Val de Bagnes

Putting up with a certain amount of traffic is a fact of life on the world’s best-known freeride runs. Not so with ski touring, where silence, a sense of calm and close contact with nature are the order of the day. While it may be a sport that requires plenty of effort – often for long periods – what could be more pleasurable than traversing forests, valleys and mountains in the peace and quiet of the great white outdoors and then gliding down virgin slopes, leaving a graceful trail behind you?

A thousand and one ways to ski tour
Ski mountaineering has enjoyed steady growth over the last ten years or so, with Verbier providing a perfect setting for practitioners of the sport. The resort, which hosted the world championships in 2015, has slowly but surely acquired a reputation as a mecca of ski mountaineering, a reputation as large as its outstanding mountain domain. It’s all backed up by Verbier’s guides, who offer a wide range of excursions both long and short, not to mention a perfect command of the terrain and the necessary safety equipment. The menu includes “mere” one-day tours. Open to everyone, Trekking towards The Godfather (Le Parrain), 3,259 m, under a deep blue sky. An amazing climb, in an extremely wild environment. they take you on a journey to the heart of nature. Set off from Verbier and within an hour’s exertion you can find yourself standing atop La Chaux (2,940m), reached via Les Gentianes, which is served by a ski lift. Standing regally nearby is the Bec des Rosses. From here, why not push on to the famous Rosablanche (3,336m), a  bottleneck on the equally well-known Patrouille des Glaciers ski mountaineering race? Bruson, on the opposite side of the Val de Bagnes, offers yet more achievable alternatives, such as the Tête de la Payanne. As for the forest path leading to the Brunet hut, up above Lourtier, it has gone down in local legend, and not just for the fondue served on arrival.

Destination Le Rogneux
Enlightened ski mountaineers stay the night there and kick on the following day to the beautiful white pyramid that dominates the scene to the west. It’s a climb of nearly 1,000m to conquer one of Bagnes’ classic ski touring destinations, the crowning point of L’Intégrale du Rogneux, the great annual race that takes its name from it. The mountain, which peaks at 3,084 metres above sea level, is renowned
for its excellent snow conditions and even for its thaw conditions, not least at the top. The journey takes in small valleys, one rock wall after another, and a long series of powdery crests leading – around three hours later – to the summit, which is topped by a large wooden cross and affords a magnificent 360-degree view of Les Combins and the Mont Blanc massif. Skilled skiers descend by the north face, while the less accomplished wisely retrace their steps in the wedeln style. 

Great adventures
Also on offer are stirring adventures leading to even higher climes, where nights are spent in huts perched on Monte Rosa, the Grand Combin massif or right on the Haute Route. This legendary route takes five days of skiing from Zermatt and includes many a stretch and summit that encapsulate what the Valais Alps are all about: the great Rosablanche, the Pigne d’Arolla (3,790m), the Haut Glacier d’Arolla, the Dent-Blanche – seen in close-up – the Tête Blanche and, right at the end of the route, the Lord of the Alps itself: the Matterhorn.

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