The Swiss Alps. Kev Reynolds

The Swiss Alps

several glacial torrents, and about 3½hrs after leaving Chindonne, arrives at the little privately owned Cabane d’Antème (see above), set just below the Antème lake in a cirque at the foot of the Haute Cime. After crossing the lake’s outflow, the TDM begins a long descent that passes the chalets of Métécoui, and 30mins later comes to a stunning viewpoint from which to study a long-drop waterfall cascading from a ravine below the Susanfe glen. Later, cross the stream below this waterfall at the lowest point of the whole tour, and in another 10mins desert the TDM proper to return to Champéry by way of the Cantine de Bonavau, at the end of a 6–7hr stage.

Reached from Champéry, the Cantine de Bonavau stands just off the Tour des Dents du Midi

1:3 Vallon de Susanfe

Trapped between the western end of the Dents du Midi and the Dents Blanches–Mont Ruan–Tour Sallière wall, the Susanfe basin is a romantically wild mountain sanctuary rimmed with shrinking glaciers whose waters funnel through the Pas d’Encel ravine as the first major tributary of La Vièze, the river that drains the Val d’Illiez. As such it is really part of the Illiez valley system, but it seems so remote from that valley, and so distinctly different, that it deserves to be treated here as a separate entity.

There is no access by road, and apart from the Pas d’Encel route at 1798m, all other cols of entry are well above 2300m and likely to be confused with snow and/or ice until at best early July. Naming from west to east, these are the steep 2395m Col du Sageroux on the frontier ridge between Mont Sageroux and the Tête de Ottans; Col des Ottans at 2496m which forms a link with the former col; the glacial Col de la Tour Sallière (2834m) which offers a way down to Lac d’Emosson; and, easiest of all, the 2494m Col de Susanfe which gives access to the Salanfe basin and is used by trekkers on the Tour des Dents du Midi.

Within the valley, just an hour’s walk away from Col de Susanfe, stands the Cabane de Susanfe in a landscape of rock-and-grass hillocks at 2102m (for details see the Dents du Midi section in 1:2). This well-sited hut is useful as a base for a wealth of expeditions, not least a range of climbs on Mont Ruan which rises to the south, and on the Tour Sallière which forms the glen’s massive southeast cornerstone.

Located between Mont Ruan and the Dents du Midi, Cabane de Susanfe makes a useful base

Although by no means the highest peak in the district, the handsome 3057m Mont Ruan is a mountain with two tops, first climbed in 1875 (from the southeast) by G Béraneck, and well worth the attention of activists based here for a few days. The North Face is claimed to be around 1500m high; a rock wall broken by a steep ice shelf at about two-thirds height. However, routes on this face, graded D–TD, are said to be dangerous, for the quality of the rock is poor. But it is the ridges that give the best climbing from the Susanfe basin; the first of these being the West Ridge above Col des Ottans (2hrs from Cabane de Susanfe) which gives a PD traverse over the 2845m Petit Ruan; a route climbed in 1885 by Champéry guides. The East Ridge (AD, III) is a recommended minor classic beginning at the Col de la Tour Sallière (reached in a little under 3hrs from the Susanfe Hut), which offers mixed climbing in a fine situation. The final ridge leading to the summit is a narrow knife-edge of sometimes corniced snow or ice, while the summit itself gives a much-lauded panorama.

Tour Sallière (3219m) is an impressive rock pyramid at the head of the valley, with two secondary summits on its North Ridge, by which it is linked across the saddle of Col du Susanfe with the Haute Cime du Dents du Midi. These secondary summits are L’Eglise (3077m) and the higher Le Dôme at 3138m, both of which are usually traversed on the way to climb the Tour Sallière itself. The first of these is reached by a route graded D (IV-) in 4–6hrs from the col, then follows along the broad connecting ridge for 30mins to Le Dôme. In order to continue to the Tour involves a PD descent to the 3035m depression of the Col du Dôme, followed by a fairly direct and uncomplicated ascent of the main ridge (PD, II) in another 1–1½hrs. First climbed in 1858, the Tour Sallière has three faces; the NE (Grand Revers) which provides some very fine climbs from the Salanfe basin (see 1:5), the NW Face overlooking the Susanfe refuge and which has a steep, and at times a mostly snow, route with a total ascent of more than 1100m from the hut (PD); and the South Face whose ascent affords the easiest, albeit a rather monotonous, way to the summit. If this latter route is to be attempted from the Susanfe glen, it will be necessary first to cross the glaciated Col de la Tour Sallière which is a much more demanding climb.

But the finest outing for climbers based at the Susanfe Hut is undoubtedly the Traverse of the Sallière-Ruan Group, a long expedition requiring something like 15hrs of sustained effort. This ambitious route was first achieved in 1908 by R Perret, E Défago and S Grenon. By following the ridge crest throughout, it is graded D with pitches of III and IV.

1:4 Rhône Valley Approaches

South of Lac Léman the broad, flat-bottomed valley of the Rhône makes an effective divide between the Chablais region and the Bernese Alps, and serves as a major artery of communication, carrying large volumes of traffic by both road and rail. Add to that a number of comparatively small industrial units and power lines, and the valley begins to lose any real aesthetic appeal. And yet, as we have seen on the journey from Monthey to Morgins and Val d’Illiez, it does not take long to be among vineyards and walnut and chestnut trees, with backward views across the valley to the Dent de Morcles and other peaklets and rocky outliers of the Alps of Canton Vaud.

And so it is when you approach the mountains from St-Maurice. Nestling in the valley at the foot of the Cime de l’Est, this is an old town which grew around a monastery of 515AD, and takes its name from the warrior-saint said to have been martyred nearby. A small, no-nonsense workaday town, it has its attractive corners and plenty of history, but for users of this guide its main importance is as a point of access to the east side of the Dents du Midi. The town has several hotels, a campsite, restaurants, shops and a bank, and a railway station on the main Geneva–Martigny–Brig line, although when coming from Geneva it’s usually necessary to change at Lausanne to find a train that stops here. The tourist office (www.st-maurice.ch) is about 100m from the railway station, while from the post office opposite the station the local postbus begins its infrequent journey to either Vérossaz (La Doey) or Mex, both of which are on or near the route of the Tour des Dents du Midi (see 1:2).

Vérossaz is spread across an open hillside above and to the west of St-Maurice at 864m, but the road to it actually leaves the Rhône valley at Massongex, rather than St-Maurice from where the postbus sets out. The bus continues above the hamlet as far as La Doey, where a signpost directs walkers to the route of the Tour des Dents du Midi along a narrow metalled road heading into woodland. The TDM proper is reached where it enters a grassy combe containing the Fahy alpage, backed by waterfalls cascading from Les Trois Merles and the Cime de l’Est, then swings round to cross the viewpoint of Les Jeurs and continues northward before an alternative path cuts away to the southwest. This strikes up the steep slopes of the Dent de Valère and along the Crête du Dardeu to gain the Refuge de Chalin (5hrs from Vérossaz). This small unmanned hut on the 2595m Tête de Chalin has just eight places, but serves as an overnight base for climbs on the Cime de l’Est and

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