des Dents du Midi (box)
The Vieux Emosson Dinosaurs (box)
Tour de la Vallée du Trient (box)
Access, Bases, Maps and Guides
CHABLAIS ALPS: INTRODUCTION
The glaciers are small, only a few summits pass the 10,000ft mark, but the valleys are full of beauty.
R L G Irving, The Alps
As the plane circles to land at Geneva airport, the multi-pinnacled Dents du Midi appear at the far end of Lac Léman as alluring as the snowy Mont Blanc range beyond. These same peaks form a truly impressive backdrop to the castle of Chillon when viewed from the train running alongside the lake near Montreux, and are easily identifiable from several points at the western end of the Pennine Alps. Along with their neighbours in the Chablais region of Canton Valais, these are the most westerly mountains in Switzerland; a compact limestone group rising from green foothills to make a worthy introduction to the Swiss Alps.
Officially the Chablais region extends from St Gingolph, the little border town on the southern shore of Lac Léman, to St-Maurice north of Martigny in the Rhône valley, and includes all the mountains up to the French border. Of these, the Dents du Midi do not carry that border for they stand as an isolated block moated by valleys on three sides, unlike the Dents Blanches – the headwall of the Val d’Illiez – which make an attractive neighbour and a natural frontier spreading eastward to the handsome Mont Ruan. There the border turns abruptly to the south to enclose on the Swiss side the two Emosson lakes, from whose slopes tremendous views are granted of the Mont Blanc range to the south.
The small green lake at the Pas de Morgins
South of the smaller of these lakes, the border twists northeast, then southeast at the barrage of the larger Lac d’Emosson above Le Châtelard in the Trient valley, which effectively separates the Chablais Alps from outliers of the Mont Blanc massif. Here, however, we extend the region slightly to include all the Vallée du Trient, so that anything east of its bounding ridge can effectively be considered with the Pennine Alps in Chapter 2.
Straddling the Franco-Swiss border, a popular section of the Chablais region spreading out from Morgins is referred to in promotional literature as the Portes du Soleil, after a col on the ridge above Champéry, where a dozen resorts on both sides of the political divide are linked to exploit the skiing potential of the area and to promote both walking and mountain biking there.
But the whole region offers plenty of mountain walking opportunities, especially multi-day tours, some of which stray across the international frontier. Climbers are also well catered for, although there’s very little in the way of snow and ice except in winter. Rock routes abound in the lower-to-medium grades, and there are some exciting ridges to traverse. The main centres are Morgins in the valley of the same name, Champéry and Val d’Illiez in the valley from which the latter village takes its name, and Finhaut high above the Gorges du Trient.
1:1 Val de Morgins
Val de Morgins is pre-alpine; a broad, partly wooded pastoral valley whose upper reaches are linked to the Portes du Soleil ski playground. A short distance north of the valley’s only resort lies a small lake at the 1369m Pas de Morgins on the frontier, from where a road descends to Abondance in France.
Ignoring the French side of the border, the normal route of approach is from the small industrial town of Monthey in the Rhône valley, from where a sinuous road writhes its way southwestward through the lower Val d’Illiez, at first between vineyards, then among chestnut and walnut trees to a junction on the outskirts of Troistorrents. The left fork is the one to take for Champéry (see 1:2), while the Morgins branch climbs a series of hairpins with retrospective views of the Dents du Midi and the Dent de Morcles on the far side of the Rhône’s valley.
Having gained Val de Morgins the road then runs easily along the north bank of the Vièze de Morgins stream among alpine meadows and pinewoods, passing a minor road branching left (a pleasant cross-country route to Val d’Illiez) to gain the resort of Morgins at 1305m.
Spread across the meadows, the dark timber chalets, shops, campsite and two hotels (the Beau-Site and La Reine des Alpes) of this modest resort suggest a base for holidays of an undemanding nature. There are two chairlifts and two low-level skilifts, a climbing wall and some 800km of marked paths. In winter the extensive, but comparatively low ski area of Portes du Soleil that spreads across the border, gives access to 650km of pistes with 207 lifts (www.portesdusoleil.com), while cross-country skiing and snowshoe routes are also available, and at least 12km of footpaths are kept open. The Office du Tourisme (www.morgins.ch) located on Place du Carillon near the Foilleuse chairlift opposite the village church, produces a wealth of useful brochures and leaflets, although many of these refer to the French side of the border, and there’s a handy footpath map available at a scale of 1:33,333: Carte des Sentiers à Pied et à Cheval.
Walks from the Val de Morgins
Of the numerous walks in the valley, perhaps the easiest is that which takes just 20mins to reach the small green lake at the Pas de Morgins, where options for extending the outing in various directions become obvious. One of these options climbs to the Bec du Corbeau viewpoint; another makes for the Portes de Culet, then climbs the ridge to the east of the pass to gain the famed 2042m Pointe de Bellevue which gives such a splendid view of the Dents du Midi.
Another recommended route follows the Vièze de Morgins upstream southwest of Morgins, wandering below the cliffs of the Tête de Linga and Tête du Géant to the head of the valley, and then climbs to the little Lac de Chésery at 1891m. Lac Vert, a second tarn nearby, lies just 20m below Col de Chésery, a walker’s pass on the border with France at 1992m. Between the lake and the col, about 2½hrs from Morgins, stands the privately owned Refuge de Chésery (www.lacvert.ch) which offers refreshments, has 35 dormitory places and is often patronised by trekkers walking from Lac Léman to Chamonix along the GR5. Southeast of here the 2157m col of Portes de l’Hiver (also known as the Porte du Lac Vert) is well worth the extra 40–50mins of effort to reach,