Vanil Noir

  • Vanil Noir
  • 2389 m
  • Prominence 1116 m
  • Location: North 46.528456, East 007.148373 (GPS)
  • Difficulty: YDS class 3
  • Climbed: July 23, 2023

Information:

How to get there:
This summit is about 21 kilometer north-east of Montreux. The west access is from the village Grandvillard, then a nice (narrow) paved road ascending to Les Baudes, there is a parking lot just before the farm house at location N46.535739, E007.115339, elevation about 1280 meter.
There is also trail access from the east side, closer to Gstaad, however this was not explored.
Route description:
Head up along the road to the upper building. The trail starts here, initially left, then right, ascending through the forest. You emerge in the upper valley, a nice sign informs you that there are two trails up to the refuge, named Bounavaux.
The route continues in a gentle ascending traverse directly towards the steep mountain towering above. Just before an upper farm building, there is a trail fork. Going left climbs a nice col named Col de Bounavaletta, just below 2000 meter elevation. Turn right here and follow the marked trail as it scrambles upward, then does a pretty long ascending traverse to reach the north ridge. From here, the normal route turns right and traverses well below the ridge, then climbs a small slope (there is a wire here), to reach an upper plateau.
Note: There is a more airy variation, just climb the ridge and follow it towards the summit of Vanil Noir.
The route now runs in aa line well left of the summit visible ahead. Then, an easy scramble up a shallow gully. Next, traversing just left of the peak (a false summit), then a short descent to a notch. The crossing of this notch is protected with a cable. There is exposure here. Then, a final easy ascent to the summit cross.
The route now continues down, initially a bit east, then descending along a fairly exposed route, mostly protected by cables. From the col, a well marked route descends back into the main vally and the junction by the upper farm building.
If time permits, it is recommended to do the short side trip and climb Sur Combe. elevation 13 meter lower than Vanil Noir.
Comments:
Heidi and I had travelled from Bergen, first with the ferry directly to Denmark, then 2 days of driving before arriving in the small village of Gstaad. I had breakfast at 0700, then left for the trailhead. I likely should have looked more carefully, there is a trailhead much closer to my point of departure on the east side of this mountain.
I arrived at the trailhead parking shortly before 0830, the parking lot was almost full. A couple of free slots, all that I needed. I started hiking at 0930, a very nice morning. There were several people at the mountain hut, below it a nice sign indicating both a more direct as well as a more gentle route.
I continued to the nice col, Col de Bounavaletta, arriving there in just a little more than one hour, a very acceptable rate of ascent. From here, the trail got more exposed, traversing steeper terrain across to gain the north ridge of the peak. I now continued following the very top of this ridge going south. This is NOT the marked route to the summit. However, clearly some people had taken this alternative. I remembered vaguely from a trip report (Denise?) that there should be some chains/cables protecting exposed points? The wind had picked up and strong gusts affected my balance a bit. I had already put my hat away as it otherwise would be taken by the wind. This ridge certainly had plenty of exposure and a number of very narrow sections. I crossed a local top along the way and started a short descending section. Time consuming with this wind. This could not be what Denise had written about! I took a short break and considered the way ahead. Pretty obvious conclusion, better to go all the way back to the beginning of this ridge, then locate the "normal route". Without the wind, and with enough time, this ridge might have been fun to explore further.
I turned and before I was back at the beginning, almost one hour had passed by. The trail marked with red and white paint went on the left side, not at the ridge at all. As soon as I hit a short scramble section, there was a cable. OK, this was another route with respect to difficulty, much easier. Much closer to the summit, the route crosses a small notch, now on the ridge. This point was well protected by cables, fairly exposed. I arrived shortly thereafter at the summit cross. The time was 1120, not bad given my long scramble on the ridge. I left after 10 minutes and continued to the col between Vanil Noir and Sur Combe. Most of this is a descending traverse in pretty steepish terrain. Chains protected almost the entire route here. I was back down in the col with the trail fork shortly before 1200, plenty of time to also visit Sur Combe.
An easy ascent in less than 15 minutes and I was on the summit. This place had a very nice view and also a pretty nice summit cross. I decided to take my main break up here. The wind was now also much weaker than before I got to Vanil Noir.
I left around 1220, and had a pleasant walk back down to my car, arriving there at 1345.

Resources: