The Swiss Alps. Kev Reynolds

a more direct approach. And a fourth option entails crossing the 2846m Col des Otanes east of the Panossière Hut, followed by a steep descent into Val de Bagnes at Mauvoisin. Reached in just 40mins or so from the hut, the col makes a wonderful vantage point from which to study the Combin massif – a view of big mountains, sweeping glaciers and ice-bound cirques. Given sufficient time, it would be feasible to make an ascent of the 3158m Grand Tavé from Col des Otanes in about 45mins. This walker’s peak rises south of the col, where a rock scramble (F) takes you onto the easy scree-cluttered North Ridge which rises to the summit for even more extensive views, especially of the great ice cliffs that make up the northern face of the Grand Combin.

Combin Massif

      Seen at its best from either Cabane de Panossière (for a close view), or the Sentier des Chamois (for a wider perspective), the Grand Combin is a major massif; high, majestic and complex, with an extensive glacier system, huge walls of rock on the south side, and on the north giant serac barriers, ice terraces and three distinct 4000m summits, namely: Combin de Grafeneire (4314m), Combin de Valsorey (4184m), and Combin de la Tsessette (4141m). Another 4000m top, the 4243m Aiguille du Croissant, was once considered the massif’s highest point, but is in fact a secondary point on Combin de Grafeneire’s snow dome, while other neighbouring mountains such as Combin de Corbassière and the Petit Combin, though not reaching the magical 4000m spot height, also make worthwhile goals.

      It was three Val de Bagnes men, Benjamin and Maurice Felley, with Jouvence Bruchez, who in July 1857 discovered the route taken until recent years by most parties heading for the Grand Combin (Combin de Grafeneire), although they stopped short of the actual summit by assuming the Aiguille du Croissant to be the top. The real summit was gained two years later by Charles St-Clair Deville, Daniel, Emmanuel and Gaspard Balleys, and Basile Dorsaz. Approached from the north, the pioneers’ route ascended glacier terraces to a long icy ramp, since named the Corridor which led to the Combin de Tsesseret, but this ramp is threatened by collapsing seracs and over the years a number of parties came to grief while tackling the Corridor section. Nowadays the recommended route (AD-) avoids this by taking the rock crest that separates the NW Face from that of the Northeast, to reach a small bank of seracs which must be worked through in order to gain the summit dome. It’s a long route from the Panossière Hut (8hrs+), with almost 1670m of height to gain, so climbers need to be fit and keep alert to any change in the weather.

      The regal Combin massif and the long Corbassière glacier

        Combin de Valsorey is the West summit, and the massif’s second highest. A broad snow ridge links it with Combin de Grafeneire, and it is usually tackled from the nearer Cabane de Valsorey (2:2), but since the NW Face route is gained from the Corbassière glacier, approach from Cabane de Panossière is equally valid.

        Combin de la Tsessette stands northeast of the main summit of the Grand Combin. From it a ridge pushes north then northeast to contain on its west side the glacial Corbassière valley, while the east flank of this ridge holds the little Tsessette glacier, which hangs above the southern end of the Mauvoisin lake. Rising from the Tsessette glacier, the impressive SE Face is climbed by three or four routes, each of which, being hampered by poor rock, requires good cold conditions to give some stability. These routes would best be tackled from a bivouac high above Lac de Mauvoisin, but the Panossière Hut is a practical base for climbers approaching via a course that diverts from the standard Grand Combin climb on a ridge-walk from Col du Croissant.

       At 3715m Combin de Corbassière makes an obvious goal across the glacier southwest of the Panossière Hut, from which several routes are feasible. The South Ridge is the shortest and most frequented (3½–4hrs; PD-); the NW Face gives an AD climb of about 5hrs; while the NE Face, clearly seen from the hut, has three couloirs prone to stonefall danger (PD).

        Petit Combin (3672m) lies just to the northwest of Combin de Corbassière and is often combined with a traverse of the latter peak. However, when conditions are favourable, an ascent by way of the Follets glacier and SE Face offers the most direct route (4hrs) from the Cabane de Panossière, while routes on the NW Face and NW Ridge are usually tackled from a base at Cabane Brunet.

The Upper Val de Bagnes

      Leaving Fionnay on the final stretch to the Mauvoisin barrage roadhead, the valley opens a little on the approach to Bonatchiesse (1565m), a small hamlet with a café and a large campsite, Camping Forêt des Mélèzes. Beyond this lie small patches of open meadowland, then where the road swings right to cross the river before the final hairpin ascent to Mauvoisin, a 50m limestone crag known as the Madzeria Slab provides a series of one-pitch climbs up to VI-.

      Le Pleureur and Lac de Mauvoisin in the upper Val de Bagnes

      Cabane de Chanrion

      At the 1840m roadhead there’s a small chapel and a hotel. Open June to September, Hotel de Mauvoisin has 20 beds and 30 dorm places (www.mauvoisin.ch). Behind it towers the massive 250m high dam wall holding back the Mauvoisin reservoir which forms part of the elaborate Grande Dixence hydro-electricity scheme. In 1818, almost a century and a half before the dam was built, a mass of ice broke away from one of the nearby glaciers and blocked the Mauvoisin gorge, causing a natural lake to form behind it. When the ice-and rock-barrier broke, a wall of water swept downvalley, killing 34 people and wreaking havoc as far as Sembrancher and Martigny, where the remains of trees and houses finally settled.

      The road actually continues a short distance beyond the hotel to the barrage, and through tunnels emerges in the upper reaches of the valley on the west side of Lac de Mauvoisin, where a track (banned to private vehicles) continues almost as far as Cabane de Chanrion. On the east side of the barrage another track goes through more tunnels before heading south high above the water level. This is the preferred route by which to approach the Chanrion Hut, for about 30mins beyond the barrage a waymarked path strikes up the hillside, and crossing pastures eventually leads to the Lacs de Tsofeiret. Across the valley the abrupt wall of Combin de la Tsessette’s East Face makes an impressive show. About 70m above the largest of the three lakes, Col de Tsofeiret is very much a col of two sides; on the north it’s a grass slope, but the south side is precipitous rock down which steep zigzags lead to a chain-assisted stretch, then wood-braced steps before tucking against crags and descending to a moraine wilderness deposited by the Glacier du Brenay. About 40mins from the col you arrive at the Cabane de Chanrion (2462m), set in a basin of grass bluffs, pool-filled hollows, and mountains hung about with small glaciers, 3½hrs from the Mauvoisin roadhead (www.chanrion.ch).

      When Whymper passed the night of 5 July 1865 at what he referred to as the chalets of Chanrion he was not impressed: ‘a foul spot, which should be avoided’ was his opinion. Cabane de Chanrion is very different. Owned by the Genevoise section of the SAC, it has 85 dormitory places and is permanently staffed from mid-March to the middle of May, and from mid-June to mid-September.

      Using this as a base, a number of possibilities arise. For walkers a visit to the 2797m Fenêtre de Durand on the frontier ridge southwest of the hut is an obvious attraction. There’s nothing difficult about it, for a decent path mounts the flower-carpeted left bank lateral moraine