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Tour Grand Chavalard - Grand Chavalard summit (cima)

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Trail stats

Distance
12.71 mi
Elevation gain
7,208 ft
Technical difficulty
Difficult
Elevation loss
7,208 ft
Max elevation
8,438 ft
TrailRank 
43
Min elevation
8,438 ft
Trail type
Loop
Moving time
5 hours 16 minutes
Time
9 hours 6 minutes
Coordinates
3253
Uploaded
July 14, 2018
Recorded
July 2018
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near Les Garettes, Canton du Valais (Switzerland)

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Trail photos

Photo ofTour Grand Chavalard - Grand Chavalard summit (cima) Photo ofTour Grand Chavalard - Grand Chavalard summit (cima) Photo ofTour Grand Chavalard - Grand Chavalard summit (cima)

Itinerary description

Castellano (English below):
Comenzamos la ruta desde el parking de L'Erié. La intención era comenzarla lo más cerca posible del Gîte Luy d'Août (en el este de la ruta), pero el camino está prohibido para coches particulares y lo más cercano a aparcar es al lado de la estación de telecabina de Ovronnaz, lo que sumaba a la ruta 6 km más y seguro que otra hora y media.
En el aparcamiento de L'Erié hay un cartel donde dice lo que se tarda e hacer las rutas. Al tour del Grand Chavalard lo indica 5.30 y la subida al pico 7 horas (4 de subida y 3 de bajada).

Los primeros 45 minutos (que comparten la ruta del tour con la de la cima) son muy asequibles y en La Ble hay un desvío hacia la derecha para subir a la cima. Este desvío está considerado ya como ruta azul o ruta alpina, con lo que el que la hace ya sabe que se va a encontrar una ruta no muy fácil. Si bien es cierto que no es especialmente complicada, no hace falta casco, ni cuerdas ni nada por el estilo, es una ruta alpina y muy empinada.
Nosotros solo subimos hasta la mitad tras atravesar las 18 estructuras de hierro para contener las avalanchas. En este punto hay una cadena para seguir subiendo un tramo y ya se ve la cruz de la cima aunque aun te faltará más de una hora para seguir subiendo.
Desde ahí bajamos por el mismo camino hasta encontrarnos con la ruta original del tour.

Seguimos caminando y llegamos a la Cabane de Sorniot donde paramos a comer. Desde aquí hay varias maneras de llegar al col de Fenestral. Decidimos ir por la parte izquierda del lago superior de Fenestral lo que implicaba que el camino sería más llano pero los últimos metros más empinados. Es una cabaña muy moderna donde hay un restaurante y nosotros nos encontramos con mucha gente que se quedaba a hacer noche allí.

A partir de ahí es casi todo descenso hasta la vuelta al parking. Eso sí, al menos otro par de horas. El tiempo muy cambiante ya que con previsión de sol acabó lloviendo lo que dificultó aun más el camino.
Antes de llegar al parking pasamos por Gîte Luy d'Août, otra cabaña en el camino donde se puede parar.

Camino largo y no recomendable para gente que no esté preparada. En el caso de haber llegado a la cima habría que haber sumado otras 2.30 a la ruta haciendo un total de más de 11 h.



English:
We started the hike from the parking L'Erié (free parking). The intention was to start it the closest possible from Gîte Luy d'Août (east side of the route), however cars were not allowed to pass one fence (only authourized ones) and the closest parking was next to the Ovronnaz cable car station (also free), and that was adding 6 km more which means 1.30 more).
In L'Erié parking there is some piece of information with different possible trails, km and the timing. The Grand Chavalar Tour states 5h30 and the summit one 7 hours (4 to go up and 3 down).

The first 45 mins (which actually share the rout with the tour to the summit) are quite easy and in La Ble there is a fork that you need to go right in order to start to go to the summit. This trail from here is considered blue or alpine, so whoever starts it already knows what to expect and it's not an easy one. Even though it's not technically complex; there is no rope or helmet needed for example; it is still an alpine trail and quite steep.
We only made it half way after going through all 18 iron snowstoppers. After this point you will find a chain and it's the first time you will be able to see the cross on the top, although you will have more than an hour to get there.
From there we decided to get back down until the original tour trail.

We keept on walking and we reached the Cabane de Sorniot where we stopped for lunch. From there there are different paths to get to col de Fenestral (2 hrs till here). We decided to go from the left hand side of Lake Fenestral which implied a flat trail and a very steep last 200 meters. That cottage is quite modern and there is a restaurant and we found many people in there who were staying overnight.

From that point till the end everything is pretty much descend. But at least another couple of hours or more. The weather was changing a lot (although the forecast was ok) and it ended up raining which made it a bit harder.
Prior to get to the parking where we started, we got next to Gîte Luy d'Août, another cottage in the way where you can stop and rest.

Overall it was a long way and not very recommended to people who is not prepared. In case we had done it to the summit we should have added another couple of hours to the route making it a total of more than 11 hrs.

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Waypoints

PictographPhoto Altitude 7,913 ft
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PictographPhoto Altitude 7,913 ft
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PictographPanorama Altitude 8,415 ft
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PictographPhoto Altitude 6,946 ft
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PictographPhoto Altitude 6,775 ft
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PictographPhoto Altitude 7,707 ft
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PictographPhoto Altitude 7,982 ft
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PictographCar park Altitude 6,167 ft
Photo ofParking L'Erié

Parking L'Erié

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