Where is everyone?  A common question for those more used to the Chamonix – Mont Blanc scene when visiting Arolla high in the Val d’Herens, Swiss Valais Alps.  Great hills, nice huts, good climbing and relatively few other climbers…what’s not to like?  Well…there is one thing, this is old school alpine country…meaning no lifts and long, but beautiful, walks to approach the routes…

The Cabane de Tsa 2607m above Arolla in the Val d’Herens with the West Ridge of the Tsalion and Aiguille de la Tsa above right.

Having said that, the route to the lovely, and slightly alternative, Cabane de la Tsa 2607m, is only a 1.5 hour walk through the woods & classic high alpine meadows above Arolla.  This provides a great base camp for the long rock ridge that is the West Ridge of the Dent du Tsalion, 3589m. In fact, as the hut approach is so short, and we were heading up the Rhone Valley, en route, we took an entertaining detour to climb the Piere Avoi 2473m using the famous ski lifts of Le Chable and Verbier.

L’Arete, 5c on the Piere Avoi above Verbier and the Rhone Valley below

Piere Avoi is the quite striking pinnacle of limestone often visible on the eastern skyline from this end of the Mont Blanc Massif and provides some interesting middle mountain sport climbing…with some fairly sporting bolting!  L’Arete is one of the 2 routes here featured in Schweiz Plaisir, and so we gravitated down the quite steep and loose approach couloir to find this – conveniently with a red paint route name at the base, although worth noting that the route actually tracks a bit right from here as the bolts are not always that easy to see – or find!

A neighbouring climb on the West Face of Piere Avoi with the Rhone Valley below.  South Ridge of the Grand Muveran visible in the upper centre.

The route takes a fine narrow ridge in the lower pitches before tackling steeper cracks and walls in the upper part with the pitches bring graded harder but it all feels pretty sustained at a similar sort of 5b-5c level.  There are lots of other routes and pitches dotted about, with great views around the Rhone Valley, Mont Blanc Massif and Swiss Valais and the climbing is around 23-2400m so it’s not bad acclimatisation either.
Likewise for sleeping at the Cabane de la Tsa at just over 2600m…

The Cabane de la Tsa above Arolla, base camp for climbing the West Ridge of the Dent de Tsalion

From the lovely base camp Tsa hut meadows it’s about a 1 hour walk to the foot of the soaring rock ridge that forms the Western spur of the Dent de Tsalion.

The foot of the West Ridge, at just under 3000m, with the climb taking the nice easy slanting crack above the climber.

A great middle to high mountain ambiance on the route with the glaciers of the Pigne d’Arolla visible to the West here and amazing views to the East awaiting the top out…

The climbing, easy at first, soon becomes a little more technical with a few moves of 4 and the occasional bolt.

Good quality gneiss and nice climbing on the West Ridge

A little higher still and the climbing soon becomes a lot more technical still, with a very short section of 5c and a couple of bolts for protection…and, for those with big boots & large packs, possibly progression too!

A sustained section up the ridge with thinner slabby climbing and a couple of bolts. This would be no joke in the wet!

There is lots of fine sustained scrambling and easy climbing on this route as well as a few harder sections and with the altitude all being above 3000m, not only is it a fine route itself, it’s also great training for higher mountain objectives, which may then have a lot less actual climbing than this route!  West facing, high altitude rock also felt good for an alpine morning in heat wave conditions.

Great views to the East from the South Ridge of the Dent Blanche on the left to the Monte Rosa and Matterhorn, centre and Dent d’Herens, right.

Topping out on the ridge gives great views of the Ferpecle glacier, Dent Blanche and over to the Matterhorn, Monte Rosa and other Zermatt 4000ers.  To the north lies the appealing pinnacle of the Aiguille de la Tsa, 3668m. 

We’ve already done quite a lot of climbing today, it’s still quite a hike to the Bertol Hut – so do we have the time and energy to climb it…?

The Aiguille de la Tsa, 3668. The classic pinnacle on the Arolla skyline and a great climb

Of course we do!

Rami high on the SE Arete of the Tsa – Fun easy climbing with good gear

It’s hard to walk past such an appealing peak and the route up is a high alpine easy climbing treat with solid slabs, airy ridges and lots of bolts and trad gear along the way, not to be missed!

The glacier hike over to the Bertol Hut

Whilst many teams descend via the Pointe de Tsalion, we were heading for the Bertol Hut and more good acclimatisation for other upcoming adventures, hopefully on the Eiger.  The glacier on the hike over is in good condition but there are constant sizeable sandy grooves which don’t make for rapid progress!

The superbly located Bertol Hut 3311m above the Col de Bertol

The days climbing is not quite finished until you actually arrive at the Bertol Hut – and the number of ladder steps is increasing as the glacier is retreating.  Note the superb little Matterhorn like summit just above the hut…So even when you arrive at the hut, there is still one more little climb to do…

Fun climbing in a cool place above the terrace of the Bertol Hut. Remarkable views from the crag!

We headed out from the hut at dawn the next morning to try and maximise the snow conditions, cooler weather and pre-storm window.

Dawn departure from the Bertol Hut en route to the Téte Blanche.

Conditions on the Mont Miné glacier are still remarkably good for mid August and the friendly guardian couple at Bertol confirmed it was the best season for several years there.  Great views of the Matterhorn and Zermatt skyline before heading back to Bertol.

Beautiful high altitude glacier trekking on the Tete Blanche, 3711m with the Matterhorn beyond

The Col de Bertol is now best traversed via the hut ladder system on either side as the direct ascent in summer is loose and unappealing – and of course coffee and cake at the Bertol hut en route is an added bonus!

Fun climbing to an amazingly scenic summit – with the sunny hut terrace just a couple of short abseils away. Cragging Bertol Hut style!  The Tete Blanche is the flat looking glacier summit on the far left with the higher Dent d’Herens beyond to the right.

The walk down from Bertol to Arolla is always going to be pretty long – but it’s a bit longer at the moment with the path having been recently swept away at the section below the blue Madonna and it’s necessary to head down and left just before that to pick up a new little path, marked with blue paint, leading back down in to a still pleasantly calm and quiet August weekend in Arolla!

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We have one last remaining mountaineering course place for this summer 2024 alpine season – on the Dufourspitze which is still in great condition this year:

Lance on the summit of the Dufourspitze after the ascent from Monte Rosa Hut – good conditions in early Aug 2024