Via Ferratas of the French Alps. Richard Miller
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Название: Via Ferratas of the French Alps
Автор: Richard Miller
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Спорт, фитнес
isbn: 9781849657761
isbn:
Crossing the two-wire bridge beneath the Upper Fort
Return
Follow green arrows heading northwest on a metalled track. After 10mins turn left as signposted and descend to the car park.
ROUTE 2
Via Ferrata Jacques Revaclier
| Location | Pomier (near Présilly), Haute-Savoie (GPS: Lat. 46º 4’ 46.02” N Long. 6º 6’ 25.63" E) |
| Length | 500m |
| Ascent/Descent | 200m |
| Route grading | technical grade: 2; exposure: 3; seriousness: A |
| Total time | 1hr 45mins (approach: 25mins; route: 1hr; return: 20mins) |
| Highest altitude | 1020m |
| Map | 3430OT |
| Technical notes | direction: W; escape points: 0 |
| When to visit | April to October |
| Useful websites | www.genevois-nature.fr; www.maisondusaleve.com |
While undoubtedly brief, this via ferrata is still a tempting proposition due to its position on the western flanks of Mont Salève. This long escarpment runs south from Geneva and is much used by the inhabitants of that city for hiking, climbing and paragliding. The local authority asks that you exercise particular discretion if visiting this route during spring, due to the possibility of peregrine falcons nesting in the vicinity.
Note that there are two other cabled routes on Mont Salève, the Vires Büttikofer and Etournelles, both located above Collonges-sous-Salève. These involve sections of unprotected and exposed scrambling and should not be undertaken other than with a local guide.
Access
From St-Julien-en-Genevois drive south on the D1201. At a roundabout take the C11 and drive to Chartreuse de Pomier. From there, follow signs for ‘Parking Promeneurs’ until you come to a parking area with a large boulder at its centre.
Approach
Look out for a small yellow sign for Les Convers. Follow the indicated track, which winds steeply uphill through dense forest, until you reach an information panel for the via ferrata.
Route
Walk without any noticeable difficulty until emerging from the woods onto a pleasantly bulging rock-face. Continue, with intermittent protection, past some impressively overhanging bolted rock-climbing routes. There are 79 bolted rock-climbing routes in the vicinity of the via ferrata, graded 3–7. Just beyond the point where you pass a memorial to the mountaineer after whom the route is named (who died in an accident elsewhere), the nature of the route changes. Both exposure and difficulty increase as you edge out onto sheer rock and ascend for 20m to the finish. This final section is short but moderately strenuous and offers good views of the countryside surrounding Geneva.
The Genevois Plain from the exposed final part of the route
Return
A narrow path follows red waymarks uphill for a little way until joining a larger path. Turn left to extend your visit to Mont Salève, or right to descend and rejoin the approach path.
ROUTE 3
Via Ferrata des Saix de Miolène
| Location | La Chapelle-d’Abondance, Haute-Savoie (GPS: Lat. 46º 17’ 41.71” N Long. 6º 45’ 52.44" E) |
| Length | 900m |
| Ascent/Descent | 225m |
| Route grading | technical grade: 2–4; exposure: 2–3; seriousness: A (all stages) |
| Total time | 3hrs 30mins |
| Highest altitude | 1250m |
| Map | 3528ET |
| Technical notes | direction: SE; total escape points: 3 |
| When to visit | April to October |
| Useful website | www.abondance.org |
The picture-postcard Abondance Valley constitutes the perfect ideal of an alpine setting: small, chalet-filled villages surrounded by pastures and overlooked by high mountains. The Saix de Miolene, a line of high bluffs dominating the north side of the valley above La Chapelle-d’Abondance, is perhaps the best vantage point from which to enjoy this magnificent location. The via ferrata is of good quality throughout and is divided by escape paths into several sections of increasing difficulty. The upper parts of the route should not be underestimated. Although they contain fewer conspicuously strenuous passages than some other routes of similar grade, the full route is quite long and fairly tiring. Due to the presence of nesting peregrine falcons, the route is closed beyond the second escape path from 15 March to 10 July. There is another via ferrata, of approximately the same difficulty, just over the Swiss border at Champéry.
Access
La Chapelle-d’Abondance is on the D22, between Thonon-les-Bains and Monthey (in Switzerland). The car park, which is at the western end of the village beneath an old quarry, is indicated by a sign with a large white outline of a climber.
STAGE A
Tronçon du Cabri
| Length | 350m |
| Ascent/Descent | 75m |
| Route grading | technical grade: 2; exposure: 2; seriousness: A |
| Time | 2hrs (approach: 15mins; route: 1hr 15mins; return: 30mins) |
| Technical notes | escape points (within stage): 0 |
Approach
A more-or-less level path (Sentier du Menhir) leads through woodland in a westerly direction to the foot of the bluffs on your right.
Route
Initially, the route gains 20m in height as it climbs around the toe of the bluffs. Once the southeast face is reached, continue with a gently rising traverse until an outside corner is reached. Exposure along this section is somewhat mitigated by the treetops just below you. Turn the corner and traverse for a few metres to a short balance beam, the Pont du Goleron, using large pockets in the rock for the hands. This is one of the few places along the entire route to use rock handholds, with most progress being aided by abundant stemples.
Beyond the beam, a mildly strenuous climb of a couple of metres, followed by more traversing, leads to a shallow bay where a rest can be taken. The climbing traverse continues more steeply with a few brief and mildly strenuous moves to reach a second shallow bay. From here, cross a 10m-wide blank wall on stemples with plenty of exposure and some effort required. After a little more traversing, Stage A ends at a third shallow bay. There is an escape path on the left.