Mountain·France / Italy

Grandes Jorasses

4,208m

Mont Blanc massif

Wildcath64 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Elevation: 4,208m
Prominence: 852m
Isolation: 7.9km
Relief: 2,730mabove the lowest point within 5 km
Steepest slope: 74°within 1 km of the summit
Snow at the summit: All yearSee month by month ↓
Summit: 45.8683°N, 6.9886°E

Mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the Alps

Grandes Jorasses is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif (France). Its summit stands 4,208 m above sea level. Its prominence — how far it rises above the highest saddle linking it to a taller summit — is 852 m, and the nearest higher ground is 7.9 km away.

From the lowest point within 5 km (1,478 m), it rises 2,730 m. The steepest side is the north face: 54° on average over the first kilometre. In places the ground near the top reaches 74° — terrain for climbers, not walkers.

The nearest town is Courmayeur, 8 km away at 1,224 m: 2,984 m below the summit.

Grandes Jorasses for skiers and climbers

Two scores out of 10, built only from open data — every part is shown. They describe what the mountain offers, not how safe it is.

Hiking & mountaineering

9.5/10

Difficulty to the top

Alpine climb

Most path sections around the top are T6 on the SAC hiking scale. Glaciers around the top.

Indicative only — never a safety assessment. Conditions change: ask local guides and check the forecast.

2.5/2.537 waymarked routes and 119 path sections nearby
1.5/1.524 huts and shelters
2.0/22,984 m of ascent from the valley
1.3/1.5852 m of prominence
1.2/1.55 months with summit afternoons above −5 °C
1.0/1via ferratas, climbing and glaciers

Ski score

9.9/10

3.9/4273 km of downhill runs
1.5/1.566 ski lifts
1.5/1.52,477 m between the lowest and highest lift station
3.0/39 months of snow at about 2,538 m

Runs by difficulty

Beginner 8 km
Easy 76 km
Intermediate 85 km
Difficult 41 km
Freeride 64 km

Snow season on the slopes (estimate)

Around 2,538 m, in the middle of the ski area: snow from October to June.

Snow on the ground all month
Snow some of the time
No snow
This month

66 lifts · lift stations from 1,300 to 3,777 m · 40 km cross-country

How these scores are made

Ski (where OpenStreetMap has skiing within 12 km): up to 4 points for the length of downhill runs (300 km or more = 4), 1.5 for the number of lifts (40+), 1.5 for the vertical between lift stations (1,500 m) and 3 for the snow season — a month counts when the estimated mean temperature at the height of the ski area is −1 °C or lower and snow falls or lies there (NASA POWER, 2001–2020). Hiking & mountaineering: up to 2.5 for waymarked routes and paths, 1.5 for huts, 2 for the ascent from the valley (2,000 m), 1.5 for prominence (3,000 m), 1.5 for the season (months with summit afternoons above −5 °C) and 1 for via ferratas, climbing and glaciers. OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: where few things are mapped, a score can be lower than reality.

Plan your visit

Stay, climb and get there

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Snow

When there is snow on Grandes Jorasses

At the summit, snow all year round. Month by month below, at different heights on the way up.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Summit4,208 msnow all year round	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month
Halfway up2,716 msnow from October to June (some years from October to July)	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow some of the time	No snow	No snow	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month
Courmayeur1,224 msnow from December to April	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	Snow on the ground all month

Snow on the ground all month
Snow some of the time
No snow
This month

Estimate for a normal year: average temperature and precipitation from NASA POWER, carried to each height, in a simple model of snow building up and melting. In a given year snow can come earlier or stay longer. It does not replace the local snow and avalanche bulletin.

Summit weather

Grandes Jorasses, month by month

Not a forecast: long-term averages (1991–2020), carried up to the summit. The orange line is where an average afternoon reaches 0 °C; above the dashed blue line it freezes even at dawn.

On an average July afternoon the summit reaches about 2 °C; on January nights it falls to about -27 °C. In 9 months of the year it stays below freezing at the top even in the afternoon. In July the 0 °C line climbs to about 4,480 m, above the summit: the top thaws on an average afternoon. Across the region, April is the driest month (74 mm) and May the wettest (117 mm).

0 °C on an average afternoon 0 °C at dawn the summit

Month	Summit high °C	Summit low °C	Courmayeur high °C	0 °C line (m)	Rain & snow (mm)	Wet days	Sun h/day
January	-19	-27	1	1,330	107	12	3.3
February	-18	-27	1	1,410	77	11	4.5
March	-15	-23	4	1,900	94	13	5.5
April	-9	-18	10	2,820	74	13	6.3
May	-4	-14	15	3,540	117	18	6.6
June	0	-10	19	4,210	105	16	8.5
July	2	-8	21	4,480	103	15	8.8
August	2	-8	21	4,450	105	14	7.9
September	-2	-12	17	3,900	76	13	6.9
October	-6	-16	13	3,270	86	13	5.0
November	-13	-21	6	2,220	94	14	3.1
December	-17	-25	2	1,560	110	14	2.6

Estimate: the NASA POWER climate of a ~55 km cell (average height 1,714 m), adjusted to the summit by −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Rain, wet days and sunshine are those of the region. Mountain weather changes fast — always check a local forecast. ★ = mildest months at the top.

Relief

The mountain in profile

Two cuts through the summit, 16 km long, from the 30 m Copernicus elevation model. True scale: no vertical exaggeration.

West – east

South – north

Steepness by direction

Average slope of the first kilometre from the summit. The orange petal is the steepest side.

Around the mountain

Huts, lifts and trails around Grandes Jorasses

Counted around the summit in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. The satellite plate shows 14 × 14 km.

A lift reaches Aiguille du Midi 2 at 3,777 m — just 431 m below the summit.

24mountain huts and shelters
Rifugio Elena (2,055 m), Rifugio Cesare Dalmazzi (2,584 m), Rifugio Gabriele Boccalatte e Mario Piolti (2,806 m), Rifugio Pavillon (2,174 m) and 20 more
10cable cars, gondolas, chairlifts and rack railways
Zerotta, TS Planards, Panoramic Mont Blanc, Val Veny and 6 more
9ski areas
Tremplin du Grepon, Courmayeur, Brévent/Flégère (Chamonix), Les Grands Montets and 5 more
37waymarked hiking routes
Arp Nouva - Rifugio Dalmazzi, Tour du Saint-Bernard, Tour du Mont Blanc - Itinéraire principal, Tour du Mont Blanc - Variante de la Tête Bernarda and 33 more
1via ferratas
Sentiero attrezzato da La Villette (Mont Chetif)
46climbing crags and routes
Placche di Prè de Bar, Memoire du Glacier, Aiguille des 2 Aigles - Secteur du Plan, Aiguille des Pèlerins - Secteur du Plan and 42 more
45named glaciers
Glacier des Rognons, Glacier des Rouges du Dolent, Ghiacciaio di Pré de Bar, Ghiacciaio del Freney and 41 more
23viewpoints
Signal Forbes, Point de vue sur la Mer de Glace, Terrasse 3842, Terrasse Rébuffat and 19 more
9campsites
Bivouac du Rognon des Drus, Mer de Glace, Hobo Camping, Tronchey and 5 more
117hotels, B&Bs and chalets
Hôtel Eden, La Vallée Blanche, Le Morgane, Le Refuge des Aiglons and 113 more
144restaurants and cafés

How hard are the paths?

119 path sections within 5 km, by SAC hiking scale (T1 easy walk … T6 difficult alpine).

T1T2T3T4T5T6

T1 hiking
T2 mountain hiking
T3 demanding mountain hiking
T4 alpine hiking
T5 demanding alpine hiking
T6 difficult alpine hiking

Towns at the foot

Courmayeur8 km · 1,224 m
Chamonix-Mont-Blanc11 km · 1,060 m
Prè Saint Didier12 km · 1,021 m
Morgex13 km · 923 m
Les Houches14 km · 1,038 m
La Salle15 km · 1,001 m
San Leonardo16 km · 1,534 m
La Thuile17 km · 1,441 m

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OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: a low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. Places © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Photos

Seen by climbers and visitors

Dente del Gigante e Grandes Jorasses da Petosan — Alexis Courthoud · CC BY-SA 4.0

Grandes Jorasses mountainside — Nata Mostova · CC BY-SA 4.0

Recent years

How each month compared at the summit

Afternoon high at the summit (estimate). The first row is the reference, the 1991–2020 average in °C; the years show only the difference.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1991–2020 average	-19	-18	-15	-9	-4	0	2	2	-2	-6	-13	-17
2020	+2.0	+2.4	+0.8	+3.6	+1.9	−2.1	+0.7	+1.0	+1.1	−2.8	+3.2	−0.5
2021	−1.7	+1.8	+0.8	−0.9	−3.0	+1.3	−0.8	−1.3	+1.5	+0.2	+0.1	+0.8
2022	+0.8	+1.4	+1.2	+0.8	+2.9	+3.2	+4.4	+3.7	−0.2	+3.5	+0.8	+1.3
2023	+0.5	+4.0	+3.2	−1.1	+0.5	+1.5	+1.4	+1.9	+4.9	+2.9	−1.5	+1.2
2024	+1.7	+3.3	+3.1	−0.1	−0.4	−0.1	+1.6	+3.0	−1.4	+1.4	+1.9	+0.7
2025	+1.9	+2.0	+2.8	+3.2	+0.3	+3.8	−0.7	+2.2	+0.2	−0.9	+0.2	+2.3

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Nearby

More mountains nearby

4,806 mMont Blanc

Italy10 km away

3,842 mAiguille du Midi

4,122 mAiguille Verte

France8 km away

4,015 mDôme de Rochefort

Italy1 km away

About these numbers

Names, elevation, prominence	Wikidata (Q30453) · CC0
Relief, 3D view, profiles	Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Climate	NASA POWER, 1991–2020 · CC BY 4.0
Around the mountain	© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Images	EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

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