The Tour of the Matterhorn - A trekker's guidebook

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Stage 5 - Arolla to Prarayer

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Start: Arolla
Access to start: Bus from Sion; road access.
Altitude at start: 2006m
Finish: Prarayer
Access to finish: Bus to Valpelline; taxi onwards to the end of the road. Road access as far as Place Moulin next to the dam at the southwest end of the lake, 3km from Prarayer.
Altitude at finish: 2005m
Altitude gain: 108m
Altitude loss: 1085m
Distance: 15km
Time: 9hrs
Highpoint: Col Collon 3087m (or 3114m on the Italian map!)
Maps: 1:50,000 Carte Nationale de la Suisse 5006 Matterhorn Mischabel; Istituto Geografico Centrale 5 Cervino- Matterhorn e Monte Rosa 1:25,000 Carte Nationale de la
Suisse 1347 Matterhorn; Istituto Geografico Centrale 115 La Valpelline, Valle di Ollomont, Valle di St Barthélmeny
Facilities: There are no facilities after Arolla until you reach the Rifugio Collon-Nacamuli.
Transport options: None
Accommodation: Arolla: several hotels; Rifugio Collon-Nacamuli; Rifugio Prarayer. Cabane des Bouquelins (emergency hut).
Extras: The walk out of Arolla can be shortened if you have access to wheeled transport; cars can be parked 2km out of the village at the end of the track. The Italian map shows a glacier on the Italian side of the Col Collon, but this is long gone and scree and moraine slopes are all that remain.
Escape route: Once embarked on this stage there is really no escape route other than back to Arolla the way you’ve come. If a problem arose after passing the Col Collon you would need to think carefully about whether it would be easier to go down (then have the hassle of returning to Switzerland from Italy) or turn back and perhaps have a longer return route within Switzerland.

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Depending where the trek is started, the ascent to Col Collon (3087m) is likely to be the first glacier crossing encountered. This is an exciting part of the tour as it takes us up into the high mountains, a world normally reserved for those who are climbing peaks. All around are snowy mountains and high rocky summits.

Whilst not difficult, the glacier should not be underestimated: in dry conditions a rope will probably not be needed for most of the way, but as soon as snow covers the ice it is advisable to rope up, as crevasses cannot be seen in fresh snow. Sometimes the whole climb can be accomplished without using crampons, by following the stony moraines until the flatter terrain near the col is reached. However, this can be rather tortuous, and just a couple of metres of sloping ice can result in a slip. This may leave you sliding a long way over ice and gravel which is not very pleasant. It is much quicker and generally more comfortable to put on crampons if there is ice to be crossed, rather than teetering from one rocky island to another.

The climb out from Arolla is long – a good 5hrs 30mins to 6 hrs to the col – but one with plenty of variety and enjoyment. On the other side, in Italy, the terrain changes from glacier to moraine and glacier-hewn rocks before plunging down into beautiful Alpine meadows where marmots and wild flowers abound.

The Col Collon has been a much-used pass for centuries. From around AD1220 a band of villains from Evolène regularly raided the Valpelline village of Bionaz, which resulted in reciprocal raiding from the Valpelline people. In 1233 a peace treaty was signed between the two valleys, which was reiterated 100 years later with a pact to provide mutual help between the towns. From thereon there has been an agreement that allows the Evolène farmers to graze their cattle over in the Valpelline Valley. Good relations continued, with much trade between the valleys, but the advance of the glaciers in the 18th century changed all this. Soon only alpinists could cross the col, and 64 sheep were killed in a storm there in 1859.

The Rifugio Collon-Nacamuli (2818m) would provide an excellent overnight to shorten this day, and if you are not pushed for time this can be recommended. Otherwise the next accommodation is down in the valley at the northeast end of the incredibly blue Place Moulin Lake. A flat track runs along the shore of the lake, and the Rifugio Prarayer offers typical Italian lunchtime fare, so it’s a popular spot for families to walk the bambinos, grandparents and the dog. Weekends and holidays are especially bustling and festive, but in the evening calm descends on Prarayer again and the stunning surroundings can be enjoyed to the full. The Rifugio Prarayer provides excellent accommodation and food and a very warm welcome.

Before the dam was built Prarayer was a thriving village where cereals were cultivated and cattle farmed. In the warmer climes of the Middle Ages there was much traffic over the Col Collon, non-glaciated in those days. Smuggling continued over this col until the 1970s when frontiers started to open up.

At Prarayer there is a plaque commemorating a visit by Achille Rati, the future Pope Pie 1X, who was a keen Alpinist. Wildlife abounds in this region, and you may well glimpse chamois grazing the higher slopes as you descend from the col. It is not rare to see or hear black grouse in the surrounding larch forests.

Route
Leave Arolla by the road heading south, which soon becomes a dirt track. After a couple of kilometres the road ends, and a footpath continues heading up the left (east) side of the valley. Ahead are the steep slopes of the North Face of Mont Collon. This trail leads to the Cabane de Bertol as well as the Col Collon, and we follow this route for some way towards the Plans de Bertol. There is a choice: the old path stays low and skirts round under the rocky shoulder to the Bas Glacier d’Arolla, whilst the signed way goes up to the Plans de Bertol then leaves the hut path and descends to join the path going to the glacier. Clearly the path makers want us to use the higher version but it does add some climbing to an already long day. The lower path is perfectly feasible, and steps off the main trail under the cliffs where there is a Madonna overhead. It is waymarked in red paint and signed to the Cabane des Bouquetins. It skirts down under the foot of the cliffs, then up to a water station where there is a short ladder. It soon arrives at the moraine and boulderfields, which give access to the Haut Glacier d’Arolla, where it rejoins the path from the Plans de Bertol. There is a signpost (which rather optimistically gives 2hrs 45mins to the col), and red and white waymarks lead onwards.

Views open up with the Pigne d’Arolla to the southwest and the Bouquetins to the east. As the path nears the glacier the waymarks change to blue and white to lead up a moraine ridge. In some places there are blue and white posts to show the way, but these tend to get disturbed by the movement of the ice underneath so it’s best to try to plan a route up the glacier by sight rather than blindly going from pole to pole.

Once on the glacier just follow your nose, taking the easiest line. To begin with it will be easier to follow the medial moraines which provide grippy rocks, but probably as you gain height these rocky section will become intermittent and it will be quicker to put on crampons and stick to the ice. If there is fresh snow then do rope up.

The prominent rocky bastion of the Vierge divides the glacier, and we head up a steeper slope to its right. High above, the toilet building of the Vignettes hut can clearly be seen, perched above the void. The angles eases as the Col Collon is reached, and once there it’s time to absorb those views. Just next to the col the snowy west slopes of Mont Brulé often have tracks on them; much further away is the Dent d’Hérens.

Be sure to find the way as you leave the col. Don’t set off directly down; the trail strikes across left and slightly up to a signpost which gives 45mins to the Rifugio Collon-Nacamuli. From this point the way weaves down and back right, marked by yellow waymarks. This first part of the trail could be difficult to find in fog or névé, but further down the way is clearer and leads around towards the hut. When the path goes right and up to the hut there is a vague traverse across which avoids actually going to the hut. Take this if you see it, or go on up to the hut, then descend and meet the traverse further down at a signpost.

The signs of glacial activity are all too evident here – glacially polished rocks and moraines attest to the fact that not long ago this side of the col also had its glacier. A couple of glacial lakes are passed before the trail tackles steep ground by means of tight zigzags and some metal rung footholds. Finally this slope ends at a flat area dominated by a huge moraine. Here the scenery is wild and remote, and after the rigours of the descent this is surely a place to rest and savour.

The difficulties are now over, and from here on you can relax and amble along the delightful Comba d’Oren where marmots will scurry for their burrows as you pass. Wild flowers are everywhere as the trail winds in and out of boulders, across streams, then follows an irrigation bisse to an Alpine farm at Oren (2161m).

A path must break off from here to descend directly to Prarayer, but it is not obvious and maybe the farmer is not keen on people crossing his land. If you miss it then continue (as I have done each time) on the main trail, which is extremely pleasant and gives great views of the bright blue waters of Lago di Place Moulin below. The Comba di Valcournera can be seen on the other side of the valley, the next stage of the trek. However, even with binoculars it’s more or less impossible to make out the improbable trail over the next day’s pass, the Colle di Valcornera, as the ground is rocky and steep.

Enjoy easy walking as the path descends slowly towards the lake. Just as you think it’s going in the wrong direction (towards the dam) a left junction is reached with a signpost, and our trail turns abruptly east to enter forest. (In a little way on the left a sign shows the trail from the farm, so it must exist.)

The red larch trees provide delightful shade as you descend past a farm to emerge on the often busy highway leading from the dam along the lake. Turn left to reach the tiny hamlet of Prarayer.