long or strenuous, or both. The one exception is the approach to Cabane d’Orny using the La Breya chairlift to gain an initial 700m of height.
North of Champex, in effect backing the resort, a long mountain spine culminates in the summit crown of Le Catogne (2598m). The ascent, which begins at the lower end of the village, is not difficult, but has 1100m of height to gain. A major reward for making the ascent is the extent of the summit view, which is especially fine towards the Dents du Midi.
A day’s walk (4½–5hrs) leading to Col de la Forclaz via the Bovine alp is known to thousands of trekkers, as it forms a stage of the TMB. First visiting the chalets of Champex d’en Haut and Champex d’en Bas, it makes a lengthy slanting traverse of forest and pasture, with occasional views of the Dents du Midi, as well as the Alpes Vaudoises across the Rhône valley, and a backward view to the Grand Combin. Although not as strenuous as the alternative TMB stage via the Fenêtre d’Arpette (see below), this Bovine route is demanding enough. At the end of the day accommodation is available at Hotel du Col de la Forclaz (see 1:5 for details). To vary the return to Champex, consider making a round-trip by reversing the Fenêtre d’Arpette route (about 6½hrs from Forclaz to Champex).
The crossing of the 2665m Fenêtre d’Arpette in the Val d’Arpette headwall should only be attempted under settled conditions and after any troublesome snow has cleared from the upper slopes. In a ‘normal’ summer, this is likely to be around early July, although snow patches often remain throughout the summer. Gained in about 3½–4hrs from Champex, the fenêtre is very much a window onto a different world, for the west side of the pass is dominated by the Trient glacier spilling from the Plateau du Trient, while a distant view includes the dammed lake of Emosson, with the Tour Sallière and Mont Ruan beyond it (see 1:5). TMB walkers crossing the pass descend to either Trient or Col de la Forclaz (see above) in another 2–2½hrs by a steep but straightforward route.
The ascent of Pointe des Ecandies (2873m) south of the Fenêtre d’Arpette may be made without major difficulties in about 1hr from the pass.
In winter Col des Ecandies makes a worthwhile ascent on snowshoes – but only when conditions are stable, as the walling slopes of Val d’Arpette are prone to avalanche after snowfall (see Snowshoeing: Mont Blanc & the Western Alps).
The traverse of the Ecandies ridge, from Col des Ecandies to Pointe des Ecandies, or on to the Fenêtre d’Arpette (D, with two moves of V), is a classic route recommended by Rébuffet in his well-known Mont Blanc Massif – 100 Finest Routes.
By using the La Breya chairlift from just above Champex, the approach to Cabane d’Orny (2826m) can be achieved in 2–2½hrs by an obvious path along the rocky upper slopes of the Combe d’Orny. Owned by the Diablerets section of the SAC, the hut has places for 86, with a resident guardian from early June to mid-September (www.cabanedorny.ch). From there Cabane du Trient is reached in 1hr, and Pointe d’Orny (3269m) can be climbed by the NE Couloir (PD+) in about 3hrs.
Cabane du Trient
Cabane du Trient is a large and popular hut tucked below Pointe d’Orny on the edge of the Plateau du Trient at 3170m. With places for 130 and owned, like Cabane d’Orny, by the Diablerets section of the SAC, it is manned during the spring ski-touring season (mid-March to mid-May) and from mid-June to mid-September (www.sac-diablerets.ch). Of the climbs and tours to be made from a base here, the ascent of the
Orsières to La Fouly
The lower Val Ferret is forested along the foot of its east and west slopes, but with open pasture and a succession of hamlets either strung along the road, or located a short distance from it. The TMB passes through, linking some of these hamlets and enjoying pleasant if unremarkable landscapes, for despite the proximity of big mountains, the trail adopted by the TMB sees little of them, and it’s only when crossing the mouth of the Saleina glen, or on arrival at La Fouly, that more than a hint is received of the true nature of its neighbourhood peaks.
Praz de Fort, one of the largest of the Val Ferret villages
The Saleina valley, or Vallon d’Arpette de Saleina to give its full name, opens a little south of Praz de Fort (1151m), one of the largest of Ferret villages, which boasts a grocery as well as a post office. Two huts of interest to climbers intent on one or more summits at this outpost of the Mont Blanc range can be reached from the village; these are the Cabane de Saleina and Cabane d’Orny. A metalled service road projects a short way towards the huts, with a car park at around 1250m. The road actually continues beyond this, but anyone planning to be away for a day or two should make use of the parking spaces available. From the end of the road a path remains on the true left bank of the Reuse de Saleina, then forks. The route to Cabane d’Orny (details above) works up the steep mountainside with a series of zigzags under the crest of the Pointes des Chevrettes, before joining the path from La Breya near a small tarn about 130m below the hut (4½–5hrs from Praz de Fort).
Cabane de Saleina
Cabane de Saleina, or Saleinaz as it’s also known, is located above the right bank of the Saleina glacier at 2691m, with the glacial cirque rimmed by – among others – the Aiguilles d’Argentière and du Chardonnet, the Grande Fourche and Aiguilles Dorées. North of the hut the Petit Clocher du Portalet is an impressive shaft of smooth granite.
The hut approach begins at the same car park used by the Orny Hut route, although an alternative start could be made along a track on the south side of the Saleina stream. Where the Orny path forks to make the zigzag climb under the Pointes des Chevrettes, the Saleina route (waymarked blue and white for an ‘alpine route’) continues upvalley a short way before crossing the stream to join the south bank route, then climbs the terminal moraine of the Saleina glacier with the aid of fixed cables. It then follows the moraine crest to pass below the Clochers des Planereuses, and crosses a wide couloir to gain the hut.
Belonging to the Neuchâteloise section of the SAC, the modern Saleina cabane has dormitory places for 48 and is manned for a short period between late March and mid-April, and from late June to mid-September (
