Up until 2018, the basin was best accessed from the top lift of Grands Montets, however, this was severly damaged in a fire in the autumn of that year and is currently unuseable. If it reopens, then accessing the glacier from here and skiing (or walking) down from the Col des Grands Montets is easiest and quickest.
An area with just about everything from technical rock and ice climbs through to long snow plods, this chapter contains some of Chamonix\'s finest routes. The scenery in the valley isn\'t bad either.