Inspired by our
perfect day on Monday on Scex da Marenda, Tuesday morning followed a similar routine
with us rising early to catch the free bus from Zinal to Vissoie and
then on to a second free bus bound for another mountain village in
Val d'Anniviers. Todays' destination was St Luc, on the eastern flank
of the valley, from where we hopped onto the funicular which raced us
up to Tignousa at 2100m, all thanks to the Liberte pass. It was just
so amazing how all the transports are so perfectly coordinated and we
arrived just after 11 once again and fresh for the hike ahead of us. Today our target was Bella Tolla, a rocky and snow dusted summit at 3025m which promised impressive panoramas of the nearby 4000m peaks, deep into the Bernese Alps to the north and (on such a clear day) right into France to the Mont Blanc massif as well.
Today's climb was tough from
the outset. From the funicular station we followed signs initially to the Cabane Bella Tolla and then onwards to the summit. Unlike the previous day where the view opened almost
immediately and stayed with us for most of the climb, the hike to
Bella Tolla passed through a rocky, scree covered slope that hid much
of the view on the way up, only treating us to a glimpse of what was
in store with the occasional peak appearing the higher we climbed.
With the hot sun beating down we trudged upwards, sweating and day
dreaming of the views above which kept us going.
That said, we made
good time and after just 2 hours of climbing we emerged onto the
ridge connecting Bella Tolla with the nearby Rotthorn, stepping onto
the ice covered path that was still defying the hot sun. The view
changed immediately. Instead of having a rocky path to look at, we
could now see for miles, deep into the mountains all around us. It
was an amazing reward for our efforts.
The summit of
Bella Tolla was still 100m above us and the ice covered path made for
slow going on the steep, final ascent. Arriving at 1.30pm onto the
chilly summit, with a gusty breeze which had frozen the snow pack
prompting us to quickly put on our down jackets, and we were amazed
at the how close the peaks on display seemed. The closest 4000m
peaks, the Bisshorn and Weisshorn, looked like just a few hundred
metres away, despite the expanse of glacier separating their snow
covered tops from us and looking east the enormous Mont Blanc shone
in the afternoon sun as clear as it had been when we had looked on it
more than a month ago from Les Contamines.
Settling in and
putting our lunch on to cook, we marveled at the perfect view on all
sides. We just could not believe how lucky we were to be treated to
such amazing weather. One very welcome warm soup later (eaten with
difficulty since we had forgotten to pack the sporks and saucepan
handle!) and we knew it was time to head back to the funicular. We
had enjoyed a whole hour and half on the summit trying to fix the
view into our brains and we were sad to go (but we didn't want to
miss the last funicular either).
We turned this into a circular loop, descending down the southern side of the summit and following the trail past the lake and then back towards the Cabane Bella Tolla but before reaching the mountain hut we veered off towards the Observatory near the funicular station just below us. One very rapid and
rocky descent later and we had surprised ourselves by reaching the
funicular in just over an hour which gave us time to sit and reflect
on another perfect mountain day before catching the buses back to Zinal and
off to the pool for a refreshing dip. We were feeling very lucky to
be in Val d'Anniviers this week.
Walk Information:
Motorhome Base: Zinal
Transport Used: Bus to Vissoie. Bus to St Luc. Funicular to Tignousa.
Start / End Point: Tignousa - Bella Tolla - Tignousa
Time It Took Us: 4 hours
Level: Hard
Map: LS 1307 'Vissoie' 1:25,000 (see below) Related Articles:
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