Each year, thousands of climbers attempt to summit on this route, sleeping overnight at the refuge and departing in the early morning for the final push.

The refuge, with its own helicopter landing platform for logistics and mountain rescue operations, is located in the south-east of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and the department of Haute-Savoie.

It is located on the territory of the municipality of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains and dominates the Bionnassay glacier, on the eastern slope of Val Montjoie in the Mont Blanc massif.

It stands at an altitude of 3,835 meters on the snowy ridge of the Aiguille du Goûter (3,863 m), which separates the Val Montjoie from the main basin of the Arve Valley, with the towns of Les Houches and the alpinism and ski resort of Chamonix-Mont-Blanc.

[citation needed] It is accessible in about five hours on foot from the station of the Nid d'Aigle in Saint-Gervais-les-Bains[4][5] and from there allows mountaineers the second part of the ascent of Mont Blanc, depending on the conditions in five to seven additional hours by what in the 20th century became known as the modern normal route on the French side, or as the French call it the "voie royale" or "royal way", distinguishing from the former old normal route via the Grands Mulets Hut.

Since 1912 it is possible for climbers to make a substantial part of the approach march by rail, when the Tramway du Mont Blanc was extended to its present terminus Nid d'Aigle.

After the Genevan scientist Horace-Bénédict de Saussure in 1760 offered a reward to the first man to reach the summit of Mont Blanc, inhabitants from the Arve Valley (then part of the independent Duchy of Savoy) started exploring the possibilities.

Already before the actual first successful ascent by Jacques Balmat and Michel-Gabriel Paccard via the Glacier des Bossons in 1786, also an approach over the Aiguille du Goûter was considered for a possible gateway to the summit.

Construction work lasted three seasons, and the new refuge was finally opened in September 1962 by Maurice Herzog, High Commissioner for Youth and Sports.

[13] For many years the Goûter Hut's increasing popularity as the easiest staging post for an ascent of Mont Blanc led to it gaining "widespread notoriety" for being overcrowded, oppressive, outdated, extremely cold at night, unhygienic and only having two external toilets.

"[16] By 2004 it was realised that further renovation of the old 1960s building and its 1990s annex was unfeasible, so the decision was made to construct an entirely new refuge a little higher up along the Aiguille du Goûter, and for it to be as eco-friendly as possible.

Two years later, the architects Christophe de Laage, Paul Parizet and Michelle Avanzini sketched a first series of plans; implementation remained, however, at a standstill for budgetary and technical reasons.

To fight against overcrowding the préfet (State representative in a French Department) and the Mayor of the municipality Saint-Gervais-les-Bains initially set the maximum capacity of the new shelter at 140.

For financial reasons, the FFCAM (Fédération française des clubs alpins et de montagne), who built this new hut as part of an administrative lease, decided to reduce the number to 120.

[33] The building boasts advanced technology in terms of architecture and energy autonomy, making it a project of high environmental standards and intent to be "a marvel of self-sustainability".

[34] Its construction cost 7.5 million euros, funded 51% by the French Federation of Alpine and Mountain Clubs (FFCAM) and 49% by public authorities and patrons.

In order to free up sufficient space at the rear of the building to place a snow melter with eight 3000-liter tanks, one-third of its foundations are suspended overhanging above 700 meters of void and anchored by 69 metal piles.

[35][36][37][38][39] The Goûter hut can in summer time be reached in about five hours by a hike and a scramble from the station of the Nid d'Aigle, terminus of the Tramway du Mont Blanc (TMB) at 2372m altitude.

In 2014, the municipality of Saint Gervais-les-Bains placed a sign alongside the approach route, with a warning text in French, German and English advising climbers to cancel or postpone their ascent of Mont Blanc.

[citation needed] The website Mountain Forecast provides specific climber directed weather reports for several summits in the vicinity of the hut: Aiguille de Bionnassay, Dôme du Goûter and Mont-Blanc.