Читать книгу The Swiss Alps онлайн

106 страница из 176

And so it is when you approach the mountains from St-Maurice. Nestling in the valley at the foot of the Cime de l’Est, this is an old town which grew around a monastery of 515AD, and takes its name from the warrior-saint said to have been martyred nearby. A small, no-nonsense workaday town, it has its attractive corners and plenty of history, but for users of this guide its main importance is as a point of access to the east side of the Dents du Midi. The town has several hotels, a campsite, restaurants, shops and a bank, and a railway station on the main Geneva–Martigny–Brig line, although when coming from Geneva it’s usually necessary to change at Lausanne to find a train that stops here. The tourist office (www.st-maurice.ch) is about 100m from the railway station, while from the post office opposite the station the local postbus begins its infrequent journey to either Vérossaz (La Doey) or Mex, both of which are on or near the route of the Tour des Dents du Midi (see ssss1).

Vérossaz is spread across an open hillside above and to the west of St-Maurice at 864m, but the road to it actually leaves the Rhône valley at Massongex, rather than St-Maurice from where the postbus sets out. The bus continues above the hamlet as far as La Doey, where a signpost directs walkers to the route of the Tour des Dents du Midi along a narrow metalled road heading into woodland. The TDM proper is reached where it enters a grassy combe containing the Fahy alpage, backed by waterfalls cascading from Les Trois Merles and the Cime de l’Est, then swings round to cross the viewpoint of Les Jeurs and continues northward before an alternative path cuts away to the southwest. This strikes up the steep slopes of the Dent de Valère and along the Crête du Dardeu to gain the Refuge de Chalin (5hrs from Vérossaz). This small unmanned hut on the 2595m Tête de Chalin has just eight places, but serves as an overnight base for climbs on the Cime de l’Est and others of the Dents du Midi that rise immediately behind it (see ssss1). The hut enjoys a spectacular, airy situation, with distant views of the Pennine Alps being especially memorable (www.cas-chaussy.ch).