Phase 3: Arolla to Zermatt
Stage 7: Arolla – Col Collon – Rifugio Prarayer Sepember 2009
Stage 7a: Arolla to Col Collon
9/7 Katherine and I flew to Geneva and then took the train to Sion where we caught a bus to Arolla. We carried our gear up the road from the bus stop to the Hotel du Glacier where we got a room and sorted our equipment for the hike to the Prarayer the next day. It was a
9/8 We got up about 7:00a and had breakfast. We had made arrangements the night before for a ride to the end of the road and the trailhead leading up the valley to the Haute glacier Arolla and our driver was ready to go at 7:45a. Once at the trailhead we followed the path heading up the left (east) side of the valley. Ahead we could see the steep slopes of the North Face of Mont Collon. After a short time we reached a trail junction, the upper trail led to the Plans de Bertol; we took the lower trail which stayed low and skirted around under the rocky shoulder to the Bas Glacier d’ Arolla and, after a short distance, past a dam and water reservoir, where a ladder was set into the rock to ascend above the dam. Once up the ladder we traversed across a rock face added by cables into the upper valley.
From here we took a path continuing up the valley to the snout of the Haut Glacier d’ Arolla. Once at the glacier we continued up the lateral moraine and boulder fields. We followed the moraine for quite a way until we could see a way across the glacier marked with blue wooden tripods. As we crossed the glacier we aimed for the base of a large rock outcropping (the Veirge). We continued following the glacier steeply up past the right side of the outcrop. As we got higher the angle decreased and soon we reached the Col Collon (3087m – 10,128ft) (11:05a) and once there we could see the snowy west slopes of Mont Brule’ and in the distance the Dent d’Herens. The Col Collon has been a much used pass for centuries. From around 1220 AD a band of thief’s from Evolene regularly raided the Valpelline village of Bioaz, 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 then on there has been an agreement that allows the Evolene 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 by effectively cutting off the trade route.
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- Mont Collon from the patio of the Hotel du Glacier
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- Katherine sorting gear for our hike
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- Katherine on the ladder leading up past the dam
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- The traverse past the dam
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- Looking up toward the snout the Haut Glacier d’Arolla
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- On the lateral moraine of the Haut Glacier d’Arolla
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- Crossing the glacier heading toward the Vierge on the right
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- End of the Glacier crossing and heading up alongside the Vierge
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- Katherine leading the way up the snow slopes toward Col Collon on the left
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- Tarn in the Col Collon on the west side of Mont Brule’
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- At the Col Collon
