Green Tour of the Glaciers of the Vanoise Summer 2006
24 July 2006 21:47, | Members' Reports
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Green Tour of the Glaciers of the Vanoise Summer 2006
Tom Bryson reports:
I found Pralognan la Vanoise in Oxfam; in a little book, Savoy Episode, by Hugh Merrick, mountaineer, violinist, translator and oldest ever contestant on Mastermind. It is the story of a summer spent climbing and walking in the Vanoise in 1936, it’s a bit turgid, but the black and white photographs are stunning. A photograph of the glacier of La Grande Casse taken from Lac des Vaches shows a river of ice running from the peak to the valley, I wondered if we could view it from the same spot to see how much it had shrunk; and anyway a walking tour of the Vanoise would be a good idea before the ice fields disappear completely.
The glaciers of the Vanoise run in an 80km arc south west from Tignes to Aussois, at their heart is Pralognan la Vanoise a perfect alpine village. None of the buildings is taller than the Church, dark peaks and hanging glaciers dominate the skyline, brown cows graze up to the forest edge and since the “Bureau des Guides” was founded in 1895 it has been a centre for skiing, walking and mountaineering.
Eurostar from Waterloo, a nice lunch in Paris, the TGV to Lyon, and a regional train to Moutiers then post bus to Pralognan wasn’t expensive (you can buy on line at www.voyages-sncf.com for 30Eur in advance); our journey was comfortable, relaxing and surprisingly fast when compared with flying. The drive to the airport, parking, check in, security, hanging about in departures, then being trapped in a tiny seat for hours, nasty food, the baggage reclaim, rental car pick up or transfer to the station for Moutiers leave you completely frazzled. Do your own comparison of all of the costs and you’ll probably find that rail and bus is cheaper than flying.
As a Pensioner I never stay in anything grander than 2 star hotels. The bedrooms in the Hotel Grand Bec are a bit cramped but there’s a view of the mountains and the food is superb, it’s an ideal base for local walks and a few days of acclimatisation before the tour. You can even leave a bag of decent clothes for when you return.
For hut to hut tours carry the absolute minimum, no more than 7kg; waterproofs, fleece jacket and trousers, the evenings are cold at 2,500m even in summer, a change of socks, water bottle, ear plugs and toilet stuff. Huts provide a good dinner and breakfast of sorts but the bread is so old it squeaks when you bite it so carry a few cereal bars.
Your first hut, the Refuge de la Vallette is an alpine classic, perched on a rocky ridge at 2,700m below Mont Pelve. Check in with the gnarled, grumpy old Guardienne, she will give you a numbered place on the communal sleeping bench upstairs. Rucksacks and boots stay downstairs and you take your kit up in a basket. Climbers who intend to do Mont Pelve get up at 2.00am so they are allocated places near the door. It is a truly spectacular setting especially at 3 am when I went to the loo, as Pensioners do, the sun was rising on one side of the ridge and a full white moon was setting on the other behind the glacier.
Day two involves a number of descents and tough reascents on the way to the Col D’Aussois at 2,916m then the final descent to the Refuge du Fond D’Aussois at 2340m. This hut has been recently renovated; it has solar panels, hot showers and a young, charming and beautiful Guardienne who is an even better cook than M. Lafarge at la Vallette. From here to Refuge D’Arpont the next day is a breeze compared with the Col D’Aussois. It is relatively easy to get to this hut from the valley so its best avoided on Saturday night when you find that it’s not just Brits who do binge drinking.
On the last day the trail winds round to the Col de la Vanoise and the Felix Faure hut, the oldest in the region, you can stay overnight or just have a drink and descend into Pralognan by Lac des Vaches to inspect the Grande Motte glacier from Merrick’s viewpoint. Yes it has shrunk; to about two thirds its volume in 1936. But you will have walked through one of Europe’s wildest and most beautiful regions while minimising your impact on the environment, maximising your contribution to the local economy and ticking all the boxes for ecotourism.
Tom Bryson reports:
I found Pralognan la Vanoise in Oxfam; in a little book, Savoy Episode, by Hugh Merrick, mountaineer, violinist, translator and oldest ever contestant on Mastermind. It is the story of a summer spent climbing and walking in the Vanoise in 1936, it’s a bit turgid, but the black and white photographs are stunning. A photograph of the glacier of La Grande Casse taken from Lac des Vaches shows a river of ice running from the peak to the valley, I wondered if we could view it from the same spot to see how much it had shrunk; and anyway a walking tour of the Vanoise would be a good idea before the ice fields disappear completely.
The glaciers of the Vanoise run in an 80km arc south west from Tignes to Aussois, at their heart is Pralognan la Vanoise a perfect alpine village. None of the buildings is taller than the Church, dark peaks and hanging glaciers dominate the skyline, brown cows graze up to the forest edge and since the “Bureau des Guides” was founded in 1895 it has been a centre for skiing, walking and mountaineering.
Eurostar from Waterloo, a nice lunch in Paris, the TGV to Lyon, and a regional train to Moutiers then post bus to Pralognan wasn’t expensive (you can buy on line at www.voyages-sncf.com for 30Eur in advance); our journey was comfortable, relaxing and surprisingly fast when compared with flying. The drive to the airport, parking, check in, security, hanging about in departures, then being trapped in a tiny seat for hours, nasty food, the baggage reclaim, rental car pick up or transfer to the station for Moutiers leave you completely frazzled. Do your own comparison of all of the costs and you’ll probably find that rail and bus is cheaper than flying.
As a Pensioner I never stay in anything grander than 2 star hotels. The bedrooms in the Hotel Grand Bec are a bit cramped but there’s a view of the mountains and the food is superb, it’s an ideal base for local walks and a few days of acclimatisation before the tour. You can even leave a bag of decent clothes for when you return.
For hut to hut tours carry the absolute minimum, no more than 7kg; waterproofs, fleece jacket and trousers, the evenings are cold at 2,500m even in summer, a change of socks, water bottle, ear plugs and toilet stuff. Huts provide a good dinner and breakfast of sorts but the bread is so old it squeaks when you bite it so carry a few cereal bars.
Your first hut, the Refuge de la Vallette is an alpine classic, perched on a rocky ridge at 2,700m below Mont Pelve. Check in with the gnarled, grumpy old Guardienne, she will give you a numbered place on the communal sleeping bench upstairs. Rucksacks and boots stay downstairs and you take your kit up in a basket. Climbers who intend to do Mont Pelve get up at 2.00am so they are allocated places near the door. It is a truly spectacular setting especially at 3 am when I went to the loo, as Pensioners do, the sun was rising on one side of the ridge and a full white moon was setting on the other behind the glacier.
Day two involves a number of descents and tough reascents on the way to the Col D’Aussois at 2,916m then the final descent to the Refuge du Fond D’Aussois at 2340m. This hut has been recently renovated; it has solar panels, hot showers and a young, charming and beautiful Guardienne who is an even better cook than M. Lafarge at la Vallette. From here to Refuge D’Arpont the next day is a breeze compared with the Col D’Aussois. It is relatively easy to get to this hut from the valley so its best avoided on Saturday night when you find that it’s not just Brits who do binge drinking.
On the last day the trail winds round to the Col de la Vanoise and the Felix Faure hut, the oldest in the region, you can stay overnight or just have a drink and descend into Pralognan by Lac des Vaches to inspect the Grande Motte glacier from Merrick’s viewpoint. Yes it has shrunk; to about two thirds its volume in 1936. But you will have walked through one of Europe’s wildest and most beautiful regions while minimising your impact on the environment, maximising your contribution to the local economy and ticking all the boxes for ecotourism.