Pointe de Mandallaz circular route

Date of your route : Aug 13, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Away from the busy Lake Charvin route, this solo circular route takes you through a varied, wild and little-travelled area. I didn’t come across a single person before the Col de Champ Tardif, just a few sheep.

As described in the route guide, I left the Tardevant path at around 1,700 metres to climb up the left bank of the torrent, following faint and intermittent tracks. I found this section a bit tedious. If I do this circular route again, I’ll try the less direct but better-marked path that heads left towards the Tardevant shelter.

From the ridge, the route offers a bird’s-eye view of the legendary Route de la Soif. The going remains easy until the key section, where a small ledge forces you to descend a few metres down the eastern slope, cross over, and then return to the ridge. A fixed piton provides protection for the crossing, but there is no fixed cable. In my view, this exposed section – where a fall is not an option – requires a certain degree of confidence on mixed grassy/rocky terrain, which is sometimes unstable; I would rate it T5. As the weather was turning stormy, however, I did not check whether it was possible to avoid the traverse by climbing directly up the ledge.

After this tricky section, the ascent to the summit becomes generally easy again. In the upper section, there are two short exposed sections, though not particularly difficult, which are equipped with cables that are not essential in dry weather.

Apart from these technical aspects, the route along the ridge is magnificent, and reaching the summit of Mandallaz offers a truly awe-inspiring moment. Unfortunately, this moment of contemplation was cut short by a brief shower mixed with a few hailstones. The descent down the south-west ridge was easy and posed no difficulties, as was the descent towards Lake Champ Tardif. Further down, I followed the more direct path leading down to the Aulp de Fier d’en Bas farm.

All in all, a memorable hike, slightly off the beaten track, which I’d recommend to anyone who loves the Aravis massif. Thank you for this description.

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Thank you for the comments and photos.
Randobriot

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Date of your route : Aug 11, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Hello,

The walk took place this Sunday in favourable weather conditions (though it was a bit warm). I have very fond memories of it, particularly the section between points (1) and (4) in a rather wild area where I came across nothing but sheep. A big thank you to the author of this guide.

The ascent took place entirely through woodland and, in the end, it was enjoyable despite the steep gradients.

I couldn’t find the path at point (2) and reached the ridge line slightly to the left of the IGN’s purple route and to the right of yours: quite soon I came across a belay ring (the one you mention, I imagine) and just after that I found myself stuck on a very short section that was highly exposed to the drop on the eastern side; after looking for a solution nearby, I decided to give up. To get round the difficulty, I retraced my steps slightly, making a short descent on the western side, before rejoining the ridge line slightly to the right of the IGN’s purple route (see my track, which is perhaps clearer: click here). The rest of the route along the ridge was less difficult (though certainly exposed) and the walk along this section was very pleasant.

NB: Please note that I only came across two sections equipped with cables, not three: the first was on a sloping slab and the second just before the summit (at one point, I may have taken a different route to yours).

Kind regards

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