Walking in the Valais. Kev Reynolds

D’HÉRENS

       Walk 83 Les Haudères – La Sage

       Walk 84 Les Haudères (Ferpècle) – Bricola

       Walk 85 Les Haudères – Veisivi – Roc Vieux

       Walk 86 Arolla – Lac Bleu – La Gouille

       Walk 87 Arolla – Les Haudères – Evolène

       Walk 88 Arolla – Cabane de la Tsa

       Walk 89 Arolla – Plan de Bertol

       Walk 90 Arolla – Pra Gra

       Walk 91 Arolla – Cabane des Aiguilles Rouges – Arolla

       Walk 92 Arolla – Pas de Chèvres

       Walk 93 Arolla – Col de Riedmatten – Cabane des Dix

       Walk 94 Le Chargeur – Cabane des Dix

       Walk 95 Le Chargeur – Col de Riedmatten – Arolla

       Walk 96 Le Chargeur – Cabane de Prafleuri – Le Chargeur

       VAL DE BAGNES

       Walk 97 Verbier – Clambin – Cabane du Mont Fort

       Walk 98 Cabane du Mont Fort – Cab. de Louvie – Fionnay

       Walk 99 Fionnay – Cabane de Panossière

       Walk 100 Mauvoisin – Cabane de Chanrion

       VAL FERRET

       Walk 101 Praz de Fort – Plan Bagnet – Cabane d’Orny

       Walk 102 Ferret – Grand Col Ferret

       Walk 103 Ferret – Lacs de Fenêtre

       Walk 104 Ferret – Champex

       Walk 105 Champex – Sembrancher

       Walk 106 Champex – Cabane d’Orny

       Walk 107 Champex – Alp Bovine – Col de la Forclaz

       Walk 108 Champex – Fenêtre d’Arpette – Col de la Forclaz

       VALLÉE DU TRIENT

       Walk 109 Trient – Chalet du Glacier – Trient

       Walk 110 Trient – Col de Balme – Croix de Fer

       Walk 111 Trient – Ref. Les Grands – Col de Balme – Trient

       MULTI–DAY TOURS

       Tour 1 Tour of the Upper Mattertal

       Tour 2 Tour du Val d’Anniviers

       Tour 3 Tour of the Weissmies

       Tour 4 Tour of Monte Rosa

       Tour 5 Grand Tour of Monte Rosa

       Tour 6 Tour of the Matterhorn

       Tour 7 Tour of the Val d’Hérens

       Tour 8 Tour of the Dents du Midi

       Tour 9 Chamonix to Zermatt: Walker’s Haute Route

       Tour 10 Tour of Mont Blanc

       Appendix A Route summary table

       Appendix B Useful addresses

       Appendix C Bibliography

       Appendix D Glossary

PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION

      Further visits to what many regard as one of the most spectacular parts of the Swiss Alps have enabled me to revise and update this guide for a fourth edition. Yet despite repeated visits and dozens of very active days, it has not been possible to re-walk every one of the routes described (after all, I’m eager to discover new routes too), so I am indebted to those readers who focused my attention on certain paths that had either been rerouted or had disappeared altogether, or made suggestions for additional walks to be included. My thanks then, to Jim Cohen, Mohammed Ellozy, Tim Ford, Keith Reeves and Simon Stevens; to my wife and daughter Claudia for their company in the mountains, and to our good friend Hedy Füx-Pollinger for her hospitality, advice and encouragement.

      This new edition has provided me with the opportunity to include routes in the beautiful Fieschertal and nearby Märjelental, to extend a walk beside the Grosser Aletschgletscher, and to sample the amazing 124m-long suspension bridge across a gorge below the Aletschwald. A few extra huts and mountain inns (berghausen) have also been included, which reminds me to mention that newcomers to the hutting experience are recommended to spend an occasional night in a remote SAC hut to sample the ambience and to deepen their connection with the mountain world. There are plenty of these huts and inns in the Valais region that would repay a visit.

      Finally, all information in this guide is given in good faith, and the routes described are offered in the hope that readers will gain as much enjoyment from walking in this magnificent region as I have, both before and during the many weeks of research. However, as is proved too often, changes do occur, not only to resort facilities, but to the landscape too, by landslide, rockfall or glacial shrinkage, which can sometimes invalidate a route description. Should you discover any route in this book that has been adversely affected, I would appreciate a note sent to me c/o Cicerone Press, 2 Police Square, Milnthorpe LA7 7PY, giving details in order that I can check them for a future edition or updated reprint. Between editions, updates are usually posted on the Cicerone website, www.cicerone.co.uk.

      Kev Reynolds, 2014

      The trail that leads above the Grosser Aletschgletscher is one of the most popular on the northern side of Rhône Valley

      INTRODUCTION

      The Gratweg above the Aletschgletscher leads to Riederfurka (Walk 6)

      The valley of the Rhône is a long, deep furrow cut by a plough of ice. Ice-melt fills its rivers, and the mountains that rear majestically to both north and south are laden with permanent snows that give birth to literally hundreds of glaciers, among them the largest in the Alps.

      And yet the Rhône is not a frosty, arctic