Alpine Summer (part 3)

Week 2 in the Alps - Le Grand Bornand  


After our week at St. Nicolas de Veroce, we moved on, with a stop en route for the (big) kids at the luge d'ete at Megeve (left) to a superb chalet at le Grand Bornand (below).




Our balcony looked out on to the jagged ridge of the Aravis range.  


Hmm - which of these might be climbable by mere mortals?


A look in the guide books suggested that our target should be Tardevant, a pyramid shaped 2500m peak right in the middle of our view.

Monday morning looked promising, so Iain, Julie, Cat and I set off early by car round by Les Clusaz to a high car park at head of our own valley.  A circuitous route, but getting us up to 1400m at the start of the walk.


Despite getting to our starting point at 8.45am, the heat was already building up.

From the car park at Les Confins, a track gave us a good start as far as Paccaly d'en Bas (1490m), then we branched off on to a lovely climbing path, partly shaded by trees, and with the views across the valley to Mont Lachat opening up as we progressed.  


Next we passed the high farm of Paccaly d'en Haut (1671m) and climbed on up to the Chalet de Tardevant (1787m).  


By now the heat of the day was on us as we continued up a series of steep zig-zags into a high valley surrounded by limestone peaks.

Suddenly, the steep gradient eased off, and there ahead of us was the beautiful Lac de Tardevant, its surface reflecting the clear blue sky overhead. 


It might have been tempting to dive in for a refreshing swim, but the ice field at the far end suggested it might be too cold for comfort!


A large group of schoolkids and their leaders were having their lunch, so we didn't stay for long.


We were now at 2210m, so getting high, with the summit only another 300m above us.

From the Lac, the path continued up through rougher ground (left) and over patches of hard packed snow to a col on the main Aravis ridge.  


The ridge snaked away to the south over some rugged peaks, and in front of us, the ground dropped away steeply over crags.


Unfortunately, the Mont Blanc massif, which should have been in plain view, was shrouded in cloud.

From the col, we turned left (north) up a small peak, L'Ambravettaz - cliffs on its east and north side, and steep grassy slopes to the southwest.  


The others followed the narrow path as it swung across just below L'Ambravettaz's summit, while I made a detour to the top, an excellent photographic vantage point for the final ridge leading up to Tardevant's summit:


Halfway up the final ridge, I turned to see the view, and there was Mont Blanc, apparently floating above a bank of clouds, looking impressively high above the silhouette of L'Ambravettaz (below).

Soon reached the dramatic summit of Tardevant, and enjoyed the views down to the Lac de Tardevant below us (left), and to Le Grand Bornand further down the valley (below):


















Eventually managed to tear ourselves away from the summit, and descended by the same route.   Fantastic day!




(written 13/03/10)