"28/07/18 left Chamonix and drove through the Mont Blanc tunnel to Pont Italy in the Gran Paradiso national park. Hiked up to the vittorio emanuele 11 refuge 2732 m assent of 850m. Had lunch cheese and ham omelette, rested until set evening meal lasagne then meat and mash potato's, and then desert. Food was excellent, but squat toilets (WHY DO THEY STILL EXIST IN 2018?) Left the hut after a light breakfast 4:30 am reached the summit at 8:54 am after a short exposed climb. A magnificent clear day with great views Back to the hut for omelette then back to Pont. Then back to Chamonix " — JohnJones • Jul 29, 2018

"Incredible climb and summit. Got lucky with weather with minimal rain on the approach day to Chabot hut and sunny skies on summit day. Snow cover on the normal dry morraine meant early crampons all the way until the summit. Guide pushed the pace through the crevasses glacier with an exposed knife ridge finish. Holly gave it her all despite near frostbitten hands. One of my most memorable summits to date. Complete TR: https://themtsarecalling.com/granparadiso/" — Christopher • Jun 14, 2018

"Early start from the Chabot hut - above 3000m, the wind picked up and the top 500m was intensely cold with ice forming on our faces/clothes. Route was covered in hard ice that even crampons had issues with and limited visibility up on the (busy) summit. Short stop for a bit at the Chabot hut on the descent before the sweaty trek back down to the car." — mproudfoot • Sep 13, 2017

"Driving up the wild Valsavaranche valley from Aosta we parked in the half empty car park at Pont, where the cross country skiing season had just ended, shouldered our heavy packs with attached skis and plodded our way slowly up to the Vittorio Emmanuele hut along the twisty summer path. We soon encountered snow too rotten to tread upon and so we reluctantly put on our skis with climbing skins and labored up the final slopes to a warm and welcoming mountain hut. The next morning dawned clear enough for the climb so we set out with ski touring gear and followed a good ski skinning track upward and onward on a firm snowpack towards the summit of Gran Paradiso. The route we followed is a variation of the normal summer trail and took us up steep scree slopes past lofty peaks and towering ice cliffs and over a glacier to the final bergschrund and summit ridge. On the way we encountered some icy sections and were glad of our ski crampons. At the bergschrund we left our skis behind and donning proper crampons, walked up to an exposed rock ridge which was the key to the summit. Luckily it was possible to belay here thanks to some well placed bolts, even though the climbing was not at all d..." — chrispatient • Apr 3, 2012

"With Rhona Fraser and Roger Robb. We left Rifugio Vittorio Emanuele II at 04:45. We followed the present ordinary route to Gran Paradiso up Ghiacciaio di Laveciau – many crevasses. Many people on summit area. We returned the same way to the hut, and descended to Pont, arriving at 17:00." — peter43 • Aug 13, 1998