Grand Tour de Tarentaise (GTT4) : traversée de la Vanoise de refuge en refuge

Linger on the lakeshore awhile and look up at the mountain peaks around you… Magnificent, aren’t they? Can you recognise Tignes’ three” Great Ladies”? You can make out the Grande Motte (3,653 metres), famous for its glacier (and incidentally the resort’s logo) and its neighbour the Grande Casse (3,855 metres) with its ridgeline and much more precipitous walls. And behind you, the Grande Sassière, France’s highest peak, is accessible in the summer with no need for climbing equipment: a hike that will take you 3,747 metres above sea level!

Station de 30 000 lits touristiques, Tignes est relié à Val d'Isère par remontées mécaniques depuis 1970. Contrairement à Val d'Isère la station de Tignes ne s'est pas construite autour de son village, à cause de la mise en eau du barrage qui a noyé son village originel en 1952.  La commune a choisi d'aménager entièrement une station à 2100m d'altitude. Créée de toute pièce, elle suit le modèle des stations "intégrées" qui se développe avec le "plan neige" dans les années 1960.

Frozen over in winter (you can cross it on foot!), Tignes’ natural lake turns itself into a playground in the summertime, ideal for sportspeople, families, fishermen and food lovers… On no account to be missed: Acroland, the watersports centre’s most mind-blowing facility! Equipped with wetsuit, helmet and lifejacket, thrill-seekers slide down the 7 hot-jumping tramps on their backs, bellies, bodyboards or inflatable buoys… before finally plunging into the lake. A refreshing spectacle indeed!

Among the birds that inhabit the alpine meadows, the wheatear is recognised in flight by the broad inverted T against a white background which colours the end of the tail. This far from shy insectivore only honours us with its presence in summer before flying back to its grounds in Africa in late summer.

At the Col du Palet, you enter the restricted zone of the Vanoise National Park. Here, the view over the north face of the Grande Casse is impressive with its hanging glacier. Highest point of the Vanoise massif (3,855 m in altitude), this 900 m dark face is comprised of limestone derived from marine deposits. To its left, the summit of Grande-Motte and to its right, the Aiguille de l´Épena.

Le col du Palet à 2652 m d'altitude est le point culminant du tour de la pointe de la Vallaisonnay. C'est un des points de passage facile entre les communes de Peisey-Nancroix, au nord, et de Tignes, au sud. A 10 minutes de marche vers l'ouest, on arrive au col de la Croix des Frêtes, qui permet de descendre vers Champagny-en-Vanoise. Ces passages aisés expliquent que le vallon de Champagny-le-Haut a été colonisé par le haut, l'accès par le bas étant barré par les gorges de la Pontille qui séparent Champagny-le-Bas, le chef-lieu, de Champagny-le-Haut. Du col du Palet, on a une belle vue sur la sommets de la chaîne frontalière avec l'Italie. Vers l'est, on voit notamment, de gauche à droite, la Grande Sassière (3747 m), la Tsanteleina (3601 m) et la grande Aiguille Rousse (3482 m). Au-delà de cette crête, se trouve le Parco nationale Gran Paradiso, avec lequel le Parc national de la Vanoise est jumelé depuis 1972.

Le col de la Croix des Frêtes, à 264 7m, sépare les communes de Peisey-Nancroix, à l'est, et celle de Champagny-en-Vanoise, à l'ouest. C'est le seul point de vue du tour de la pointe de la Vallaisonnay qui permet de voir les 2 plus hauts sommets du massif de la Vanoise. Le mont Pourri, au nord-est (3779 m), et la Grande Casse, au sud-ouest (3855 m). Les 2 sommets ont été conquis à la même époque, en 1860 pour la Grande Casse et 1861 pour le mont Pourri, par le guide Michel Croz et ses compagnons. La voie normale de la Grande Casse par le glacier des Grands Couloirs, qui domine Pralognan, est invisible. D'ici, on ne voit que l'austère face nord et son glacier suspendu.

On the left bank (downhill) of the Glière valley, there are about ten glaciers. They resist melting thanks to the shadow of the mountains looming over them. Here you can see the cirque glaciers (Becca Motta, Nord de la Glière), glaciers of the slope (Volnets, Troquairou), the valley (Epéna, Rosolin, Roche du Tougne), restored glaciers (Pramort) and the ice cap (Grande Motte). They cover a surface of 12 km2.

Unlike Pralognan-la-Vanoise, Champagny-en-Vanoise was very late to be visited by mountaineers. The high summits were first climbed by the easiest slope, from Pralognan (Grande Casse, Épéna and Grande Glière). Thus, the northern faces were only scaled later: the small northern face of the Grande Casse by the Puiseux brothers in 1887; the Couloir des Italiens in 1933 and the northern face of the Epéna in 1966. Other famous northern faces had to wait until the twentieth century to be scaled. Grandes Jorasses, Cervin and Eiger.

La Grande Plagne and its chalet of Plan du Sel is one of the places where the Beaufort d’Alpage is made. Raw whole milk, from tarentaise and abondance cows, is press-cooked, with at least 50% fat, moulded into a concave heel circle, before developing a natural crust which is strengthened by regular brushing. Each cheese weighs between 30 and 60 kg, with a diameter of 40 to 60 cm and a thickness of 12 to 16 cm. The Protected Designation of Origin imposes undeniable constraints, such as the obligation to manufacture cheese with the milk of a single herd twice a day. But it also ensures that quality farming in the high mountains is maintained which is essential to sustaining the Vanoise landscapes...and, in addition, is pleasing to the palate since this cheese is delicious!

The alpine farmers lead the cows every year on to the mountain pastures of the Grande Plagne. At the chalet of Plan du Salt (2,250 m), the milk of the tarentaise and abondance cows (the only breeds authorised under the Beaufort PDO) is transformed into Beaufort d´Alpage over 100 days. The weak spot of this mountain pasture is the water resource. During periods of drought, the alpine farmer must obtain supplies downstream from the Refuge de la Glière, and pay for a number of trips to take up one tonne of water to the chalet.

A magnificent glacial dome, visible from the valley of Champagny le Haut, the Grande Motte looms over the ski resort of Tignes. The Grande Motte cable car (3,450 m) serves the glacier of the same name, still used for summer skiing. This cable car’s pylon, visible along the length of the hike, is located in the municipal territory of Champagny-en-Vanoise. The STGM (Compagnie des Téléphériques de la Grande Motte) pays a fee each year to the town of Champagny-en-Vanoise.

Above the Refuge de la Glière is an immense gravel pit. In 1818 a serac fall from the valley glacier created an ice dam on the Doron. The water accumulated upstream to form a lake several metres deep. The dam broke on the 15th June 1818, and the mass of water rushed into the valley, carrying all the bridges as far as Moûtiers. The thermal springs of Brides-les-Bains would have been rediscovered as a result of this debris flow. Following this disaster, a channel was dug to the west of the natural passage of the Doron.

Formerly an alpine chalet, with 2 cellars nearby, the Refuge de la Glière was extended in 2014 to provide greater comfort to more hikers and climbers. It is also accessible to wheel-chair users who sometimes come by the Joëlette. It is kept from mid-June to mid-September. The winter refuge is also open the rest of the year and the visitor is obliged to pay his passage fee in the collection box provided for this purpose. In return the visitor will find blankets, gas and dishes and a stove with firewood. Show respect for this refuge and don’t forget to pay your fee which pays for its upkeep.

The shape of the mountains depends on its natural surroundings, particularly on the hardness of the rock. The Grand Bec and the Pointe des Volnets are comprised of mica schist. The Aiguille de la Grande Glière, nicknamed the Matterhorn of Vanoise is comprised of very hard quartzite. The Épéna - the highest limestone cliff in France, with a vertical drop of 800 m - has a very sharp but very disintegrated summit ridge. The Grande Casse, comprised of black schistous limestone, has a highly ravined sloping north side.

"A mica schist outcrop polished and striated by the passage of quaternary glaciers, the last great ice age gœs back more than 10,000 years. The glaciers descended to Lyon at that time, and ice over 1,000 m in thickness filled the great valleys (Grenoble). The English call these “roches moutonnées” whalebacks. The inhabitants of Champagny-en-Vanoise call this rock ""Dos de l´éléphant” (the elephant’s back)."

The green alder, called locally as the arcosse, grows on the ubac (north facing slope) of the valley, as it prefers cooler environments. This shrub has the peculiarity of bending under the weight of the snow without breaking. It can therefore grow even in avalanche paths. The green alder between the hamlet of Bois and the Épéna glacier is the largest green alder in Europe at 7 km long. Green alder wood was once used for baking Beaufort.

An iconic animal of the alpine grasslands, the marmot is closely related to the squirrel, with 4 digits on the front paws and 5 digits on the back paws. The marmot lives on a family territory that the dominant adults defend tooth and claw. The marmot hibernates and lives idly for 6 months on its reserves of fat accumulated during the summer. The marmot is present throughout the entire route, but especially around the chapel of La Glière.

Laisonnay is the oldest and most remote hamlet. It was here that the first inhabitants (of Haute-Tarentaise) settled, after crossing the Palet Pass into the valley. It contains a dozen or so stone buildings with traditional stone slate and wooden shingle roofs and a renovated with smattering of more recent materials. Houses are grouped together in order to make use of the few locations not exposed to natural risks (avalanches, rock falls and flooding by the Doron). Notre Dame des Neiges Chapel downstream of the hamlet and the old oven upstream are both well worth a visit.

Take in the valley’s true magnificence from the Palet Pass, which provides you with views of some of the massif’s highest glaciers, with eight numbered marker posts located along the trail by the Vanoise National Park.The itinerary, which takes around 4 hours to complete, was created and waymarked by the Vanoise National Park. The accompanying booklet contains all the information you might need as you get better acquainted with mountain glaciers.On the itinerary: the Glière mountain hut (restaurant service and beds for the night), the high mountain pastures of the Plan du Sel and the secrets of Beaufort cheese production, and above all, no end of marmots!You can get a copy of the booklet at the Laisonnay Reception and Information Point.

Don’t miss out on a visit to the craft workshop run by Hélène and Patrick Milliat, wood carvers and the hamlet’s last year-round inhabitants.This picturesque hamlet used to be inhabited all year round and contains fine examples of the traditional rural architecture of bygone days. It's located between two avalanche corridors, beneath a rocky outcrop and protected by a “tourne” (deflecting structure), and the mountain dwellers’ resourcefulness has ensured the hamlet’s survival in its natural environment, respecting the setting and making use of all its attributes.The pretty little chapel of Notre-Dame-des-Grâces provides a panoramic view over the entire hamlet.

The Doron is formed by the meeting of several watercourses that find their sources in various mountain glaciers. It abounds in fario and brook trout to the general delight of anglers. The stream makes its way between the rocks, watering milieus where fauna and flora can flourish. Water is essential to life: a benefactor that can also be a destroyer.Over the course of time, the Doron de Champagny has suffered avalanches, landslides and storms, and its tributaries have overflowed, their waters destroying crops and houses alike. As far back as the Middle Ages, mountain dwellers used water’s mechanical power to operate their flourmills and sawmills, but it was not until the 19th century that humankind learned how to use water as a source of energy, with hydroelectricity, dams and so on. Even today, during strong storms, the inhabitants can see the Doron rise from its bed!

A trail with its full share of interpretive signage including anecdotes and games, enabling young and old alike to uncover the secrets of this unique valley and its characteristic flora, fauna and pastoral life. The trail is labelled “Promenade confort” (Comfort Walk) and is also suitable for people of reduced mobility and pushchairs, due to its very gentle slope and the picnic tables provided along the way, where you can take a well-earned relaxing break.Excursion time: 1½ hours (loop trail)Difference in elevation: 30 metres

In winter, this peaceful valley is the ideal site for Nordic skiing, dog sledding and skijoring, with a luging area for younger enthusiasts and ice climbing on a 24-metre-high artificial wall!

Aujourd’hui, les environs des Enclos du Seil sont couverts de fourrés d’aulnes verts et de forêts d’épicéas. Il n’en a pas toujours été ainsi. Les alpages de Champagny-en-Vanoise ont été déboisés dès le XIIème siècle à des fins pastorales et maintenus ouverts par l’élevage bovin. Cependant, dès les années 1960, l’économie agricole s’est amoindrie avec le développement industriel et touristique de la vallée. Les terrains agricoles, progressivement abandonnés, ont été colonisés par la forêt. En termes biologiques, cette évolution n’est pas inintéressante puisqu’elle peut aboutir à des milieux favorables à des espèces rares ou méconnues en France comme la chouette chevêchette, oiseau propre aux vieilles forêts, ou la buxbaumie verte, petite mousse saprophyte (se nourrissant de végétaux en décomposition) propre au bois mort d’épicéa.

Ÿou cross a forest boundary! It´s nothing to be alarmed about, it’s an area where the forest gradually colonises the rhododendron moors. This area at the upper limit of the forest is a vital habitat for the black grouse (Tetrao tetrix). Effectively, this concentrated area allows it, by turns, to nest (semi-woody cover), to raise the young (insects, berries and grasses), to feed in autumn (bilberries) or even in winter (tree buds) and to host its courtship displays. The gîte and the cover.

The alpine mountain pasture of Vuzelle is one of 3 communal mountain pastures of Planay. Historically it welcomed a part of the hamlets’ dairy cows and the cheese was made on site in the summer. Currently, only one herd of heifers occupies the place in summer. A peculiarity of the mountain people is that some towns have mountain pastures over towns at higher altitude, thus the town of Planay has the mountain pastures of Ritort and Nants over that of Pralognan-la-Vanoise.

The alpine clubmoss (Diaphastrum alpinum) is bound to the short, dry moors, on an area of bare ericaceous shrubland (heather). It is an artico-alpine species, which, as the adjective describes, is native to northern Europe. It found refuge at altitude in the Alps when global warming took place after the last ice age. It is a protected species in France. Other than autumn when its light green reproductive stems are visible, it is barely detectable to the layman’s eyes.

"Ÿou are at the Col de Leschaux, overlooking the eponymous ravine on its south-facing slope. The term ""leschaux"" most likely comes from the pre-Roman ""calmis"" which translates as ""pastureland"", ""meadows"" or even ""alpine pasture""."

" The Glacier of La Grande Casse and Aiguilles de la Glière "

Here too, we see a significant retreat of the front of the Glacier de la Grande Casse. At the threshold of the Ouille, you can admire the imposing lateral moraines that testify to the past presence of the glacier. These are rocky mounds of various sizes, carried along by the ice on the sides of the glacier. The glacier, in turn, occupies only the upstream part of the valley and forms a cirque between the Pointe de la Petite Glière and the Aiguille de l’Épéna, at the foot of the Col de la Grande Casse.

"La Grande Casse, the highest peak of Vanoise 3,855 m in altitude) demarcates the watershed between Tarentaise and Maurienne. Its summit is partly covered by the Glacier des Grands Couloirs which stretches westward towards Pralognan.During the last ice age (the Würm), which began 125,000 years ago and ended 11,500 years ago, the alpine glacier tongues stopped 30 km from Lyon. Then, the glaciers went through a series of advances and retreats depending on the climate. For example, in the ""Little Ice Age"" between 1600 and 1850 approximately, the glaciers experienced a major advance of their glacial tongues. Today, we notice a sharp retreat of the glacier front as is seen by observing the hanging Glacier des Grands Couloirs. Behind the glacier’s front face, we can clearly see the area abandoned by the glacier (the “abandoned glacier” or the “glarier”)."

The first refuge dates back to 1879 and operated until the winter of 1898-1899 when it lost its roof during a snowstorm. The Refuge Félix Faure, named in honour of the President of the Republic and emeritus mountaineer, was opened on the 6th August 1902. Additional outbuildings were added to the building in 1974. Finally, it was completely restructured and completed with a new building by the Club Alpin Français in 2012-2013. Since 2009 it has been called the Refuge du Col de la Vanoise.

"Five refuges have been built at the Col de la Vanoise. The first was built between 1876 and 1879. Its ruins are still visible from the Lac des Assiettes. The second stone refuge dates back to 1902. It was named after the President of the Republic Felix Faure, who was also renowned for his death in charming company. Then, in the 1970s, two prefabricated buildings were added. In 2000, the refuge changed name to become ""Refuge du Col de la Vanoise"". Finally, a 5th refuge was opened in 2014 to replace the 2 prefabricated buildings. It belongs to the Club Alpin Français."

The commercial crossing of the Col de la Vanoise has evolved into a mountaineering base at the Grande Casse, the highest peak in Savoy, with a series of refuges providing accommodation since 1878, including the famous Félix Faure, built in 1903 by the CAF, completed in 1974 by two prefabricated buildings classified as twentieth century heritage and now replaced. But the evolution mainly concerns the melting glacier of the Grands Couloirs, particularly the 1935 tongues that changed the historic route of ascent of 1860, but also the tongue of 1820-30 as the lateral moraines would indicate.

Located on the old commercial and tourist route from Pralognan to Termignon by the Col de la Vanoise, the Lac des Assiettes, below the Vanoise pass and needle, completely dried up in 1995. The existing plan of course keeps track, but with the loss of a picturesque reflection of the sky, it is also a biotope, an essential element of ecological diversity.

10,500 years ago, the tongue of the Glacier of the Grands Couloirs / Réchasse which flowed towards the valley of l´Arcelin stopped at the Lac des Assiettes. This formed a moraine-dammed lake at the level of a limestone rock bar. During the Little Ice Age, the Lac des Assiettes was obstructed by an independent underground ice cap system. This could hold water for a large part of the summer months and perhaps year round thanks to the great periods of glacial flood (1550-1650, 1700-1780, 1820 -1860) according to Bravard and Marnezy (1981).Today we are witnessing the death of this lake because of “alluviation”. In fact, alluvial erosions upstream (pebbles, gravels, clays ...) which are transported by the torrents, filled this lake. The latter are swiftly colonised by pioneer plant species (linaria alpina, Silene acaulis).

The Refuge de la Valette comprises 3 “Chaloin” chalets, named after the creative company. From 1968, the Park was equipped with 9 sites with this type of construction. With a minimum of preparation (creation on site of beams or a concrete block base), the shelter was built in 3 weeks (stove, dishes and blankets included!). To the south-east of the Refuge de la Valletta, below the Peak of the Vieille Femme, you can see the ruins of the old refuge. It dates from 1899. During its first ever winter, its roof was carried away by a storm. It was opened in the late summer of 1900. This refuge consisted of four rooms: on the ground floor, a room for the keeper and a stable for the mules and, upstairs, two rooms with camp beds, reserved for tourists.

"Looking up, you can admire the brim of the ice cap of the Vanoise glaciers. Approximately 13 km in length, it is the largest glacial ice cap in continental Europe. It appears in the form of a succession of several domes and culminates at the Dôme de l´Arpont at 3,599 m. This immense expanse of ice was nicknamed ""white desert"" or ""small Arctic"" by Roger Frison-Roche. Numerous torrents flow from this cap. They are referred to as “Nants” and are visible within the cirque of the same name."

During the breeding season, black grouse males parade their black plumage, enhanced by their red wattles and lyre-shaped tail feathers. The males try to impress and attract the hens on a patch of territory known as a “lek”. The hens observe nearby, perched or on the ground. The song is a succession of stanzas composed of cooing and then hissing. It is heard here from the end of April to the end of May.

"The dipper is a small brown and black bird with a white breast which lives year-round along the river banks such as the Doron de Chavière. It feeds on insect larvae, molluscs or fish eggs which it catches by diving under water. This little bird has the particularity of diving, swimming and even walking on the river bed! It is a very lively bird, which actively defends ""its"" stretch of the river."

This bird, commonly found in Vanoise, has a black plumage, a grey head, and red tail and belly. A lively yet timid bird, it often shakes its tail twitchily. In the spring, the black redstart sings continually from the top of a roof or fence post. His song together with his posture and tail swing clearly indicate to the other males: “Private property, do not enter!”. Its song, punctuated by drier clicking sounds, is easily recognisable.

"Next to the Refuge du Roc de la Pêche, we can see the remains of a lime kiln. To obtain the final product, the ""slaked lime"", it is necessary to ""cook"" the limestone at more than 1,000 °C. This results in calcium oxide, also called ""quicklime"" to which water is added. This material is used as mortar for construction or for rendering buildings. In the mountain pastures, buildings are generally made of dry stone (without mortar) or bonded with the earth."