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Walking in the Haute Savoie: North

30 day walks - Salève, Vallée Verte, Abondance, Bellevaux, Morzine

By Janette Norton, Alan Norton, Pamela Harris

ISBN

9781852848101

Availability

Published

6 Nov 2017

Edition

Third

Pages

264

Size

17.20 x 11.60 x 1.50cm

Weight

290g

Delivery & Returns

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More information...

First volume of a 2-part guide to walking in the Haute Savoie in the French Alps. This guidebook covers the area south of Lake Geneva to the Swiss border including Salève, Chablais and the Vallée Verte, with Evian and Morzine among places to stay. 30 walks include local summits and ridges, but generally straightforward terrain.

Seasons

Spring and summer, when the snow has melted and the slopes are bright with alpine flowers; autumn, when the leaves are changing, or even winter for some of the lower walks

Centres

Evian-les-Bains, Morzine, Abondance, Châtel, St-Julien-en-Genevois, Bellevaux, Boège, Habère-Poche

Difficulty

Variety of routes of differing length and height gain, suitable for most abilities, graded from easy to difficult; none require special equipment or expertise, but the few graded difficult have some exposed sections, often protected by cables, and need a head for heights

Must See

Major peaks: Cornettes de Bise, Mont de Grange, Dent d'Oche, Pic Boré Lakes: Geneva, Arvouin, Tavaneuse Cols: Cheséry, Cou, Brétolet Historical attractions: medieval abbeys; numerous small chapels, shrines, stations of the cross and statues on mountain tops; smugglers routes over the French-Swiss border cols Nature reserves; bird migratory routes Geological features: limestone cliffs, gorges and caves (Salève); fault-line and microclimate (Vuache)

ISBN

9781852848101

Availability

Published

6 Nov 2017

Edition

Third

Pages

264

Size

17.20 x 11.60 x 1.50cm

Weight

290g

Overview

A guidebook of half and full-day walks in the lovely Haute Savoie mountains of France. This guide describes 30 circular routes of between 7 and 13km, based around Evian-les-Bains, Morzine, Abondance, Chatel, St-Julien-en-Genevois, Bellevaux, Boege and Habere-Poche.

Graded from easy to difficult, there are walks to suit most abilities, but a few have some exposed sections and need a head for heights. The guide is divided into 6 areas covering the Saleve and Vuache, the Vallee Verte, the Vallee du Brevon, Pre-Alpes du Leman and Val d'Abondance. With highlights including Cornettes de Bise, Mont de Grange, Dent d'Oche and Pic Bore, the walks in this guide will show you a quieter, less busy side to this outstandingly beautiful area.

Alongside a detailed route description and map, each walk has a summary of all you need to know before you set out (distance, time to walk, ascent, maximum altitude and instructions for accessing the start). The guidebook includes advice on travel, accommodation and equipment, as well as information about local wildlife and Savoyard food and drink, and a glossary of useful French words. A companion volume, Walking in Haute Savoie: South, is also available (ISBN: 9781852848118)

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Map key

Location of walks

Preface

Introduction

A short history of the Haute Savoie

Wildlife

Plants and flowers

Getting there

When to go

Accommodation

Savoyard food and drink

What to take

Waymarking

Maps

Safety

Using this guide

Salève and Vuache

Walk 1 Gorges du Salève

Walk 2 Balcon du Salève

Walk 3 Grand Piton

Walk 4 Pointe du Plan

Walk 5 Boucle de l’Iselet

Walk 6 Le Vuache

Vallée Verte

Walk 7 Signal des Voirons

Walk 8 Mont de Vouan

Walk 9 Pointe de Miribel

Walk 10 Montagne d’Hirmentaz

Walk 11 Mont Forchat

Vallée du Brevon

Walk 12 Mont d’Hermone

Walk 13 Rocher de Nifflon

Walk 14 Pointe de la Gay

Walk 15 Pointe de Chalune

Walk 16 Haute Pointe

Walk 17 Pointe d’Uble

Pré-Alpes du Léman

Walk 18 Pic des Mémises

Walk 19 Pic Boré

Walk 20 Dent d’Oche

Val d’Abondance

Walk 21 Cornettes de Bise

Walk 22 Lac d’Arvouin

Walk 23 Autour du Mont Chauffé

Walk 24 Roc de Tavaneuse

Walk 25 Mont de Grange

Walk 26 Pointe des Mattes

Walk 27 Le Morclan

Val de Morzine

Walk 28 Col de Chésery

Walk 29 Pointe de Ressachaux

Walk 30 Col de Cou

Appendix A Route summary table

Appendix B Useful information

Appendix C Glossary of useful French words

Maps

Maps

Each walk is accompanied by a sketch map with coloured contours, showing key places and numbered waypoints that are highlighted in the route description. For additional features and detailed navigation, the relevant 1:25,000 IGN paper map is specified in the information box at the beginning of each walk. However, bear in mind that things are still changing in this region, and you may discover new ski lifts, roads or jeep tracks that are not yet on the maps.

A good map that gives an overall picture of the Haute Savoie walking areas is the IGN Top 100 Tourisme et Découverte No.144 Annecy/Thonon-les-Bains, 1:100,000.

A complete list of IGN maps can be found in Appendix B, together with details of where to buy or order them in the UK. Otherwise, it is usually easy to buy them in the region and they are sometimes cheaper in local supermarkets.

For pre-walk planning and post-analysis, all the 1:25,000 and 1:100,000 IGN maps for the whole of France are available on the internet for a very small annual subscription from www.sitytrail.com. This is the best way to be sure you have the latest editions, and is accompanied by a powerful set of tools to choose the magnification, print selected areas, superimpose recorded GPS trails and record your favourite routes online. The sitytrail subscription includes access to the same maps with a tablet or smartphone App. For offline use, especially along walking trails, it is possible to download a set of map tiles for a local area. Note that sitytrail maps are also available for Switzerland with a separate subscription.

There are numerous Apps on the market that offer GPS tracking with open software maps. On the iPhone or iPad, MOTIONX-GPS is particularly convenient and flexible.

GPX files for all the routes described here are available to anyone who has bought this guide to download free from the Cicerone website. Just go to www.cicerone.co.uk/810/gps.

Updates

October 2023

Walk 15 - Pointe de Chalune

The following update is thanks to Rob Steenbrink.

Page 149 paragraph 1.

Towards the end of the path linking the Col de Chalune with the Col de Vésinaz, an alternative route is now marked which avoids both the scramble down the big rock and losing height by going down towards Chalet Blanc. The path leading to the rock is now marked by a yellow cross on a stone and the alternative path marked by a small yellow arrow on green attached to a post, next to a rope fence. This leads to the right, bypassing the difficult section down the rock, and joins the original route heading towards the Chalets de Pététoz.

June 2019

Upadates

Walk 13

(thanks to Mark Charlton)
The unsupervised Refuge de Nifflon (Nifflon d'en Haut) which lies north of Morzine suffered snow damage over the winter and is currently under repair. I understand it should be back in action later in the summer - also worth noting that the best way to make arrangements to access the key is to telephone the tourist information office at Bellevaux Phone: +33 4 50 73 71 53 https://www.refuges.info/point/4080/cabane-non-gardee/Chablais/Nifflon-d-en-Haut/

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Downloads

Walking in the Haute Savoie: North - GPX File

Janette Norton

Janette Norton lived in France, near Geneva, for over 30 years with her physicist husband, Alan, raising four children and working in the marketing field. Her love of mountain walking dated from the time she was a guide in her twenties, and the proximity of the Alps and Jura to her home inspired her to continue her passion. After her children grew up, she branched out to explore other areas of France.

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