouch for is when it says easy, they are not technical: you won’t be required to cross rivers & glaciers, and the trail is clearly visible and well-marked path. So as I’ve said before, easy is relative and may not be considered easy to do by some people. They can still have steep climbs up and down, and the trails can feature different terrains of rocks and boulders that you may have to scramble over. All in all though, I saw families with small children and older hikers on all these trails so they are easy to come and doable for many. Be sure to check ahead of time and be prepared for weather changes, bring plenty of water, and snacks are always a good idea.
This hike I chose to do backwards from the usual direction, most people hike from Aiguille du Midi in Central Chamonix to Montenvers and end at Mer de Glace. I decided to start in Montenvers and hike back into Chamonix. I caught the Montenvers Train (a very cool rack railway line) this morning here in Chamonix and took it to the end of the line and only stop, Mer du Glace. The train trip is 5.1 km (3.2 mi) long and for those who love mountain trains has a track gauge of 1,000 mm (3 ft 33⁄8 in). It is a rack and adhesion railway, using the Strub rack system to overcome a climb of 871 m (2,858 ft). Except for the terminal stations, the line has a gradient varying from 11% to 22%. Like I said…very cool!!
Now for a bit about the train’s destination. Mer de Glace (which translates to "Sea of Ice”) is France’s largest glacier at 7km (4.35mi) long extending from an altitude of 3900m (12,795ft) down to 1400m (4593 ft). The width of the glacier varies between 700m (2297ft) to 1950m (6398ft) and the depth of the ice averages around 200m (656) but is as much as 400m (1312ft) thick in places! Up until 1820, it was possible to see the Mer de Glace from Chamonix.
I left the train station and headed past the Grand Hôtel du Montenvers where my hike back to Chamonix would start. From here there are two possible routes which you can take to reach the ‘Grand Balcon Nord’. I chose the higher path which heads up towards Signal Forbes to gain as much altitude as possible looking to enjoy the best views offered along the “balcony walk.”
One of the interesting highlights at the top of the trek before starting on Balcon Nord is Signal Forbes. This rocky outcrop is named after a famous Scottish Glaciologist (I guess that’s a thing) and explorer whose pioneering work on glacial advance was cutting edge for the time.
Reaching the peak here was surreal…like I trekked into a sacred indigenous burial ground with rock head stones everywhere. It was beyond fascinating. AND the views…spectacular. It is well worth the long climb of rocky steps that seems to go on forever.
My next post will cover the onward journey of my balcony walk. For now, enjoy the pics to get to Signal Forbes, the peak at this end of the hike.
