The Swiss Alps. Kev Reynolds

      Col de Riedmatten, link between the Dix Hut and Arolla (Chapter 2.5)

      A succession of valleys and their tributaries drain northward into the Rhône. The headwall of many of these valleys is crowned with snowfields and glaciers, but in some cases the high mountains thrust forward away from the watershed crest along projecting ridge systems that effectively extend the snow cover further north. Beyond the snow and ice, these ridges are crossed by numerous cols of varying degrees of difficulty that attract the walker and trekker. And while mountaineering attention is naturally focused on the higher summits, more modest ascents are possible on numerous ‘lesser’ peaks which, standing as they often do apart from the more dramatic mountains, reward with some of the finest views of all.

      Though it will no doubt be the mountains, either individually or as a group, that are the main attraction, many of their valleys are no less appealing. The majority are entered from the Rhône through a gorge that opens to bands of forest and sloping pasture or hay meadow. Alp hamlets, with their ancient barns, chalets and granaries (mazots) with stone slab roofs and almost black timbers perched on staddle stones, stand among the meadows, advertising an architectural heritage unique to Canton Valais. Closely grouped villages huddle above a river or spread in a line facing the sun, with the ubiquitous white-painted chapel standing to one side. Then come the resorts; not only Zermatt, Saas Fee and Verbier with their international reputations to protect and promote, but others that are much smaller and less overtly commercial, such as Arolla, Les Haudères and Zinal, to take just three examples.

      Access to virtually every valley is straightforward and reliable, and there’s plentiful accommodation of all standards in the resorts, while remote mountain inns and huts are numerous, making the Pennine Alps one of Switzerland’s busiest and most dramatically attractive regions.

2:1 Val Ferret

      With the untamed tributary of Val d’Arpette above Champex, Val Ferret is the most westerly of all Pennine valleys. Distinctly pastoral, it boasts a string of unremarkable hamlets, and very little in the way of tourist infrastructure outside of Champex and La Fouly. Walled to the west by outliers of the Mont Blanc range, the east flank is snow- and ice-free in summer and at no point reaches 3000m, while the headwall is breached by the two Cols Ferret (Petit and Grand) and by the Fenêtre de Ferret. Walkers tackling the Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB) usually enter the valley from Italy via the Grand Col Ferret, while the narrow Fenêtre de Ferret a little west of the Col du Grand St Bernard is much less frequented, although it has been known for many centuries and is said to have been favoured by smugglers.

      Road and rail access is from Martigny in the Rhône valley. At first heading roughly southwest out of town, the road (and railway) then curves to the east along the valley of the Drance to Les Valettes, where a minor alternative route breaks away to the south to climb through the wooded Gorges du Durnand on the way to Champex. The main road, however, continues alongside the Drance, and above the point where it crosses to the north side of the river, the 100m rock wall of Les Trappistes offers a choice of well-equipped sport climbs up to grade VI+. Meanwhile the road continues to Sembrancher (717m), a medieval village with a Baroque church standing opposite the entrance to the Val de Bagnes (see 2:3) about 12km from Martigny. It is here that the Ferret road turns south up the Val d’Entremont (2:2), then forks just before reaching Orsières, terminus of the branch line railway from Martigny. The right-hand option passes through the village and continues to the hamlet of Som-La-Proz, about 2.5km beyond Orsières, where the road forks once more. The main Val Ferret route goes ahead, but the right branch (served by bus from Orsières) heads northwest with a sweeping multi-hairpinned climb to reach Champex, or Champex-Lac as it’s also known.

      Cupped by mountains and built along two sides of a small lake at 1466m, this is an attractive little resort with year-round appeal and views of the Combin massif. Apart from its admittedly rather limited walking opportunities, in summer there’s boating and fishing in the lake, while cross-country and downhill skiing are practised in winter and a few routes are worth tackling on