Chamonix Activity Review: 17th September 2012

I've been doing it again, last minute panic-hiking... the Bellevue cable car at Les Houches closes next weekend (23rd) and after having not been up there all summer I've been 4 times in the last 10 days.

I normally think of Les Houches as being the easy option; pleasant rambling in summer, gentle cruisey skiing in winter. So when I got a text on Thursday night saying "Bellevue 8:30" I thought we were in for a day of wandering round the meadows, petting the goats, leisurely lunch somewhere pretty, pensively chewing on a blade of grass, that sort of thing. What I didn't expect was stumbling through knee-high snow, clinging to rockfaces by a cable, tip-toeing along narrow icy footpaths whilst trying not to look at the sheer drop, or negotiating with belligerent cows.

We started out from the top of the Bellevue cable car and headed off in the direction of Col de Tricot, with the Plan Glacier Refuge being our intended destination. The first section of this hike is worth doing in itself as a there-and-back trip; you start off on an undulating woodland trail that opens out onto beautiful views of the Bionnassay (or Beyoncé) Valley, before crossing a rather dramatic waterfall on a creaky swinging rope bridge - very Indiana Jones. Once over the bridge you come out into a vast open plain full of spruce trees, heather, the last of the summer flowers, and LOTS of myrtle berries. The path continues steadily but fairly gently upwards until you reach a ridge and "et voila" you have the Col de Tricot; without really feeling like you've climbed very high you are all of a sudden looking down a very long way to the Chalets de Miage below.

After a quick pit-stop to admire the view we carried on along the trail, which headed south hugging the side of the mountain. It was still quite early and so we were in and out of the sun as the path twisted around the rocks, there were a few icy patches to dodge in the shaded bits but nothing too tricky. Until, that is, we turned a corner and somehow it was winter. Not sure quite how that happened but one minute we were admiring the flowers, the next we were trudging through snow... kind of like walking into a wardrobe and finding yourself in Narnia (not that that's ever happened to me, but I keep trying, just in case).

Conveniently, this was also around the time that the path started to get a bit more tricky with some steep scrambles, a few via ferrata sections and a couple of frozen streams thrown in for good measure. Dangling from a cable hundreds of metres above the valley whilst trying to feel around for a non-icy foothold was a good test of my nerves, and a good lesson in checking the conditions before I set out. My running trainers were not ideal footwear and gloves would have been welcome for scrabbling about in the snow.

We all made it over the scary bit in one piece and then had to cross what looked like a fairly straightforward, albeit snowy, field to get to the refuge. One of our group had done this hike only a week ago and spurred us on by telling us that the refuge guardian makes a very good chocolate cake. However, the field was on a fairly steep gradient and the snow was fresh so we found ourselves sinking and stumbling our way across while a herd of cheeky chamois kicked bits of ice down onto us from above. By the time we got to the edge of the glacier we were way behind schedule and had to do some revised calculations on how long it would take to get back in time for the last lift down from Bellevue. We didn't fancy going back the way we had came as the snow would only get heavier and more dangerous as the day progressed, so our other option was to drop down into the valley and up the other side back to Col de Tricot. Unfortunately this would take longer, which meant that we would not have time to make it all the way to the refuge, which meant... no chocolate cake! However, weighing up the options we decided that personal safety was more important than cake (only just) and started to pick our way down the mountain. We met a nice French lady on the way up who agreed with us that traversing the field a second time would be a bad idea, it turned out she was the legendary cake-baking refuge guardian and she actually gave us a bit of a stern lecture on the dangers of not checking the conditions before we set out, she pointed out that we could have called the refuge beforehand to ask for their advice.

The route down was steep and the first section was a dodgy mix of snow and mud, which I ended up falling in a few times. Once we were below the snow line though it was much more pleasant and we found ourselves bounding down towards the Chalets de Miage; crossing the flat meadow at the bottom of the valley was not only a blessed relief to my knees but was also completely idyllic - bubbling streams, grazing horses, wild flowers... The chalets themselves are also picture-perfect and looked like a lovely place to stop for lunch but time was of the essence if we were to catch the last lift so we sets our sights upwards and started the slog up to Col de Tricot. There's not a lot to say about that other than, eurgh. 3 days later and I'm still not walking right.

Then our wobbling throbbing legs just had to get us back the way we had come without pitching us over the side of the rope bridge. Our final challenge was to debate who had right of way with a large stroppy cow; she won, we waited until she moved of her own accord. Eventually, 9 hours later and very tired we made it back in time for the last lift down! The Chalets de Miage deserve another visit, so I'll have to look into other routes that lead there, and there is definitely unfinished business as far as the Refuge Plan Glacier and that chocolate cake is concerned but that'll have to wait until next summer now to be sure that all the snow has gone. If you don't want to find yourselves in our predicament then always check the weather before you go, you can call the refuge if you are in any doubt or the Office de Haute Montagne in Chamonix can advise on conditions.

The weather for this week is looking good, chilly in the mornings then warm and sunny as the day wears on, so still plenty of opportunity to get out there and do some hiking, biking, climbing or whatever floats your boat. The Aiguille du Midi cable car and Montenvers train are both still open, so you can still get up high until more snow falls and covers the trails completely.

If you fancy a bit of culture this week then call into the Hotel Albert 1er, where they have two art exhibitions currently on display. They are free entry and the hotel also has a nice lounge bar where you can enjoy lunch or afternoon tea.

All upcoming events can be found on our What's On Calendar >>