Walking in the Valais. Kev Reynolds
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Название: Walking in the Valais
Автор: Kev Reynolds
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Книги о Путешествиях
isbn: 9781783620524
isbn:
Mostly, of course, tourism has had a major impact on village life and on the mountain scene, especially where downhill skiing dominates the locality’s income. Above Zermatt and Saas Fee, for example, cableways whisk visitors to remote summits or viewpoints where restaurants and gift shops stand on rocks that once were known only to climbers and Alpine choughs. Engineers have even tunnelled into the mountains to create underground railways – remarkable feats of engineering, no doubt, but unwarranted acts of vandalism on a fragile mountain environment.
In several valleys enormous dams have been constructed, reservoirs created, and hundreds of kilometres of tunnels and aqueducts laid as part of the complex Grande Dixence hydro-electric scheme, a scheme that transformed large areas of the Pennine Alps of canton Valais in the latter half of the 20th century, and which conservationists today are anxious to prevent from spreading further.
Fortunately such developments are not experienced everywhere in the region, and there are scores of enchanting areas where the mountain wanderer can tread in the footsteps of the pioneers with nothing of the twenty-first century to tarnish his vision of untamed wildness. For although the peaks and valleys of Switzerland have all been mapped, named, measured and photographed, although their exploration has been recorded in so many different languages that it seems there is nothing left to discover, the perceptive wanderer who takes to the steeply winding trail across the alps of the Valais with his eyes alert and senses tuned will find many a surprise waiting just around the corner or over the next hillside bluff.
This guide will lead you to some of those surprises…
The Valais region
Canton Valais, third largest in the country, is that region of southwest Switzerland which surrounds the Rhône valley. It begins at the Rhônegletscher between the Grimsel and Furka passes, and then flows southwestward as the valley of Goms through Fiesch and down to Brig at the foot of the Simplon pass. Just beyond Brig the valley swings to the west, then curves southwest again at Sierre, which stands close by the language frontier. All to the east is German-speaking Wallis; to the west, French-speaking Valais.
The Rhône flows on towards the canton’s capital, Sion. This historic town, extensively modernised and developed, has at its core a pair of rather incongruous castle-topped hills that catch the eye as one approaches. Beyond them, with vines on the northern slopes and orchards to the south, the river reaches Martigny, a busy town at the hub of major through-ways. To the southwest the Col de la Forclaz road winds up among more vineyards on its way to Chamonix; to the southeast an international highway runs to the tunnel and pass of the Grand St Bernard, the long-established route to Italy. But the Rhône swings at right angles away from Martigny, heading almost to the north now to pass the wall of the Dents du Midi before spending itself in the huge teardrop of Lac Léman – the Lake of Geneva.
From the path of the Haut Tour du Lac (the Chemin 2500), practically the whole of the Val de Moiry can be seen in a single glance (Walk 79)
Around 15 per cent of the canton is covered by glaciers, for on either side of the Rhône stand the largest snow ranges of the Alps: the Bernese Alps to the north and Pennine Alps to the south. Both are great spawning grounds for glaciers, but the largest of all these icefields is the 22km long Grosser Aletschgletscher which, fed by other glaciers, curves like a vast arctic highway from Oberland giants such as the Jungfrau, Mönch and Fiescherhorn before coming to a halt near the Aletschwald, some 1200m above Brig. At the Konkordiaplatz the ice is said to be around 800m deep and 1800m wide, but in common with other Alpine glaciers the Grosser Aletschgletscher is in retreat, and measurements show that the annual rate of shrinkage is about 20m, while its depth is also being dramatically reduced.
As for the mountains of this scenically spectacular region, the chain of the Pennine Alps which stretches between the Col du Grand St Bernard and the Simplon pass claims a greater number of 4000m peaks than any other Alpine region, and includes the highest mountain standing entirely in Switzerland (the Dom, 4545m), above Saas Fee; the largest massif in Western Europe (Monte Rosa); and the Alps’ second highest summit after Mont Blanc (the Dufourspitze on Monte Rosa at 4634m), which is located a few metres west of the Italian border above Zermatt.
Perhaps the most attractive and challenging of Valaisian mountains on the north side of the Rhône is the 3934m Bietschhorn, which stands guard over the entrance to the Lötschental, dominates that valley with its elegant cone shape, but is also clearly evident from many paths and valleys of the Pennine Alps to the south.
The valleys
It is the lateral valleys which cut into these mountain ranges that provide the Valais with its essential charm, its scenic qualities, character and magnetic appeal. These valleys include the Saastal, Mattertal and Turtmanntal, the Vals d’Anniviers, d’Hérens, Nendaz and Bagnes, Entremont and Ferret and the Vallée du Trient, and the splendid Lötschental that carves into the wall of the Bernese Alps above Gampel. Each one has its own particular contrast of peak, pasture and glacier to ensure that walks tackled among them will provide a host of memorable experiences to relive in the months ahead.
Fieschertal and Aletsch Glacier
Northeast of Brig the Fieschertal is the longest of the northern tributaries feeding into Goms – the upper reaches of the Rhône’s valley. With Fiesch at its entrance, it’s a pleasant valley whose main attractions for walkers lie at its head, and on the high plateau of Bettmeralp to the west, reached by cablecar.
Glaciers and glacier gorges lend the area its most distinctive features. The Fieschertal has a gorge carved by the retreating Fieschergletscher, while on the far side of Bettmeralp’s backing wall, the longest of all Alpine glaciers, the Grosser Aletschgletscher, provides an exciting backdrop to a number of walking opportunities.
The Bettmeralp plateau is shared with the little resort of Riederalp which has the lovely Aletschwald nearby. This old larch forest is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site that includes the Jungfrau, Bietschhorn and Aletschgletscher. Perched high above the western edge of the latter’s glacier gorge, Belalp has far-reaching views and plenty of walking possibilities.
Lötschental
Midway between Visp and Sierre a side-road cuts north, snaking above Gampel before plunging into a tunnel, from which it emerges alongside the important trans-Alpine railway. Road and railway soon part company at Goppenstein, entrance to the Lötschbergtunnel, which carries the motor-rail through the mountains to Kandersteg and northern Switzerland. Beyond the station the valley remains a narrow defile until at Ferden the Lötschental curves to the northeast and opens into a sunny trench full of charm. A string of small villages (Kippel, Wiler, Ried and Blatten) stands above the right bank of the river, and high above them another collection of alp hamlets is linked by a footpath which carries the Lötschentaler Höhenweg, one of the finest of all the walks in the Valais. The Lötschental is the longest and by far the loveliest of those valleys which drain from the Bernese Alps into the Rhône, a romantic, unspoilt backwater, full of simple beauty.
Saastal
Saas Fee, one of the major resorts of the Valais
About 7km due south of Visp, Stalden stands at the confluence of the two most important valleys of the Valais – in terms of tourist appeal, that is: the Mattertal, which leads to Zermatt; and the Saastal, with Saas Fee its major attraction. The southeastern stem is the Saastal (served by СКАЧАТЬ