Date of your route : Jul 05, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No
Hello,
I put "no" for visitor numbers, but I was definitely very lucky: no one was there on 5/07/25. When I say no one, I mean no one, literally. Not a single human being the whole time.
I started hiking around 1 p.m. Météo France had forecast a chance of rain, but if you know how to check the weather forecast and analyse weather maps in relation to the terrain, there was no rain at all in the area until the next day, yay!
Even better, it was beautiful with only clouds far to the east and north. Mont Blanc was playing hide-and-seek, but I saw it. That's probably why I didn't come across a single human being on such an easily accessible hike. Alone in the world so close to an Alpine road, well, that's nice ^^ (my first time since I moved to the Alps a year ago, and I've done a lot of hikes, always with crowds of people and "buses" on the trails to overtake... ahah hem).
About 600m of elevation gain, so really easy and enjoyable, the only "difficulty" being a section of slabs, as mentioned by another commenter here, which is a bit gravelly. No difficulty on the way up, but be careful on the way down as it's a bit exposed for those who are vertigo-prone, I think.
In itself, a really easy hike, with a few snowfields to cross that day, but nothing too challenging, and the snow was light enough at that time of day. I brought crampons and an ice axe for nothing, haha, they got a good airing.
The trail is fairly visible and well marked with cairns. Unless you're in thick fog, there's little risk of getting lost as you know where you're going and where you've come from the whole way.
The climb took about 1.5 hours with a flat approach of about 20-30 minutes (I didn't check the exact time, I'm not racing ^^).
I stayed at the top for about 2 hours because it's so rare to have no one else in the Alps, especially in an area that is usually very busy. 
In short, it was pure bliss for my first return to above 3,000 metres (in quite a while). A beautiful walk that allows you to gauge your breathing and easily prepare for the next ones with more elevation gain.
Some might say that it's not a "real" 3,000 because it's so easy. Well, if they want to, but we're still at a good altitude, and people's bodies can react differently.
In terms of scenery, it's sublime when you ignore the few ski lifts in Val d'Isère. The view of the many surviving glaciers on the north faces further away is superb. The remains of the frontal moraines still present here on the high ridges are fantastic. There are no more visible glaciers here (perhaps still fossilised under the debris?), except for a piece of the Grand Pisaillas, but I don't know how long it's been there.
This creates a lunar landscape that is both beautiful and sad, but one that I love as a lover of minerals.
There are lots of marmots. Be careful on the road, though, as they don't hesitate to come out and look for whatever they're looking for. They're not shy and are all along the trail. So cute. I apologised for bothering them ^^
Anyway, enjoy yourselves and be careful despite the apparent "ease" of this hike, you are at a considerable altitude.
See you!
Machine-translated
Country:
District:
Visorando member
Tourism professional
Very difficult 
Difficult 
