When planning our first European climbing holiday, back in the late 1970s, we naturally thought first and foremost of Chamonix. We had seen a copy of Gaston Rébuffat's 100 Finest Climbs in the Mont Blanc Massif, and the pictures looked just too good to be believed. Now, many years later, we still feel overwhelmed looking up at the Chamonix Aiguilles or across vastness of the Géant Glacier. The wildness of this landscape has never lost its fascination.

Although the French Alps contain countless routes worthy of interest, for our descripton of climbs in the area we have chosen several which we feel demonstrate the variety and quality of climbing to be done there, unique in the world.

Besides the thousands of quality climbs in the Mont Blanc Massif, it's true that France has much more to offer the climber, being famous as well for its beautiful steep limestone sport climbing. Also, the Vanoise and Écrins massifs to the south provide superb alpine climbing with less company than in the Mont Blanc area. With such an inexhaustible supply of incredible routes, we can only scratch the surface with the suggestions we make here. In the list below we have chosen a few of our favorite routes. It was tough deciding what to include and what to leave out. There are literally thousands of great climbs, and a person could spend a lifetime wandering from valley to valley, picking off the gems. But we had to draw the line somewhere, rather arbitrarily I'm afraid.

Chamonix is the logical base for most of the climbs listed here. Easily reached in a little over an hour from the Geneva airport, Chamonix offers convenient access to climbs for every taste and level of ambition. Many of the climbs listed below share a common hut, allowing you to do several day climbs from a common base, enjoying a prolonged stay in the hills. The Cosmiques hut is particularly well suited for this.