taking advantage of some great weather and a free day we headed over the other side of the Rhône valley to the hamlet of Barme above the ski station of Champéry. The plan was to climb to the Col de Bossetan and have a look at going up to the main ridge of the Dentes Blanches.
It didn’t start too well, we seemed to be plagued by horseflies this year and the first 30mins were bitten several times. The only option was to set a fast pace and get above them so we climbed quickly to get out their range. The main trail to the col is quite steep and has several chain sections along with an interesting passage through and under some large boulders.
Arriving at the col we had a sandwich and decided we’d got time to head to the main Dentes Blanches ridgeline, this is a bit odd as there’s not a path on the map but on the ground there’s a rough trail crossing snow fields and scree slopes before a final scramble to gain the ridge itself.
It’s quite exciting stuff and the photo’s really hardly do justice to the actual views on the top. We climbed all the way to the Premiere Dent at 2706m before retracing our steps back to Barme. It’s a long day, over 16km with just over 1400m of ascent so we enjoyed a welcome drink and snack at one of the little restaurants in Barme.
