Normal Route via the Ailefroide Glacier and the Coolidge Couloir

This is the classic and best-known mountaineering line on Mont Pelvoux. It is a serious high-mountain snow and ice route, usually climbed with glacier travel equipment and an early start. The Coolidge Couloir is the key difficulty and can be steep, icy, and exposed to rockfall depending on conditions. Above the couloir, the route continues on mixed snow and rock terrain to the summit ridge. Objective hazards include crevasses on the glacier approach and rapidly changing conditions in the couloir. It is generally considered a long alpine climb rather than a simple snow ascent.