free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
The Blonniere valley is a strange place - a forgotten corner of the Aravis chain that gets overlooked in favour of its more prestigious neighbours such as L'Etale and Mont Charvin. Above the chalet at 1675 m there are no markings or paths. At the top there is a set of 4 peaks and an impressive ridge with good scrambling. From the IGN map it seems that no one has bothered to give them a name.
This was our first opportunity to get into the hills since Covid. Luca and I set off from Comburce at 0530 to see how high we could get before breakfast. For Luca it was a break from GCSE revision; and our warm up to an attempt at L'Etale we were planning for later in the week.
- IGN 3531 Megeve (near Annecy). The yellow route is what we took up Combe de la Blonniere (no paths/markings above the chalet at 1675 m). Red route is hike up L'Etale from later in the week.
- The day before our hike. The large fan-shaped Blonniere Valley seems to be seldom visited. Fairly uninspiring at the bottom but worth the effort for the upper reaches.
We've been coming to the region for a few years now but it was only in recently (2019) that we first wandered up Blonniere way. It starts off dull and narrow at the bottom, but as you get towards the chalet the valley fans out ahead and you share the vast slopes with only chamoix and marmots. If you push all the way to the top it is hard work but the views over to Mont Blanc massif are the reward.
At the Cumburce car park we were amused to find that someone had added their own 'unique' markings to the signage. We set off on the path through the trees, which is a bit of a calf-busting slog, but a great feeling to be back here for the first time since Covid.
- Who put that there?
- It's a nice walk (but not much to see until out of the trees)
- Making a bit of progress. No paths above the chalet.
As the valley opens out ahead the effort of having got out of a very comfortable bed at 0500 still felt like idiocy. But glancing back the way we came we saw the dawn sunlight picking out the top of La Tournette in the distance. What a sight. But that was the last of the sun for our hike, once it was above the cloud base we didn't see it again and the wind had a definite nip to it higher up.
- Looking back at la Tournette in the distance.
- Blonniere peaks and ridge in the distance ahead; still a long way off.
We passed a few chamoix on the slopes to the left then up at the chalet we stopped to refill water bottles. This is where the paths end and we had to improvise a route up towards the peaks. We chose a route to the right that goes up under the face of L'Etale, past a narrow snow filled gulley that shoots down from somewhere near the summit. It's quite heavy going on unstable scree. Once or twice we startled a chamois that seemed to leap out from nowhere.
- Quick break at la Blonniere chalet.
- Route we took from the chalet. Off to the right then left behind the trees under the face of L'Etale. Limestone scrambling and unstable scree - but ok.
- Chamois
Our plan was to stick to the base of L'Etale - so that we would be able to easily retrace our steps later on. This wasn't a bad idea but further up the way became far too steep and the scree was so loose that we could not avoid slipping down more than we could climb up. We made the call to traverse off to the left where it looked like there was more stable ground. It's amazing how much more difficult things become when there isn't a defined path. Eventually we came across a kind of grassy rib that stretched up the slope. It was nice and firm underfoot and felt like a motorway compared to the oceans of scree either side. Definitely felt like we were in the wilds now.
- Keep going.
We kept at it because we wanted to at least hit the ridge and see the views beyond. The peaks that looked fairly benign lower down looked a lot more substantial now we were higher up. It was slow going on the pathless terrain. Higher up, about 1900 m we found marmots and then spotted a route that looked like the best way to gain the ridge - an obvious breach in the col just to the left of the L'Etale north face. We were quite excited to see the peak of L'Etale from this side (it is tucked away behind false summits; interestingly, even on the Blonniere ridge we could not see the peak of L'Etale itself). Our route took us over a snowfield - hard and compact at this time of the year. The gradient was such that we needed microspikes to get up it - it would not be pleasant to slip down what would feel like a cheese grater.
- Aiming for the obvious low point on the ridge.
- Spikes on.
- Almost there.
As soon as we hit the ridge Mont Blanc was there in front of us... seeming to be a lot closer than we thought it would be. It's impossible not to be impressed! With the wind whipping up the slopes and the Blonniere ridge looking a lot more rugged than we'd thought it felt like we were up amongst the big boys of the Alps. Not sure how many 4000ers are in view from here besides Mont Blanc..? Maybe a couple?
- The ridge at last.
- Blonniere ridge towards L'Etale. Enormous northern false summit blocking the true summit.
We worked our way along the ridge to the north with the intention of taking in as many of the Blonniere peaks as we reasonably could before the call of croissants became too great and led us back down the valley for breakfast. This was some very fine scrambling. We were surprised by how difficult some of the moves were. We didn't really know what to expect because there are not many descriptions of this route that we'd been able to read up on. There are some sections with quite unstable rock on the apex and the drops, especially to the Mont Blanc side, are dizzying. The wind was strong and although we could probably do it, we decided it was not a ridge we could zip across quickly, we'd need to dedicate a lot more time to it than we had available that morning.
- That summit looks closer than it is.
We headed back down the way we had come. A great way to kick-off the half-term; Luca obviously delighted that he could get back to some GCSE revision, and L'Etale to come later in the week.