The Sun.
London, England, 1857-09-24 00:00:00

ASCENTS OR TBE GRAFFENEIRE AND

GBAIVD COMBIN.

A. Traveller writes to a contemporary as follows :

•I wish to call the attention of the numerous

gentlemen engaged every year in investigating the
physical geography of Switzerland to the group of
five snow mountains lyiag north-east of the Great
St. Bernard, between the Val de Bagnes and the
Val d'Entrernont, and which are at present so little
known that oven the otherwise excellent map of G.
Studer gives but the flintest approximation to their
true rela• ions. The highest mountain of the group
is a most conspicuous and beautiful object in the
views from the Dent du Midi, Mont Velan, the
Col de la Seigne, and I believe alto from Mont
Blanc. It is generally but erroneously described j
as the Grand Combin, a name really belonging to
to quite a subordinate summit ; the inhabitants of
the Valley of 011omont call it "La Grande Cher-
montane, and those of the Val de Bagnes the
" Graffeneire," by which name I shall hereafter
designate it. Its probable height (Ziegler—
" Sammlung der absoluten Hohen der Schweiz,"
p. 131) is 4,308 metres, or 14,130 English feet, and
the guides throughout Switzerland have hitherto
declared it quite inaccessible, as they always do
mountains of which they have not made the ascent.
The only way yet known of penetrating into the
heart of this region is by the glacier of Corbassiere,
a long and narrow stream of ice flowing duo north,
nearly parallel to the Val de Bagnes, into which
the glacier torrent discharges it=elf just above Lor-
tler. Its upper or southern portion is a large
snow ba-in connected with the glacier of Mont Du-
rand by an undescribed col, at.out 10,000 feet high,
which I propose to call the Col de Corbassiere. In
ascending the glacier its channel is bound on the
right or western side, first by the Pic de Sery, a
pyramidal rocky mass, without snow, and then by
the curious rocks of the Avoulona and the Follats.

Behind and abwe these latter rises the Petit Com-

bin, and the chain is terminated on the south by
the Grand annbin, which falls steeply down to the
snow basin of Corbastiere. Further south are two

rocky bays, the first of which runs out from the east
of the Grand Combin, while the second extends by a
line of low peaks to the Col de Corbassiere, and
probably contains a passage to St. Pierre. On the
east of the glacier we have first the Bec de Corbas-
siere, and then a long ridge of rock extending to a
singular sernisircular opening just opposite the
Grand Combin, called the Passage de Graffeneire.
The Graffeneire itself forms the western side of the
basin from the passage to the Col.
The glacier of Corbassiere is divided into an upper
awl a lower level by a cliff which runs across the
channel from the Avoulons. The western end only
of the cliff is covered with a fall of icy spires ; the
glacier has retreated from the eastern end and left
its surface bare and polished. The upper level
has, in feel-, long been shrinking ; outside the
present eas'ein " moraine" are two older ones par-
allel to ir, but the outer of the two has been broken
through in many places by recent falls from the
rocks above. A torrent issues from theglscier on the
upper level, and after falling down the cliff re-enters
it by a cave, which at the same time engulfs the
whole of the moraine, a peculiarity of which I know
no other instance.
I spout several days among the Montagnes de
Bagnes in Aug., 1856, and ascended the Grand
Combin in mistake for the Graffeneire, but I shall
not describe this ascent, as one of the objects of my
le:ter is to deter other travellers from repeating the
blunder. This year I revisited Switzerland, and
heard at Sion that two chasseurs of Sourtier' had
succeeled in cliinbiug the Graffeneire. I therefore
relustenly parted from my companions of the
Finster-aar-horn, and on Mond +y, the 16th ult.,
crossed from Rhone Valley to Chablais over the
Cot de Verbier, taking with me as guide Auguste
Simond, of Chamounix.
I received a hearty welcome and every assistance
from M. Pierre Perrodin, landlord of the rough but
most comfortable inn at Chablais, and at 12 o'clock
on Tuesday, accompanied by Simond, the two cha.s-
sours, awl a mule carrying provisions, started for
Corbassiere. Our plan was to sleep as tigh as pos-
sible, get on the summit early in the morning, cross
the Col, and d scold on the other side, if possible,
to 011omund, or failing that to Chermontane. We
ascended the Val do Bagnes, crossed the Dranse just
above Granges Neuves, and struck up the mountain
pastures on the left of the glacier of Corbassiere.
We soon leached the chalets, which, in conse-
quence of recent falls of snow had been brought
much lower 'down the mountain ; here we secured
two pails of milk, and carried them two hours
higher up to our sleeping quarters, an old chalet
just at tile base of the cliff in the glacier, where we
arrived at 5 o'clock.
We stetted by lantern light at 3 a.m. on Wed-
ne,day, mounted the e'iff, a d walked along the top
of the old "moraine ;" arrived at its extremity we
continued for some distance along the rocks, instead
o' crossing the glacier as last year to the foot of the
Combin. The morning was very fine, and the view
of the Combin with its exquisite peak, and of the
Graffeneire, cevcred from top to bottom with snow,
which hung in many places on the mountain side in
threatening hummocky masses, seemed to me
scarcely surpas,ei by the scenery of Monte Rosa.
We soon took to the "ii.eve;" and perceived at
once the task that lay before us. It was covered,
and, as it turned out, the whole mountain also,
with fie sh snow, nowhere less than 18 inches deep.
We toiled thi ough this for some hours, and
it was not till 9.20 that we reached a point at
the foot of the mountain, about an hour
distant frem the Car Here Bruchey, who
had told me he was " chasseur de Coamois par
passion," expressed his inability to proceed further,
and leaving him injunctions to examine the Col
the rest of our party commenced the ascent of the
mountain. The snow got worse at every step,
Felley constantly lagged in the rear, and had it not
been for the courage and energy of Si'nond I never
should have made the ascent. The mountain is ter-
minated by two peaks lying north and south ; we
climbed the northern and arrived at its summit about
half-past 2. On the side of the Val de Bagnes cliffs
of frightful steepness stretched down from our stand
ing place to the, foot of the Tour de Beuissine. The
weather had unfortunately changed, and excepting
the mountain close to us, we saw nothing but a
vast sea of clouds with the snowy head of Mont
Blanc rising from the midst. From the position of
the Graffeneire, standing as it does midway between
Mont Bane and Monte Rosa, from its dominat-
ing all the peaks immediately surrounding it ; and
from the description the chasseurs gave of their
fist ascent, the view in fine weather must be one
of the most remarkable in Switzerland. The south-
ern peak appeared to me slightly the higher. It
could have been mounted without difficulty, but
we had no time to attempt it; we descended rapidly
and reached the bottom at 5. Bruchey gave an
unfavourable report of the Col, but had it been
otherwise it wou'd have been madness to enter upon
an unknown glacier at so late au hour. We reluct-
antly retraced our steps, arrived at the chalet at
9.30, anil walked to Chablais the next morning. I
regret to add that Simond so much over-exerted
himself that he was ill for several days, and was by
no means recovered when I loft Switzerland.
With the snow in good order and the weather
tine the ascent might be made with no difficulty
and danger, and the inn easily regained the
second night. For the thorough clearing up of the
geography it would be necessary to ascend the gla-
cier of Mont Durand, and to cross the Col on to
that of Corbassiere. Expeditions with a similar
object should be undertaken from the valley of
011omous and from St. Pierre. I trust I may be
the means of inducing Alpine travellers to make
these excursions and to explore still further the
noble scenery of the Montagnes de Bagnes.