Sainte Foy Tarentaise : 31 May 2020
A trip to the Sassière Valley
One of the joys of living in the Alps all year round is that you get to enjoy watching the seasons change. Right now is one of these special moments, as the mountain sheds its heavy coat of winter snow and reveals spectacular displays of spring colour and life. The mountain pastures are full of promise.
This is made even more fascinating by the way you can hike up a mountain and pass through time, seeing the various stages of change from the very first crocuses of spring forcing their way through high mountain snow, to the lower meadows waist deep in spectacular colour.
Living in Sainte Foy we have the best of both worlds. We live in a fabulous hidden gem of a small ski resort with none of the noise and concrete of bigger resorts. Yet we are so close to the larger resorts of Tignes, Val d’Isère, Les Arcs and La Rosière, making them easy to visit.
Out of season, as it is now, we also have more time to explore, and this week’s excursion was to hike up the Sassière Valley opposite Tignes. We took the road up towards Tignes, and turned left just after the ‘Paravalanche’, the concrete roof over the road which protects traffic should there be an avalanche or rock slide.
The road up to carpark has only been fully cleared for a couple of weeks. Indeed, there is enough snow up there that we meet three groups of ski tourers on their way down.
There was a chill wind blowing, reminding us that we were in the mountains and needed to mindful of Lord Baden Powell’s boy scouts’ motto, ‘be prepared’!
Our first wildlife sighting was a small group of chamois high up. They are so well camouflaged on the mountain that you usually spot the movement first, and we could easily have missed them had they remained still. We paused for a few minutes watching through our ‘jumelles’, literally ‘twins’ but binoculars in this sense.
Further up the track we are alerted to a problem. Not necessarily for us, but the marmot which is whistling like an over eager builder trying to catch the attention of a passing lady. It is warning us that there is an eagle in flight who is looking for something tasty to eat.
The eagle is a majestic bird in flight, and a formidable bird of prey. If I were a baby marmot I would definitely be scurrying down the nearest burrow. Note to self: I need to find a way to photograph these birds and share their majesty.
Our picnic destination is the Lac de la Sassière at 2,473m. It’s a good place to stop anyway as the path going on from here is covered in snow, and more serious hiking gear is required should we wish to continue.
Like so many places in the Alps, this location is stunning. We sit on a big rock doubling as a seat and a table. It is two metres from the water’s edge and beside a stream which is feeding the lake with ice cold water and a constant flow of miniature icebergs.
The lake is still over half-covered with floating ice, but the water immediately in front of us is mostly clear as the icebergs are pushed along by the breeze, floating to the far side of the lake. The Pointe de la Golette 3,256m and La Tsanteleina 3,602m are reflected in this clear water, and we reflect that it’s a perfect spot for today’s picnic.
After lunch we explore our surroundings and discover something quite extraordinary. There is a band of ice crystals under the snow, sort of like icicles about twelve inches long and there’s lots of them next to each other, but not stuck to each other. See the short video to see what I mean.
I have no idea how they were formed. If anyone knows, or has any suggestions, I would love to hear from them.
Puzzled by our discovery, we make our way back along a different track, finding strange but dramatic lichen covered rocks, and make our way to investigate a black avalanche.
The black avalanche debris turns out to be full of shale rock which has tumbled down from the Aiguille de la Grand Sassière above. It is a strange sight indeed and it has fallen a long way from where it was connected to its original rock strata for millions of years, before being dislodged by the joint power of a large gathering of delicate snowflakes.
We follow our way back along the river bank which weaves it gentle way through a flatter plain which was once gouged out by a massive glacier millions of years ago. It makes us think again of the mighty collective power of snow and ice compressed into a glacier, and what it must have been like all those centuries ago.
Back to the moment, and if there is one thing the Sassière valley is renowned for, it is its marmots. These lovely little critters are shy and curious at the same time, and they are ‘hyper mignon’, very cute.
This baby marmot in the Sassière Valley was very curious about being the star in a Time to Ski video. It takes a few seconds to download, but this marmot is a bundle of cuteness and well worth the short wait!
It was a day well spent, full of great memories, and we highly recommend a day trip up the Sassière valley.
