viewpoints west of Mont Blanc accessible to the walker, although care is required and good visibility advised.
From the summit of this little peak Mont Blanc proves its stature, a glorious mass of rock, snow and ice dominating the eastward view. Above the Miage glen Mont Blanc is seemingly flanked by the Dômes de Miage and the Aiguilles de Bionnassay, but there are other mountains to enjoy from here too, a veritable sea of peaks in every direction. Those of Beaufortain are nearby to the south, but farther away rise Vanoise summits and the more distant crests of the Oisans, while north-east Les Diablerets guards the borders of the Vaudois and Bernese Alps beyond the Rhône valley.
On the other, eastern, side of Val Montjoie, one recommended outing visits the privately-owned Refuge de Trélatête below the glacier of the same name. While the immediate surroundings of the hut lack the pristine grandeur of some, its situation has much to commend it. From there a more serious hut approach continues along the north bank of the Trélatête glacier to Refuge des Conscrits (2730m), midway between the Dômes de Miage and Aiguille des Glaciers, while mountain walkers with considerable experience of snow and ice, who are at home on wild, unmarked mountain terrain and who are adequately equipped for the job in hand, may be tempted by a crossing suggested by the late Douglas Milner in his book, Mont Blanc and the Aiguilles. This involves scaling the southern ridge that overlooks the Trélatête glacier and gaining the head of the Vallée des Glaciers by either Col Mont Tondu (2895m) or Col des Glaciers – the former, he says, is the easier.
There’s another col, unmarked on the Didier and Richard map but shown on the IGN, named Col du Moyen-Age by that Alpine connoisseur R. L. G. Irving, which Irving reckoned to be the simplest and quickest pass from Trélatête to the upper Val Veni on the south side of Mont Blanc. None of these three cols is encouraged by the solid blue or red markings reserved for walking routes on either of the above-mentioned maps, so an attempt at their crossing should be reserved for walkers with well-honed mountaineering skills. Refuge Robert Blanc is situated on the southern slopes of the ridge midway between Col Mont Tondu and Col des Glaciers and this, presumably, would make a convenient halfway halt before skirting the head of Vallée des Glaciers and crossing the easy walkers’ pass of Col de la Seigne into Italy.
For a less challenging, but no less interesting, extension of the walk to Refuge de Trélatête, a well-made path known as the Sentier Claudius Bernard continues north to Combe d’Armancette and its little tarn, then descends to Les Contamines-Montjoie once more. This makes a fine day’s outing, but the Combe d’Armancette should be avoided early in the season, or following storm, when there’s a distinct danger of stone-fall or avalanche.
Combe d’Armancette hangs above Les Contamines just to the south-east of the village. To the north-east a beautiful glen has been scooped out of the hillside by glaciers that have long since drawn back into the headland of the Dômes de Miage. The glen is soft, pastoral and bright with alpenroses early in the summer, and with a collection of chalets and haybarns set on the right bank of a torrent draining the icefields of the Dômes de Miage and Aiguilles de Bionnassay. Cattle graze the pastures, their bells clattering against the constant sound of running water while marmots burrow among the rocks. North of the Chalets de Miage, Col de Tricot is crossed by a variant of the Tour du Mont Blanc. To the south-west a hillside spur has an extension of the TMB path climbing to the Chalets du Truc, while a dirt road snakes down to Tresse in the valley below Les Contamines.
Among the chalets and haybarns stands the Refuge de Miage, and a night or two spent there in a cradle of mountains with glaciers dangling high above, would give an opportunity to absorb something of the atmosphere of the world of pastoral alps, as opposed to a possibly more comfortable, but more distant, overnight in a valley divorced from the intimacy of the mountains themselves.
Apart from trails already mentioned, there are others that could be taken from the Chalets de Miage to fill one’s days. One option would be to follow a path heading north-west to Le Champel, then bear right to Bionnassay along the GR5, and from there climb through forest to the snout of the Glacier de Bionnassay. Once arrived there a well-marked footpath rises over mixed terrain to Col de Tricot, from where the Chalets de Miage are seen more than 500 metres below.
Having now revisited the Glacier de Bionnassay whose torrent flows below Bionnassay to join the Bon Nant above St-Gervais-les-Bains, this brief overview of Val Montjoie has gone full-circle and it’s time to look at the smallest of the three French valleys, reached on foot by way of Col du Bonhomme and Col de la Croix du Bonhomme. This is the Vallée des Glaciers.
Refuge des Mottets, a converted dairy farm near the head of the Vallée des Glaciers
Vallée des Glaciers
Less than 10 kilometres separate the head of the valley and the hamlet of Les Chapieux where it makes a sharp southerly bend to pass through the narrows below Pointe de la Terrasse. In those 10 kilometres there’s no resort, no real village, no tourist infrastructure. The valley has a metalled road that comes from Bourg-St-Maurice and goes as far as the misnamed Ville des Glaciers; little more than a collection of alp farms on the right bank of the stream, and a rough farm track continuing beyond it. Apart from two refuges, Les Chapieux provides the only accommodation and refreshment in the valley proper. In this tiny village lodging is available in hotel beds and dortoirs, giving an opportunity for those who stay there for a day or two to explore country to the west where tracks and footpaths link up with the GR5 after it has traversed the airy Crête des Gittes south-west of Col de la Croix du Bonhomme.
At first glance the Vallée des Glaciers would seem to be inappropriately named, for of the seven valleys surrounding Mont Blanc, it has the least number of glaciers. In fact apart from the remnant of the Glacier des Lanchettes there’s really only one, but as that is draped from the Aiguille des Glaciers, it becomes clear that the valley is named after the prominent peak at its head, rather than any glacier that might drain into it.
The Aiguille des Glaciers (3816m) is one of the cornerstones of the Mont Blanc range, an elegant peak on a ridge that curves round the head of the cirque blocking the north- eastern end of the valley. Snow and ice that gathers there is all that remains throughout the summer; the rest of the valley is either brushed with a furze of grass on which sheep and cattle graze, or is bare and stony. There’s little woodland cover and shrubs that are so abundant in many other valleys, are in short supply here.
That is not to suggest the Vallée des Glaciers is lacking in charm; far from it. It’s just that its charm is one of different proportions. One wanders through the valley and over its passes with an air of expectation, but scenes of breathtaking grandeur are not to be grasped easily. The extraordinary and beautiful are there alright, but they steal slowly upon you. By contrast with the northern and southern flanks of the massif, this south-western enclave requires the visitor to take a different attitude of mind and let the valley’s magic work its spell in its own good time. It won’t assault you with its wonders at first glance.
Aiguille de la Tré-la-Tète above the Val Veni on the south side of the Mont Blanc range
A night spent high above the valley at the architectural curiosity of Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme, may do the trick. If not, try Refuge des Mottets on the way to Col de la Seigne.
From Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme there are four ways of descending to the valley. The first is on a clear and obvious trail that descends directly to Les Chapieux. The second is a devious route that takes the path of the GR5 across the Crête des Gittes, and via Col de la Sauce to Refuge du Plan de la Lai overlooking the large Lac de Roselend on the northern side of the ridge, before descending the D902 road to Les Chapieux. The third route is a variation of the second, for it breaks away from GR5 without tackling the Crête
