The Graian Alps
Location:
Straddling the Franco–Italian border south of Mont Blanc. The Western Graians, which include the mountains of Beaufortain and Vanoise, are in the département of Savoie, while the Eastern Graians, including the Gran Paradiso, fall within Piedmont and the autonomous region of Aosta.
Principal valleys:
The Tarentaise (valley of l’Isère), with the tributaries of Ponturin, Champagny, Pralognan and Chavière, and the Maurienne (l’Arc) whose main tributaries are the Doron, Ribon and Avérole, are the main valleys of the Western Graians. In the Eastern (Italian) Graians, Valle d’Aosta, Val Grisenche, Val di Rhêmes, Val Savarenche, Valnontey, Valle di Cogne, Valle Soana, and Valle di Locana (also known as the Valle dell’Orco).
Principal peaks:
Gran Paradiso (4061m), La Grivola (3969m), La Grande Casse (3855m), Mont Pourri (3779m), Herbetet (3778m), Pointe de Charbonnel (3752m), La Grande Motte (3653m)
Centres:
Pralognan-la-Vanoise, Val d’Isère and Bonneval-sur-Arc are, perhaps, the most useful in the French Graians, while Cogne is a small resort well-placed for walks in the shadow of the highest peaks in the Gran Paradiso National Park. Rhêmes Notre-Dame and Valnontey are even smaller and with limited accommodation, but with fine walking country close at hand.
Huts:
In excess of 60 huts or bivouacs cover the range, with 42 alone within the area of the Vanoise National Park, and more than 20 in the Eastern Graians. Most huts belong to the French or Italian Alpine Clubs, or to the National Park authorities.
Access:
The Western Graians are accessible by train (via Chambéry) with stations at Moutier, Landry, Bourg St-Maurice and Modane. Nearest useful airport is at Lyon.
As for the Italian side, rail access with Turin (via Chambéry and Modane), Lanzo and Cuorgne for the southern valleys, and Aosta for the northern side. Nearest international airport is Turin.
Maps:
The 1:50,000 Carte de Randonnées hiking map A3 Vanoise published by Rando Éditions, is useful for most of the Western Graians, while IGN covers much the same area with Serie Bleu sheets at 1:25,000. The Italian valleys are adequately covered by a series of 1:25,000 sheets published by IGC (Instituto Geografico Centrale). The Austrian publishing house, Kompass, also produces a series covering the Italian Graians at 1:50,000. Studio FMB of Bologna has published a good 1:50,000 sheet covering the Gran Paradiso National Park, complete with walking routes and rifugios prominently marked. This is entitled Gran Paradiso.
Guidebooks:
Walking in the Tarentaise & Beaufortain Alps by J. W. Akitt (Cicerone Press) gives a good selection of day and multi-day walks in these two regions of the Western Graians.
Walking the Alpine Parks of France & Northwest Italy by Marcia R. Lieberman (Cordee/The Mountaineers) details a number of walks, including multi-day treks, in both the Vanoise and Gran Paradiso National Parks.
Tour of the Vanoise by Kev Reynolds (Cicerone Press) describes the 10–12 day circuit outlined above, and also provides details of other multi-day tours and traverses within the vicinity of the Vanoise National Park.
The Gran Paradiso by Gillian Price (Cicerone Press) describes the Alta Via 2 trek, and a range of other walks in the Eastern Graians.
Through the Italian Alps by Gillian Price (Cicerone Press); the GTA, described in this guide, cuts right through the Eastern Graians.
The GR5 Trail by Paddy Dillon (Cicerone Press) includes a traverse of the Vanoise region.
Other reading:
Trekking & Climbing in the Western Alps by Hilary Sharp (New Holland Publishers) describes a traverse of the Vanoise region from Landry to Modane, and the Alta Via 4, the spectacular high route across the Gran Paradiso National Park between Cogne and Valgrisenche.
Classic Walks of the World by Walt Unsworth (Oxford Illustrated Press) has a chapter by Martin Collins that describes a crossing of the Vanoise region from Landry to Modane, the same as Hilary Sharp’s route in the above guide.
Classic Walks in the Alps by Kev Reynolds (Oxford Illustrated Press) includes a chapter by Andrew Harper describing a 7–8 day walk along the north flank of the Gran Paradiso from Ste Foy-Tarentaise to Champorcher. Much of this route follows Alta Via 2.
Walking & Climbing in the Alps by Stefano Ardito (Swan Hill Press 1995) contains a chapter describing an east-west traverse route between Cogne and Pralognan.
The Outdoor Traveler’s Guide to The Alps by Marcia R. Lieberman (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, New York) naturally includes detail of selected valleys and centres in the Graian Alps.
The Alps by R. L. G. Irving (Batsford, 1939) provides a romantic view of the Graians.
Mountain Holidays by Janet Adam Smith (Dent, 1946/The Ernest Press, 1997) is a charming account of pre-war holidays in Scotland and the Alps, which includes large sections devoted to the Graians. Evocative of an era long-gone, but with the surprise that some places have barely changed.
Climbing Days by Dorothy Pilley (Bell and Sons, 1935) is devoted to mountain adventures in assorted ranges, including the Graians.
Journals of Excursions in the Alps by W. Brockedon (James Duncan, 1833). Principally a painter, Brockedon traversed the Alps no less than 58 times on research, and crossed more than 40 passes. This book is an account of his travels in 1824 and 1825, which included the Graians.
Scrambles in the Eastern Graians, 1878–1897 by George Yeld (Fisher Unwin, 1900) – a pioneer’s view of the range. One-time editor of the Alpine Journal, Yeld became something of an authority on the Graians.
Refuge d’Entre Deux Eaux, a converted dairy farm in the heart of the Vanoise range
Chapter 4
THE MONT BLANC RANGE
Including the Chablais, Faucigny & Dents du Midi
For a region so well-endowed with big mountains and glaciers, the Mont Blanc range is surprisingly compact, measuring less than 40 kilometres by 15, and with the summit of Mont Blanc itself rising to 4807 metres as the highest point in Europe west of the Caucasus. That dome of snow and ice is attended by a large number of other peaks. Frison-Roche lists some 400 summits, which include among them Mont Maudit, Mont Blanc du Tacul, the Dent du Géant, Verte and Drus, the Grandes Jorasses and Mont Dolent, each with its own challenge to climbers and fenced in by a barrier of granite aiguilles that add their own identity to the massif. On the northern side these aiguilles bristle above Chamonix and the valley of the Arve, while the more sturdy ramparts of the Brenva face overlook the southern, Italian, side, along with the great Peuterey and Brouillard ridges.
Then there are the glaciers – literally dozens of them – that either project long tongues towards the main valleys, or hang suspended from high and remote cirques. Best-known is the Mer de Glace. Born of the Leschaux, Tacul and Géant icefields, it’s overlooked by the north face of the Grandes Jorasses and flanked by the rocky bastions of Charmoz, Grépon and Drus before