Refuge du Nid d'Aigle

The Refuge du Nid d'Aigle is a mountain hut (refuge de montagne) in the French Alps, located in the commune of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains in the Haute-Savoie department of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. It sits at the Nid d'Aigle, at the upper terminus of the Tramway du Mont-Blanc, in the area known as the Désert de Pierre Ronde. The original refuge was built in 1933 by Georges Orset, a mountain guide from Saint-Gervais-les-Bains. Orset was a pioneering figure in the local high-mountain infrastructure: he also built the third Refuge du Goûter in 1936 and managed the Tête-Rousse facility, and he introduced an innovative cable-based supply system between the refuges. He died in 1940. For several decades the Nid d'Aigle hut was run by the Perret and Rasera families, including Églantine Perret (wife of Georges Orset), her daughter Dominique, and Georges Rasera, son of Orset's only daughter Suzanne. The old refuge was destroyed by fire in 2003. A new refuge was opened in July 2006 on a new site about 300 metres to the south, at an altitude of 2,412 metres. The hut is a medium-altitude refuge and is currently regarded as the starting point of the normal route up Mont Blanc. It is staffed (gardé) from mid-June to the end of September. Access is normally via the Tramway du Mont-Blanc to the Refuge-du-Nid-d'Aigle terminus; from 1913 to 2023 the old Nid d'Aigle terminus served the hut, from which a path leads to the refuge about 300 metres south and 40 metres higher. A second approach follows a trail from Les Houches via Bellevue, taking nearly four hours. The refuge is part of the French alpine club hut network and is operated under the Fédération française des clubs alpins et de montagne (FFCAM). Its official page is hosted on the Mont-Blanc section of the FFCAM website. As a commercial mountain hospitality offering, it provides dormitory accommodation, meals and shelter for mountaineers, hikers and climbers, and it functions as a key logistical base for ascents of Mont Blanc.

The Refuge du Nid d'Aigle was built in 1933 by Georges Orset at the Nid d'Aigle, at the arrival point of the Tramway du Mont-Blanc, in the Désert de Pierre Ronde. Georges Orset was a mountain guide based in Saint-Gervais-les-Bains. He is also credited with building the third Refuge du Goûter in 1936, carried out alongside the management of Tête-Rousse, before his death in 1940. He was highly innovative, introducing a cable-based supply system between the refuges, and he contributed extensively to equipping the Saint-Gervais route from the Nid d'Aigle up to Mont Blanc. For several decades the refuge was run by the Perret and Rasera families: Églantine Perret, wife of Georges Orset, and Dominique, daughter of Églantine; and Georges Rasera, son of Suzanne Orset, the only daughter of Georges Orset. In 2003 the old refuge was destroyed by fire. In July 2006, as a replacement, a new refuge was opened on a new site about 300 metres to the south, at an altitude of 2,412 metres. The refuge is a medium-altitude hut and is currently considered the starting point of the normal route up Mont Blanc. It is staffed from mid-June to the end of September. Access is normally by the Tramway du Mont-Blanc to the Refuge-du-Nid-d'Aigle terminus. From 1913 to 2023 the refuge was served by the old Nid d'Aigle terminus; from there a path leads to the refuge, located about 300 metres to the south and 40 metres higher. A second route follows a trail from Les Houches via Bellevue, with an estimated ascent time of nearly four hours.

• 2023

  The old Nid d'Aigle terminus, which served the refuge from 1913 to 2023, ends service.

• 2006

  A new refuge opens in July on a new site about 300 metres south at 2,412 metres altitude.

• 2003

  The old refuge is destroyed by fire.

• 1940

  Death of Georges Orset.

• 1936

  Georges Orset builds the third Refuge du Goûter alongside managing Tête-Rousse.

• 1933

  The Refuge du Nid d'Aigle is built by Georges Orset at the Nid d'Aigle, at the arrival of the Tramway du Mont-Blanc.

A historic, medium-altitude alpine refuge and key logistical base for the normal route up Mont Blanc, operated within the FFCAM hut network.

• Refuge du Nid d'Aigle mountain hut

  A medium-altitude alpine refuge at 2,412 m, staffed mid-June to end of September, serving as the starting point of the normal route up Mont Blanc.

1. 1Refuge du Nid d'Aiglewikidata.org
2. 2Refuge du Nid-d'Aiglefr.wikipedia.org
3. 3Refuge du Nid d'Aigle official pagemontblanc.ffcam.fr