Dent de Lys (2014 m) is a mountain in Swiss Prealps. It is a natural border of the municipalities of Châtel-St-Denis (west side) and Haut-Intyamon on the east side. It is also a mountain that has a terrible statistics of quite many deaths. Since it is quite easy to get to the starting point and the view from the summit is just breathtaking it does attract many ‘Sunday hikers’. It is easy to slip there and when you do, yes, you are going for a quite a long fall. It is also quite exposed and the trail is not crazily wide. There’s lots of little stones, it is also steep at some points. So when you go there make sure you’re not afraid of exposure and you are quite sure-footed.
We started our ‘Sunday hike’ not with the normal trail. We did it ‘off piste’ style. We left our car next to little chalet on 1427 m and started our way up. It was steep, made my legs work out hard (they do need it) but the views and no people around was a huge reward. I did love it.
When we got to the summit there was quite a lot people around… Disadvantage of one of the most visited mountains in the region.
To get down we chose the ‘normal trail’ that takes you down through ‘Col de Lys’ . I didn’t take many photos when we started going down since I was shitting myself. It was not my day. Normally I do have problems with descending (there’s some kind of blockage in my head) and I’m slower than normally. This time I was slow and didn’t take any pleasure. I seriously wanted to get down as fast as possible but I just couldn’t. My head was stopping me. The ‘normal trail’ down is quite exposed, filled with little stones all over the place, it is narrow and steep. I regretted we didn’t take a shorter ‘off piste’ trail. Don’t get me wrong, for my boyfriend going down was not a problem. The problem is just in my head. Although I think Dent de Lys is not for everyone.
After my crisis, the hike down from Col de Lys (1783 m) was easy. Just the part between summit and Col de Lys was my little hell.
Practical information:
Starting point: chalet (1427 m)
Target: Dent de Lys (2014 m)
Hike lenght: Around 6,5 km.
Difficulty: For me it was quite a demanding hike considering the descent part from the summit until Col de Lys. It is a hike not suitable for all. Exposed, bit slippery.
Tips: Take hiking sticks with you but for going down better put them in your backpacks. Hands are needed and hiking sticks might get in the way. Go during the week, since during the weekends there’s tons of people around.
Text: Agnieszka Wajs
