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Park at the Gève car park.
(S/E) Follow the road towards the refuge (due north) for about 320 m until you reach a fork.
(1) Turn left to pass under a wooden bridge built for skiers. Follow the wide forest path that heads west towards the ridge. When the path veers northwards along the side of the ridge, do not be tempted by the path that goes straight up, but follow the path heading north.
(2) At the first fork (altitude 1,390 m), ignore the path that climbs to the left and continue straight ahead. At the second fork, ignore the path that descends to the right and continue straight ahead on a slight incline.
(3) At the Charbonnière crossroads, take the path on the left that climbs before turning right.
(4) At the next crossroads (l'Avion), continue straight ahead until you reach the monument commemorating the plane crash of 2 February 1944.
(5) Retrace your steps.
(4) Take the path sloping up to the right (yellow and green markings). Continue along the main path, which winds through the karst landscape, until you reach Camp des Carteaux.
(6) Continue to the edge of the cliff (danger!) to join theGR® trail, which you will follow to the right until you reach Bec de l'Orient.
(7) Admire the view, then rejoin theGR® which more or less follows the ridge line. Pass the 1454 metre peak, then the crossroads called "Sous le Brochier" which indicates a possible return route to Gève.
(8) About 200 m after this crossroads, be extra vigilant: several tracks may lead into the karst chaos off theGR®. Make sure you stay on the marked trail that remains close to the ridge line. When you reach a grassy area, on a sort of pass, look for a track that branches off to the left, which you should take to admire the remarkable panorama.
(9) Return to theGR® and reach the Pas de la Clé crossroads.
(10) Do not take the first path on the right that descends to Gève, but continue for about 50 metres to take the second path, which starts by climbing a little. Follow it first south, then south-west. This is a very good path that you tend to descend too quickly, so be careful not to miss the sign at the Gibelotte crossroads, nailed to a tree a little way back on the right.
(11) Take this path on the right, which climbs a little at first but quickly becomes a very pleasant, almost horizontal path that is easy to walk on. It crosses a very rugged karst area until it reaches a sinkhole on the right. The path then turns left, becomes stony and more difficult until it reaches the top of La Glacière.
(12) (I didn't risk following the tracks to the bottom of the sinkhole to check whether or not there was any ice left.) Turn back.
(11) Take the route to the right and you will come out on the Route Forestière du Cyclone.
(13) Continue downhill, pass the Refuge de Gève and return to the initial fork.
(1) Continue to follow the track that leads to the car park (S/E).
A beautiful route with sunny spring weather, but with sticky, melting snow. We made a bad choice by taking crampons instead of snowshoes, which was a real pain. Far too many people at Gève, we were forced to follow snowshoe route no. 6, impossible to follow the route from Viso to the aeroplane memorial, resumed the route to the Pas de la Clé, where again many people turned back. Not to be done on a winter weekend.
Visorando Member
Easy 
