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A narrow side road winds above Salvan heading north past the chalets of Les Granges on the way to the Lac de Salanfe. It is a narrow road too, mostly single-track with passing bays cut into the steeply wooded hillside, and with a couple of tunnels blasted through the rock, from the last of which you come out at the entrance to the Vallon de Van. This is a tight wedge of a valley; a valley of pasture and woodland with the tiny hamlet of Van d’ Haut (1371m) its only habitation reached by shuttle minibus service from Salvan and Les Marecottes in the high summer season. A short distance beyond the hamlet the road comes to a halt at Camping Van d’Haut, from where a mule-path strikes ahead to make the final 500m ascent to the Lac de Salanfe reservoir, reached by a walk of about 1½hrs from the roadhead.

‘Whether you come to climb or not,’ said R L G Irving, ‘you should see the Salanfe basin from which [the Dents du Midi] rise; its praises were sung long ago by Emile Javelle and he has not exaggerated its charm’ (The Alps).