Diablerets

Overview

Les Diablerets are the highest peak of the Alps of the Canton Vaud in Switzerland.

This massif dominates the Rhone valley in the south and in the west. The south-east face is covered with two big glaciers : the Glacier of Tsanfleuron and the Glacier of Diablerets. The distance to the Mont Blanc massif, the Penine Alps and the highest summits of the Bernese Alps is quite the same : the summit provides an enthusiasming panorama.

In the south-west, the Diablerets are separated from the Muveran massif by the deep cut of the Pas de la Cheville (2038 m). In the east, the Sanetsch collar separates the Diablerets from the Wildhorn (3248 m). In the south, the Derborence valley leads to the Rhone valley. In the north, we have the Alps of Vaud with Tornette (2548 m) and Grummfluh (2458 m)

From the Pillon collar a cable car leads to the summit of Sex Rouge, 2971 m. This pleasant shortcut allows the summit in one day.

The normal route from Sex Rouge is a (very) easy glacier route by good conditions but high mountain gear for glaciers is still essential.

Getting There

Startpoint is Les Diablerets village

BY CAR
Motorway A9, direction Grand St Bernard, exit Aigle.
Then, road Aigle - Les Diablerets (20 km).

BY PLANE
International airports of :
Geneva : 120 km
Zürich : 250 km
Bâle : 200 km

BY TRAIN
International :
TGV Paris - Lausanne then intercity to Aigle and take the little mountain train ASD (Aigle - Sépey - Diablerets)
or TGV Lyria Paris - Lausanne - Aigle.
Length of journey : Paris - Les Diablerets = 5h45.
Switzerland :
Direct trains to Aigle (Simplon line, Geneva - Brig): Then take the little mountain train ASD (Aigle - Sépey - Diablerets).
Length of journey : Lausanne - Aigle = 30 minutes, Aigle - Les Diablerets = 50 minutes.

Red Tape

No red tape

When To Climb

Normal route can be climbed all the year

Routes Overview

- From Col du Pillon with the use of the cable car to Sex Rouge : normal route (6 hours up and down)

- From Col du Pillon by foot : very long approach

- From Les Diablerets village over Pierredar Hut. Over the hut, a cable route (relativ easy) reaches the normal route to Les Diablerets after the Sex Rouge

- From Col de Sanetsch

The Summit

The summit provides a marvellous panorama
- over the Pennine Alps with Matterhorn, Weishorn, Grand Combin
- over the Mont Blanc massif
- over the Bernese Alps
- over the Prealps of Chablais and Vaud
On the summit a nice iron cross erected by the guides with a summit book.

Other summits of Les Diablerets

- S summit 3158 m
- Oldenhorn 3123 m The Oldenhorn (Becca d' Audon) is a picturesque peak located near the far western end of the Bernese Alps. Its summit is the common point of Cantons Bern, Valais, and Vaud. It is believed that the peak was climbed as early as 1811. It was certainly climbed by a survey party in 1835. The summit is recommended for its impressive views. The East Ridge Route is included as part of a round tour including Les Diablerets (3210 m) and Tour St. Martin (2908 m)
- Dome of the Diablerets 3005 m
- Tete Ronde 3035 m
- Sex Rouge 2971 m
- Tour Saint Martin 2908 m
- Culan 2789 m

Camping

Camping La Murée
www.camping-caravaningvd.ch
dagonch@bluewin.ch

It is situated 3 km from Les Diablerets and open all year long.
Grassy flat ground, like stairs near the river.
Dormitories on request.

Information :
Tel. +41 (0)21 634 52 84 or +41 (0)79 401 99 15

Huts

-Refuge de Pierredar, altitude 2298 m.
Unique access by foot (4h) from Creux de Champs.
Tel. of the refuge : +41 (0)24 492 13 03
Tel. of the owner : +41 (0)24 492 33 66 (Mrs Ruffieux)

- Cabane des Diablerets (CAS Chaussy), altitude 2500 m.
Access by cable-car from the Col du Pillon or by foot (2h30) from the Col du Pillon.
Tel. of the refuge : +41 (0)24 492 21 02
Off-season, Christine Lavanchy : +41 (0)78 638 18 78

-Cabane de Prarochet, altitude 2250 m.
Access by foot, from the glacier of Les Diablerets (2h) or from the Col du Sanetsch (1h30)
Tel. of the refuge : +41 (0)27 395 27 27
Off-season : +41 (0)27 395 13 66

-Auberge du Sanetsch, altitude 2061 m.
Access by cable-car from Gsteig, by car from Sion or by foot from the glacier of Les Diablerets (3h) or from Gsteig (3h).
Climbing, fishing and speleology.
Tel. +41 (0)33 755 12 32 or +41 (0)27 395 24 10
www.sanetsch.ch

Diablerets Cable Car

Glacier 3000 is the name of the company founded in 1997 to re-build and manage all the cableway installations of the Glacier des Diablerets. Inaugurated in Novembre 1999, the cablecar now glides you up in just 15 minutes to the eternal snows of the glacier at over 3,000 metres. The departure is just a 5-minute drive from Les Diablerets, at the Col du Pillon (1,600 metres), on the road to Gstaad.

From 1959 to 2001, the infrastructure of the glacier of Les Diablerets changed...

1959 The concept of building a cable-car from the Pillon Pass to the Tsanfleuron Glacier is born.
1962 The work starts.
July 1964 At the time of the Swiss National Exhibition, the whole installation is inaugurated.
1971 The first teleski for summer skiing is set up.
1977 Construction of the Scex Rouge chairlift.
1979 Construction of the new Dôme skilift.
1983 Construction of the new Quille du Diable skilift.
1993 Construction of the new Tsanfleuron skilift.
1997 Beginning of the renovation of the installations. Construction of the new Reusch-Oldenegg cable-car and foundation of the Society "Glacier 3000 Diablerets-Gstaad".
November 1999 The new cable-car Glacier 3000 starts working.
May 2000 Construction of the restaurant Botta 3000 begins.
October 2000 The new 4-seater skilift on the Scex Rouge starts working.

Les Diablerets, legends & tales

Once upon a time... Not so very long ago, people believed that their sufferings and misfortune were the work of devil spirits. From the Middle Ages on, the devil appeared in many legends and tales...
... a symbol of devil, the enemy hidden high up in the mountains. No wonder that the countryfolk, alone on the Alpine pastures with danger all around, let their imagination run wild. A rock falling, a block of ice crumbling, the wind howling were all reasons to believe in the doings of an evil spirit. The granite face encircling today's village in the Valley of the Ormonts was renowned as being dangerous, malevolent, where one might come to face with the devil. Hence the name of the Diablerets massif and its glacier.

There is another tale which recounts that one of the local peasants did something so mean, so cruel, that the beautiful, flower-filled meadows of Tsanfleuron (meaning Field of Flowers, now Glacier 3000) changed into a desolation of snow and ice. And no longer were the calls of the cow herds or the bells of the cows to be heard resounding over the Diablerets summits (Glacier 3000).

Tale of the Quille du Diable
In olden days, the Tour St-Martin, one of the points of the massif dominating the Col de Cheville that borders the Glacier Tsanfleuron on the south, had a much more meaningful name, which it was wrong to change. It was called the "Quille du Diable" (devil's skittle). In fact, this huge rock, shaped like a tower or a large bastion, was meant to serve as target, goal or skittle for the various games of skill or force played by the devil. Thus, when the stones rolled noisily down from this gigantic donjon and the blocks were thrown with excessive ardour by the diabolical players on the vast icy esplanade, so that they bounced from rock to rock and reached the pastures of Anzeindaz or the banks of the small lake of Derborance, the shepherds looked up with fright, imagining that these damned beings were threatening them. They feared not only for themselves but also for their herds and commended themselves to the grace of God: "God help us and protect our heifers".
These satanic ghosts were supposed to be visible at night, equipped with small lights or lanterns, wandering alone or in groups through the woods, pastures, rocks, or in the steep corridors of the mountain. Several people claimed that they had often seen these poor damned beings going down as far as Ardon. Awful moanings were heard, their dreadful bodies being incredibly weary after creeping and wandering for so many years on the dry rocks to pay for their crimes. The arms of some of them, apparently, were worn up to the elbow or even to the shoulder.

These moanings were heard, and the lights seen, in a particularly sinister way before and during the two terrible landslides of 1714 and 1740 that covered thousands of acres of pastures and caused the death of several people as well as many heads of cattle.