As the plane circles to land at Geneva airport, the multi-pinnacled Dents du Midi appear at the far end of Lac Léman as alluring as the snowy Mont Blanc range beyond. These same peaks form a truly impressive backdrop to the castle of Chillon when viewed from the train running alongside the lake near Montreux, and are easily identifiable from several points at the western end of the Pennine Alps. Along with their neighbours in the Chablais region of Canton Valais, these are the most westerly mountains in Switzerland; a compact limestone group rising from green foothills to make a worthy introduction to the Swiss Alps.

Officially the Chablais region extends from St Gingolph, the little border town on the southern shore of Lac Léman, to St-Maurice north of Martigny in the Rhône valley, and includes all the mountains up to the French border. Of these, the Dents du Midi do not carry that border for they stand as an isolated block moated by valleys on three sides, unlike the Dents Blanches – the headwall of the Val d’Illiez – which make an attractive neighbour and a natural frontier spreading eastward to the handsome Mont Ruan. There the border turns abruptly to the south to enclose on the Swiss side the two Emosson lakes, from whose slopes tremendous views are granted of the Mont Blanc range to the south.

The small green lake at the Pas de Morgins

South of the smaller of these lakes, the border twists northeast, then southeast at the barrage of the larger Lac d’Emosson above Le Châtelard in the Trient valley, which effectively separates the Chablais Alps from outliers of the Mont Blanc massif. Here, however, we extend the region slightly to include all the Vallée du Trient, so that anything east of its bounding ridge can effectively be considered with the Pennine Alps in Chapter 2.

Straddling the Franco-Swiss border, a popular section of the Chablais region spreading out from Morgins is referred to in promotional literature as the Portes du Soleil, after a col on the ridge above Champéry, where a dozen resorts on both sides of the political divide are linked to exploit the skiing potential of the area and to promote both walking and mountain biking there.

But the whole region offers plenty of mountain walking opportunities, especially multi-day tours, some of which stray across the international frontier. Climbers are also well catered for, although there’s very little in the way of snow and ice except in winter. Rock routes abound in the lower-to-medium grades, and there are some exciting ridges to traverse. The main centres are Morgins in the valley of the same name, Champéry and Val d’Illiez in the valley from which the latter village takes its name, and Finhaut high above the Gorges du Trient.

1:1 Val de Morgins

Val de Morgins СКАЧАТЬ

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