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.
Below Val d’Isère
Below Val d’Isère the Isère river enters the dammed Lac du Chevril, then continues roughly northward as the eastern moat of Dôme de la Sache and Mont Pourri, whose long glacial fingers are valley-bound between dividing spurs and ribs, the National Park boundary tracing just below them. The eastern, or right-hand walling mountains, form the border with Italy in an extensive north-south ridge system topped by a number of fine peaks culminating in the ‘beautiful gleaming sickle’ of the Aiguille de la Grande Sassière (3747m). Trails lead up to these frontier mountains, to the glaciers of the Grande Sassière, to Col du Rocher Blanc and nearby Col du Lac Noir (both of which cross to Rifugio Mario Bezzi high in the Val Grisenche), to Col du Mont and Col de la Sassière (the last a long way north of the peak of the same name), both of which again provide crossing points into Italy.
There are few villages of any noteworthy size in this stretch of the Isère, but Ste-Foy-Tarentaise sits at a junction of roads, one of which provides access to a cluster of glens worthy of exploration between the main valley and the frontier ridge, where projecting spurs create magnificent cirques, some of which have tempting trails that link huts in neighbouring glens. Refuge du Ruitor in the Sassière glen, and Refuge de l’Archeboc (or la Motte) in the Vallon de Mercuel, for example, are joined by a trail that crosses the Arête de Montseti. The CAF’s Refuge du Ruitor is particularly well situated for routes onto the crusty frontier ridge, on the eastern side of which the extensive Glacier du Ruitor makes an impressive sight. Avoiding this glacier a choice of crossings (some trackless and requiring good visibility) may be made into Italy from a base at the Ruitor hut, via such cols as du Tachuy (2673m) and de la Louie Blanche (2567m), where continuing routes descend over wild country to Rifugio A. Deffeyes and a series of spectacular cascades that drain the Ruitor glacier above La Thuile.
Tour du Mont Pourri
On the west side of the Tarentaise Mont Pourri dominates the lower valley with its ponderous mass of snow and ice. In 1829 William Brockedon travelled from Bourg St-Maurice to Val d’Isère, describing the mountain thus: ‘Towering over this sombre valley, rises one of the grandest mountains in the Alps from its magnitude, and one of the most beautiful from its form – its vast mass of snow and glaciers surmounted by a triangular pyramid of pure white.’ Walkers understandably drawn to this mountain will find local publicity for a three-day tour that is growing in popularity. Two nights are spent in mountain huts (Refuge du Mont Pourri and Refuge de la Martin), but since the Martin hut has no meals provision, food will need to be carried for at least one night. The recommended start and finish of this tour is the purpose-built ski resort of Arc 2000, reached by a tortuous road from the Isère valley near Villaroger, or more directly from Bourg St-Maurice.
From Arc 2000 the way leads south initially among ski lifts to Plan de l’Homme and Col de la Chal (2457m) and continues below Aiguille du St-Esprit to the CAF-owned Refuge du Mont Pourri situated just inside the boundary of the Vanoise National Park at 2370 metres, and reached in little more than three hours from Arc 2000. An alternative