The Aiguille Noire

As you enter Val Veny, above Courmayeur, it is all you can see: a tower of dark granite, bristling with spires, rising in a single sweep above the forest. The Aiguille Noire de Peuterey reaches 3,773 metres. It forms the first great step of the Peuterey ridge, which then leads to the Aiguille Blanche and on to Mont Blanc.

Why is the Aiguille Noire “black”?

Its name comes from a contrast. Its rock, too steep to hold snow, looks dark all year round. Its neighbour, the Aiguille Blanche, is by contrast covered in snow and ice. Seen together from the valley, the two aiguilles (‘needles’) make a pair that is easy to recognise.

A first ascent in 1877 with Lord Wentworth

On 5 August 1877 Lord Wentworth reached the summit with two Courmayeur guides, Émile Rey and Jean-Baptiste Bich. Their long, complicated line is the origin of today’s normal route, which starts from the Borelli hut, above Val Veny, and threads its way up a series of gullies and ledges.

The south ridge and its seven towers

The south ridge is the mountain’s most famous line. It crosses a series of seven gendarmes, granite towers that each bear a name: several commemorate climbers and guides, such as Brendel, Welzenbach, Ottoz and Bich. The Germans Karl Brendel and Hermann Schaller climbed it for the first time in 1930.

It is a rock climb of more than a kilometre of height gain, with many abseils on the descent. Many parties take two days over it, with a night’s bivouac at the foot of the ridge. It is only for very fit climbers who are used to the mountains.

The start of the Peuterey Integral

The south ridge is also the first section of the Peuterey Integral. This route links the Aiguille Noire, the Dames Anglaises, the Aiguille Blanche and Mont Blanc. It generally takes two to three days and several nights in bivouacs, one of them in the small Craveri bivouac hut near the Dames Anglaises. It is one of the longest climbs in the Alps.

A backdrop for a walk, from the Val Veny

You do not need a rope to enjoy the Aiguille Noire: you can look at it from the floor of Val Veny, in summer as in winter. The path to the Miage lake and the glacier of the same name, or the road up to Notre-Dame de la Guérison, each offer their own viewpoint. In the late afternoon the sun lights up its south ridge and the rock turns almost orange.

Getting there

Società delle Guide alpine di Courmayeur
Strada Villair, 2
11013 Courmayeur (AO)
+39 0165 842064 · guidecourmayeur.com

Val Veny, reached by car or, in summer, by shuttle bus from Courmayeur, is the best place to see it. The summit, whether by the normal route or the south ridge, is serious mountaineering: go with a mountain guide or solid experience.

Main photo : Ximonic (Simo Räsänen), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Maps: personal work by Marc Badjou.