HAUTE CIME - DENTS DU MIDI
From Van d'en Haut
DISTANCE
3 km
+
17,5 km
out and back
TIME
1h30
+
10h30
ELEVATION
500 + 1300
1800
Min 1457m
Max 3265m
ESSENTIALS
SEASON
(of the report)
YOU'LL NEED
-
Sense of direction
-
VERY Good knees
-
Walking poles
This one is not to take lightly!
First of all this is a summit...so by definition you're going to a pretty high altitude, and of course, it's getting steeper as you're approaching the final ascent. We did it in two days and stayed one night at "Auberge de Salanfe", which I would strongly recommend. It is a really nice and comfortable place to stay.
More information :
One last thing before I start to go into details, this is a alpine type of hike! You have to keep in mind that you'll need a good sense of direction as sometimes there's no path (especially if you're at the beginning of the season), and it can be really dangerous to leave it (continue to read to know more about it).
FIRST DAY - VAN D'EN HAUT to AUBERGE DE SALANFE
The hike starts from Van d'en Haut at the camping's parking lot. This part is really easy and mostly into the forest. There's just a few ladders and small steps.
We were a pretty large group so we took our time, it took us approximately 1h30 to reach "Auberge de Salanfe" and its beautiful lake. We stayed for the night, this place isn't like the typical mountain hut but more like a hotel, comfort wise.
SECOND DAY - AUBERGE DE SALANFE to LA HAUTE CIME
We woke up early (6am) to have plenty of time for the rest of the hike and it turned out that we couldn't have done it any other way.
The first 30 minutes you'll walk alongside the lake, which is perfect for a little warm up, try to walk fast because there's a long day waiting ahead. Another 40min will get you to some aerial crossings equiped with ropes to help. This was one of my favourite portion of the trail because we went from below the clouds to above, which makes you feel like you climbed a lot, but obviously you didn't at this point...sorry!
Ok guys, this is where ends the easy warm up, you'll have 1h30 of more strenuous hike until the Susanfe pass (2494m). I'll suggest to do a short break here and eat a little bit, it will help you for what's waiting.
What I like about this hike it's that it gets regularly steeper, and never stops. From the pass you'll have about 30-40min of what I call "normal hiking" and then: it's all on your toes! That's why I wouldn't go without hiking poles.
At this point you're around 2700 meters high and this is where it started to be more complicated for me. First of all I can't even explain how steep it was (I hope the pictures help), every step I was making took a lot of my energy. Second, the shortness of breath didn't really help. The time it took us to arrive at "Les paresseux" pass will speak for itself : 1h40 to gain 300 meters of elevation. Good to know: we wasted 20 minutes in this portion by going off/losing the path and it was not only the wrong way, but also a dangerous one. This took a lot of our vitality because we had to climb a little bit and didn't know where we were going.
Fun fact: "Paresseux" means lazy. I would like to meet the guy that named it this way!
Now that you know me a little bit , I guess you remember that I have fear of heights ?!? Well, this fear in addition to how exhausted I was made me stop at this - stupidly named - pass. It was a difficult decision to make because I trained for this and it felt like a failure. Yet again, it was the best thing to do as you have to stay humble when facing such a powerful nature. Also, I don't wanna die.
I stayed at the pass with birds as company and watched the others go for the summit. They confirmed me that the last part was really aerial for someone with fear of heights but indeed the view up there was pretty amazing.
GOING BACK DOWN - HAUTE CIME to VAN D'EN HAUT
If you were impressed by the trail when going up, it will look even worst going down. In my case, walking poles and reassuring friends helped a lot!
No need to say that your knees will suffer a little bit because there's 1800m to hike down and depending of the timing you'll may have to hurry up. If it can help, there's one major benefit: the views. When going up you had to turn around to see them, but on the way back you can fully enjoy them all the way (well not the first part, it's really steep, watch where your putting your feet).
Finally, the most important recommandation I could give is to choose with whom you'll live this experience. I was lucky enough to have a great team of friends, which helped a lot and made this day memorable!
