Courmayeur Geography & Climate

Courmayeur sits at the point where the Aosta Valley ends and the highest mountain in western Europe begins.

The relief

From the village floor at 1,224 metres to the summit of Mont Blanc at 4,808 is a rise of more than three and a half kilometres over a short horizontal distance. The Italian side of the massif is steeper than the French side and carries some of the largest rock faces in the Alps.

Two valleys

Val Veny runs southwest under the Miage and Brenva glaciers; Val Ferret runs northeast towards the Swiss border under the Grandes Jorasses. Both are glacial troughs with flat floors and near-vertical sides, and both are closed to private cars in high season.

The glaciers

The Miage is the largest debris-covered glacier in Italy, its tongue so thickly buried in rock that it grows trees; the Brenva and the Planpincieux are monitored continuously because they move and shed.

The Dora Baltea

The river begins here from glacial meltwater and runs the length of the region to the Piedmont plain.

Passes and tunnels

The Little St Bernard pass leaves west of the village for France, open in summer only; the Mont Blanc tunnel does the same job all year.

Water and power

The meltwater off this massif is captured and used the whole length of the valley below, and the hydroelectric system it feeds is one of the reasons the region can afford its autonomy.

Unstable ground

Rockfall, glacier collapse and debris flow are ordinary events here, and several hamlets and roads are evacuated in hot summers when the ice moves.

Courmayeur has a high alpine climate, and the mountain above it makes its own weather.

Winter

Winter is long and snowy, with highs around 3°C in the village and hard frost; the massif above receives some of the heaviest snowfall in the Alps, and the season runs reliably from December to April.

Summer

Summer is short and cool, with highs around 23°C in the village and single figures at altitude. It is the main walking and climbing season, and it is when the village is fullest after the February peak.

Fast changes

Weather on the massif changes in minutes. A clear morning can become a whiteout by noon, and the Skyway closes on wind without much warning.

The wind

The Italian side is exposed to southerly flows that bring heavy precipitation, and the ridge lines are subject to violent wind that closes lifts regularly.

Autumn

September and October are clear, cold and the best walking of the year, with the valleys empty once the season ends and the first snow usually on the tops by the middle of October.

Altitude and temperature

Reckon on about six degrees lost for every thousand metres climbed: the summit station is regularly below freezing in August.

Snow reliability

At this altitude and on this aspect the snow is more dependable than in most of the Alps, which is why the season here holds when lower resorts are struggling; that is an advantage with a limited shelf life.

What to bring

Proper mountain clothing in every season, and sunglasses and sun protection that work on snow.