Col des Ignes, at last!

In 2005 I first heard about the Col des Ignes, and made two attempts to explore it. The first was from the Arolla side, and I aborted it because of a combination of fatigue and incoming bad weather. Later that summer I made a second attempt from the Val des Dix side; this was changed to a crossing of the Col de Riedmatten because of snow the previous night. I really wanted to succeed this year!

On Thursday (24 July) I divided my belongings in two: what I would need for a two night hut trip went into my pack, the rest into my duffle bag that was shipped to Evolene. I then took the bus to Le Chargeur, at the base of the huge Dixence dam, and took the cable car to the top of the dam.

The hike to the Cabane des Dix was a very suitable first high elevation hike, as it starts out totally flat (along the shore of the lake), then rises about 600 meters in three pitches with very mild grades in between. It took me about four hours, versus a signed time estimate of 3:30.

The weather was gorgeous, as were the views. I already got a glimpse at the Mont Blanc de Cheilon from the bus, as I walked along the lake its neighbors, from the Pigne d'Arolla to Le Pleureur, came into sight.

Along the way I got my first careful look at next day's objective, the Col des Ignes. The trail up it was clearly visible from across the valley; it seemed to go straight up I knew that it was hikeable, and remembered that the Col de Riedmatten, that I had hiked in 2005, was also very steep, and that I had climbed it. Still, I was uneasy; it looked damned close to vertical.

I reached the Cabane in the early afternoon, it was already crowded, mainly with climbers, judging from the amounts of rope strung out. On my previous trip (2005) the hikers, including a couple of Haute Route groups, had outnumbered the climbers.

Checking in, I asked the gardien about the col. He confirmed that it was no steeper (or at least not much steeper) than the col I had climbed. I felt better, but still not really at ease.

Given the wonderful weather everyone was on the deck, and I watched lots of white Northern European skin change into red Northern European skin Also drank a few beers, the weather almost demanded it

I was in a room with half a dozen climbers, who woke up one by one starting at four AM, and were not all through getting their gear together until almost five. They woke me up pretty completely, though I managed some fitful sleep before getting up at 7 AM.

There were very few hikers, and I was the first to leave. In 2005 the crossing of the remnants of the Glacier de Cheilon was easy, as all I had to do was follow the line of hikers crossing it. This time I was alone on the glacier. The safe way is well marked, but still every once in a while it took me some time to find the next waymark. At such times I felt very alone. I certainly did not panic, but it added to the overall anxiety level (I worried about the col until I was across it).

The path to the col was not steep until the end (I knew that from the map) but was over unpleasant terrain, crossing lots of areas of rockfall. There were always flat rocks on which to step (lots of work had obviously gone into this trail) but the going was obviously much harder than over a better trail.

Finally I reached the climb; about 85 vertical meters, of which half were merely damned steep, the other half as close to vertical as a hiking trail can go. The footing was somewhat slippery, but not too bad. I went up using all four limbs, legs plus arms via the poles. It was hard work, but as I saw the crest approaching I felt an immense satisfaction. Finally I got to the top.

I am not a travel writer; I enjoy the scenery but am not good at describing it. Suffice it to say that, as on every col, there were views in both directions (all three if you add the distant Bernes alps to the north), with spectacular mountains, only some of which I could identify, all around.

The other (east) side of the Col des Ignes was much tamer, with good footing and reasonable grades. I love the valley with the remnants of the dying glacier strewn around! Soon I was on the heavily used Arolla to Cabane des Aiguilles Rouges trail, the final 200 meters or so of climbing at the end of the trip were most unwelcome

The Cabane des Aiguilles Rouges is at an elevation of about 2,800 meters, and has excellent views both to the high peaks to the south and to the interesting ridge of lower, but extremely pointy, peaks that separate the Val d'Arolla from the Val de Ferpécle.

We had some rain in the early evening, and as I was getting into my bunk I saw lightening through the window. I woke to low clouds, all the climbers (all had been planning on climbing the Point de Vouasson, nobody was doing the Aiguilles Rouges) had decided to abort their climbs.

The weather cleared (as forecast) as I descended, and by 9 the sun appeared, though many clouds remained. I got to Evolène too late to recover my duffel bag from the post office, so got the key to my apartment and had my sandwich (plus a beer bought on my way to the apartment) on my porch.

It was the same apartment I had rented last year, and this was the third year that I was staying in Evolène, so I felt at home. I love Switzerland, my favorite canton is the Vallais, and my favorite valley in it is the Val d'Herens.

Life is good (even though after lunch I had to do my laundry).