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Courmayeur · Mountaineering · Ski touring · Alpine climbing
A crevasse rescue course teaches you to hold a partner's fall on a glacier, build a snow or ice anchor, transfer the load and haul them out. Courses in Courmayeur run as a single day at altitude on the Géant glacier, reached by the Skyway cable car.
A crevasse rescue course teaches you to avoid crevasse falls, and to get someone out when avoidance fails. Courses typically run as a single day with an IFMGA guide. While every guide teaches it slightly differently, the sequence covered is much the same.
Prevention. Reading a glacier for where crevasses run relative to the direction of flow, recognising a sagging snow bridge, and choosing a line.
Rope team travel. Tying in, spacing, keeping the rope taut without dragging your partner, knots in the rope on a two-person team, and the differences between travelling on foot and on ski.
Holding the fall. Arresting with a loaded rope, and what your first few seconds actually look like when the weight comes on.
Anchors. Ski anchors (in winter), snow bollards, deadman placements and ice screws where there is bare ice. Building them, backing them up, and loading one to see whether you would trust it.
Load transfer and escape. Getting the weight off your body and onto the anchor, then escaping the system. This is the step most people find hardest and the one worth the most practice.
Hauling. Preparing the lip so the rope does not cut into the snow, building a 3:1, and converting to a 6:1 when it will not move. Progress-capture devices — Micro Traxion, Tibloc, autoblocs — and how each behaves under load.
Self-rescue. Prusiking out under your own power, which is what you will need if you go in with a single partner above you.
Most courses finish with a full scenario run in real time. Not every course will go into an actual crevasse - it depends on the state of the glacier and the guide.
The Skyway runs year round, so unlike most venues in the massif the glacier here is reachable in any month.
Courses run on the Géant glacier, reached from Courmayeur by the Skyway Monte Bianco. The cable car climbs from Entrèves to Punta Helbronner at 3,466 m, putting you on glacier terrain within twenty minutes of the valley floor with no approach walk.
The glacier offers flat snowfield for rope work, crevassed sections for route-finding, and bare ice in late summer for screw practice. The Torino hut at 3,375 m sits at the top station for courses running over two days.
The same terrain is reachable from the French side via the Aiguille du Midi and the Vallée Blanche, and guides sometimes run the course from whichever side has the better conditions or the shorter queue.
The Skyway operates year round, which is the practical advantage — the glacier is reachable in any month.
Relevant dates proposed by guides. Each option may vary slightly, so it's worth checking the details and talking to the guide first.
1 Feb 2027
90 EUR
Francesco Perrone
1 day
A one-day crevasse rescue course for ski tourers and freeriders who travel on glaciers, run on the glaciated terrain above Punta Helbronner in the Mon…
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Alexandra
Crevasse Rescue course
The guide was super competent and the course was very useful for me. Thank you!
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Yes. Crevasse rescue courses in Courmayeur assume no previous experience and teach knots and rope handling from the beginning. You need to be fit enough for a full day at 3,400 metres, which is more demanding than the same day lower down.
Crevasse rescue courses in Courmayeur start from around €80 per person, cheaper than the Chamonix equivalent. That price assumes a group; smaller parties pay more or the course does not run. Request a guide to see what is available.
Courmayeur is a great place to learn if it is your first time on a glacier, because the access down to the glacier is from a metal staircase rather than an exposed ridge, like it is at the Aiguille du Midi. It can also often be cheaper.
Not always on a crevasse rescue course in Courmayeur. It depends on the state of the glacier and the guide's judgement. Some courses run full scenarios in a real hole, others simulate the loading on a safe edge. Both teach the same sequence.
For a crevasse rescue course in Courmayeur bring personal climbing gear — harness, helmet, boots and crampons — plus warm layers for standing around at 3,400 metres. Ropes, screws, pulleys and training equipment are provided by the guide.
Crevasse rescue courses in Courmayeur run in any month, since the Skyway runs year round (except a small closure in mid November). In winter, crevasse rescue courses are done on skis and splitboards. In summer, crevasse rescue courses in Courmayeur are done on foot.
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