On Monday 11 April 2022, the Grands Mulets Hut opened its doors after a postponement due to weather and less snow falling. The preparations for the season require a lot of coordination and energy from the hut-keeper Ludovic Moucheron and his team.
Usually, Ludovic opens this mountain refuge at the end of March, which is a delight for ski mountaineers in the spring. But the bad weather made it wait for the opening a little longer this year.
According to the Dauphine, after the aerial transportation of goods for the refuge, the hut-keeper must get down to melting the ice. Without sufficient water, the heating cannot be restarted.
The first nights in the hut promise to be particularly cool up, the mercury is slightly below zero. Not enough to scare the hut-keeper still fascinated by the environment of this refuge. "Some mountaineers go to the other side of the world in Patagonia to admire a glacial landscape that we have here," he laughs.
A craft brewery made in Les Grands Mulets
In addition to being a hut-keeper, Ludovic Moucheront is also a brewer. On bad weather days, he makes a craft beer that takes a lot of work out of him. Water, the essential ingredient of this fermented drink, comes partly from pieces of ice harvested from the Bossons glacier.
Ludovic can only make 25 liters every month and a half. Each sip of this beverage is therefore savored by mountaineers, who, on the eve of their adventure, think they are drinking a magic potion from the peaks.
The refuge will end its season at the end of July
Located on the historic Mont Blanc route, on a rocky island at an altitude of 3051 meters surrounded by ice in the middle of the high mountains, the Grands Mulets Hut is guarded until the end of July and offers 68 beds. Please check the 2022 Prices of the Grands Mulets Hut.
Three routes to get to the Grands Mulets Hut?
- The main access, lasting from 3 to 4 hours, starts from the Plan de l'Aiguille at 2,310 meters above sea level (the first section of the Aiguille du Midi cable car). Then, you need to cross the top of the Bossons glacier to reach the refuge.
- The second access, for the more athletic, is from the Mont-Blanc tunnel, to reach the Glacier station and then catch the crossing of the Plan de l'Aiguille.
- The third access, the oldest, goes through the route taken by Balmat and Paccard in 1786. At the start of the Bossons (on foot or by chairlift), the climb takes place by the chalet Pyramids and the cottage at Balmat, before a walk on the junction between the glaciers of Bossons and Taconnaz, to the refuge.
More info on the website refugedesgrandsmulets.ffcam.fr
Source: @Le Dauphine
