Grand Muveran

The Grand Muveran is one of the most prominent mountains you can see from Lausanne. It's a bulky thing that hulks next to its neighbour, the Petit Muveran, which has a distinctive shark-fin shape. You can see the Petit from our house, and the Grand is visible from the road outside. Given this prominence, both Muverans have been on Tanya's and my list as climbing targets for a long time. A couple of weekends ago we went with our friend Mélina and ticked the Grand Muveran.

The view across the Rhone Valley from La Loutse.

The Cabin Rambert is right below the Grand Muveran, but it is closed this year while it is being done up, and anyway Grand Muveran is easily doable in a day. We drove to Ovronnaz and then up to La Loutse, left the car, and started walking through fields dotted with cows.

Getting to the cabin was an easy walk, and afterwards it turned a bit steeper. Although entirely non-technical, the route is difficult enough that it's actually an alpine grade F (for facile). The path is well marked with painted dots and cairns, but there are places where you need to use your hands.

On the summit of Grand Muveran (3051 m).

On the summit, clouds roiled across the ridge while we ate lunch and took in the views.

We headed down again and arrived back at La Loutse by mid-afternoon - early enough to buy some cheese and fresh cream from the farm and head back for a swim in Lac Léman. Now when I see the Grand Muveran on my way to work it's nice to think I've walked up there, and the Petit Muveran has moved up on my mental list of mountains to climb.

Thanks for the cheese!