Alpine Summer (part 1)

Not many Munros this summer - we were in Germany and France for much of July and August ... but that was no hardship!  Apart from enjoying the sun, visiting old friends and being tourists, we climbed two very memorable "hills", well worthy of Munro status!

Mont Vorassay - Monday 10th July 2006

The first of these was Mont Vorassay (the green hill in the picture), which is an outlier of Mont Blanc (hidden at the back), at the end of the ridge which stretches west over the Aiguille de Bionassay (the snowy peak) towards St. Nicolas de Veroce, the village where we were staying for a week.


Looking out from our gite, Mont Vorassay (2287m) dominated the view and was just asking to be climbed! 


Unlike a Scottish hill, there were waymarked paths all the way, and it was green to the very top, but the position was so dramatic, and the summit as airy as Sgurr nan Gillean!

We began at the village of Le Champel at 1200m.  A good path led up through the forest, across the face of Mont Vorassay.  Here's Iain and Julie on the path, as it emerges from the trees above the Gorge de la Gruvaz.   the mountain in the distance is Mont Joly, which I had climbed on a previous visit.


The path led to the Refuge de Miage at 1570m, then steeply up to the Col du Tricot (2120m) behind Mont Vorassay.

The Col du Tricot (right) lies on the Tour de Mont Blanc path.


From the col, we turned west to climb up to the summit of Mont Vorassay.  


Turning right would lead on up the ridge, over Pointe Inferierur du Tricot to the Aiguille du Bionassay, and then to Mont Blanc itself.

The climb up Mont Vorassay's final 200m was steep and unremitting, then after 45 mins of hard work, suddenly we were on the dramatic summit ridge ... with the valley far below, and wide views of all the surrounding ranges - Les Aravis to the west, the Chamonix Aiguilles to the north, and the Dome de Miage to the south.


A grand place to sit awhile and admire the prospect!

Although we had climbed up steep grassy slopes, steep rocky gullies plunged down from the summit ridge - the so-called "Abrupts de Vorassay" (below).  


Behind us, the view was dominated by the Mont Blanc Massif - the Dome du Gouter and Aiguille de Bionassay.


Eventually, we managed to tear ourselves away from the summit, descending back to the Col du Tricot.

From the Col, we turned north down a lovely path down through alpine rhododendrons to the Cascade du Tricot at the foot of the Glacier du Bionassay.  


The contrast between the heat of the valley, and the huge snowfields above, was incredible.  


A good path, then track led us back down to Le Champel, with glimpses back up to the summit .


The guide book says 5 hours for this complete circuit of the mountain.  We took 7.5, but took our time to enjoy the views!






(written 27/02/10)