Tralenta, a modern hamlet ‘suburb’ where planning constrictions are not as evident as in preserved Bonneval, there are several hotels, and the CAF-owned Chalet-Refuge de Bonneval standing only a few paces from the Office de Tourisme. Another refuge, privately owned and situated on the hillside above and to the south-east of Tralenta, gives access to more walking possibilities on the slopes of Ouille du Midi below Pic Regaud and l’Albaron. Refuge du Criou is also linked by a belvedere trail with Refuge des Évettes, a CAF hut used by climbers tackling a number of those peaks on the international frontier noted above, the best of which is the lovely Ciamarella (3676m). This latter hut is also reached by a footpath that climbs from the recently-restored hamlet of l’Écot, highest in the Maurienne, from which more delightful country may be explored by walkers lured by the little-known. The scenery in this back-of-beyond is glorious, and a brief glance at the map is sufficient to have one reaching for the boots. One of several options here leads to Refuge du Carro (CAF owned) set in a grassy basin containing a pair of tarns, Lac Noir and the larger Lac Blanc. An alternative path leading to the same hut begins at a parking area on the Iseran road, and leads by way of the Sentier Balcon, a long traverse of wide appeal, almost always in full view of a vast panorama of high peaks heavily draped with snowfields, and the impressive Glacier des Sources de l’Arc.
The Tarentaise
North of Bonneval Col de l’Iseran provides vehicular access between the Haute-Maurienne and the upper valley of l’Isère. At 2764 metres it’s the highest major road pass in the Alps. Marked by a huge cairn, a chapel, and the inevitable bar/souvenir building described by Janet Adam Smith (in Mountain Holidays) as being ‘rather like a gaunt Highland shooting-lodge’, the col is not the place where lovers of wild mountain scenery will wish to linger, although evening views to the ‘pointed Albaron, the dark mass of the Charbonel, and the tent-shaped Ciamarella, startlingly white above the darkening valley of the Arc’ provide a sober contrast to the immediate surroundings. On the northern side of the col, despite designation as a nature reserve, the hillsides are laced with cables and ski tows. If one were able to visualize the mountains without these encumbrances, no doubt the landscape would hold appeal, but that’s not easy.
Descend to the valley proper and visual quality is restored in part. The upper Isère remains unmarked, and through the Gorge du Malpasset leads to lovely alpine meadows where marmots play. Under dying glaciers draped below the frontier ridge, which here briefly runs north to south, Refuge de Prariond sits at a junction of streams in a cirque at the very head of the valley. Col de la Galise (2987m) immediately above it offers a high crossing into Italy where a counterpart to the French hut is the Rifugio Plan della Ballotta above Lago Serru in the Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso. But walkers who have no desire to cross into Italy here have an opportunity to gain the modest rounded summit of the Grand Cocor (3034m) just to the south of the col on the frontier ridge. Ibex are often seen between the hut and the ridge crest.
Val d’Isère
The valley flows roughly westward, and below the Gorge du Malpasset the Iseran road snakes along the right bank of the stream through Le Fornet as far as the outskirts of Val d’Isère. Val d’Isère has grown from a small mountain village into one of the most popular of all French ski resorts. Unlike many ski resorts, however, it does not die in summer, but continues to flourish with steady business, its hotels mostly remaining open. In 1939 Irving predicted many of the changes that have come to this once-peaceful backwater, when he wrote: ‘Now that the road runs through, and not only up to Val d’Isère, that village will develop rapidly the things that motorists require.’ But he went on to add: ‘At the same time it will continue to provide for the visitor who wants them, places where he can enjoy upland pastures and summits fairly easy to attain, without fear of disturbance from a tourist crowd.’ Of course, he didn’t imagine a plethora of cableways, but as J. W. Akitt points out in his guide to the area, there is still a great deal of unspoiled countryside where the mountain walker can find inspiration.
Due south of the resort, for example, a Y-shaped glen, sliced by the Ruisseau de la Calabourdane, leads to some interesting walking possibilities. By taking the road through the glen as far as Le Manchet at the upper stem of the Y, a trail can then be joined which leads through the south-eastern branch to Refuge du Fond des Fours, a PNV hut at 2537 metres overlooked from the south by Pointe de Méan Martin, the Glacier des Fours draped across its upper north face. Above the hut Col des Fours provides a way over the eastern ridge to Pont de la Neige on the Iseran road – from where one could join the GR5 and descend to Bonneval in the Haute-Maurienne, or instead follow the same path north to Col de l’Iseran and down to Val d’Isère. An alternative route from Refuge du Fond des Fours continues upvalley, crosses to the western side and up to a col with close views of cliff, glacier, moraine, and mountain peak, then over scree and sometimes snow, to Col de la Rocheure (2911m) with its small tarn and lovely views west to the dazzling Glaciers de la Vanoise at the far end of the Rocheure glen. Instead of crossing the col, descend north-west over more scree to a good path which heads back to Le Manchet to conclude a pleasant day’s circuit of between five and six hours.
For an easy three or four-day circuit from Val d’Isère it would be worth following the route outlined above by way of Refuge du Fond des Fours and Col de la Rocheure, from which you descend south-west to Refuge de la Femma, set on the right bank of the Torrent de la Rocheure, and there spend the night. Next day either cross Col de Pierre Blanche to Refuge de la Leisse, or have an easy day reaching that hut by way of a gentle down valley walk to Refuge d’Entre Deux Eaux, where a good trail works north and north-east into the Vallon de la Leisse. Leaving the Leisse hut climb through the glen to cross Col de la Leisse on the route of GR55, go down to Lac de Tignes and continue over Pas de la Tovière in order to return to Val d’Isère.
North of Val d’Isère, and hidden from view by a steep mountain wall, the Réserve Naturelle de la Grande Sassière protects a corrie that’s popular with walkers. The normal access to this is by way of a road that writhes up from the eastern shore of the dammed Lac du Chevril, but there are two rather strenuous walkers’ routes that lead directly from Val d’Isère itself. The steepest and most direct of these is the crossing of Passage de Picheru in the ridge north-west of the Aiguille du Dôme. Demanding a climb of almost 1000 metres, the north side of the ridge drops to Lac de la Sassière. On the descent the big wall of the Grande Sassière opposite makes an imposing sight, the glaciers that flank the Tsanteleina clearly seen on the blocking wall of the cirque to the right.
The alternative walkers’ route into the Sassière corrie first makes an eastward hillside traverse from Val d’Isère to beyond Le Fornet, before climbing sharply to the little Lac de la Bailletta and the col above that which makes an obvious crossing point just east of Pointe de la Bailletta. The descent to Lac de la Sassière is a slanting north-west trend joining the Picheru trail above the barrage at the end of the lake.
To the west of Val d’Isère hillsides have been systematically developed for the downhill ski industry, a usage which proves incompatible with those landscapes of natural harmony most often sought by mountain walkers. It’s not impossible, however, to escape the mechanical hoists and piste scars, even though one may be compelled to spend a morning wearing metaphorical blinkers. The route of GR5 links Val d’Isère with ugly Lac de Tignes, but in between explores the green and gentle Vallon de la Tovière whose north- western end is crossed at an easy flower-starred col, from which a lovely view reveals the south side of Mont Blanc far off at the end of a long tunnel-like valley.
Lac de Tignes and neighbouring Val Claret are visual eyesores, yet escape can be found quite easily by following walkers’ routes that return to the unscarred sanctuary of the National Park; routes that cross Col du Palet (GR5) to a PNV hut and a charming valley draining north to Landry in the Tarentaise; or by way of Col de la Leisse (GR55) in the shadow of La Grande Motte, and down into the Vallon de la Leisse which leads to the wonderful Doron gorge, to a choice of fine huts, or by way of Col de la Vanoise to Pralognan on the route of the Tour of the Vanoise. On such routes stimulating scenery and an all-embracing peace can once more be found. In the heartland of the Vanoise there is no shortage of either.
