Vens peaks

Peaks: Aiguilles des Tortisses (2672m), Cime des Blanches/Testa del Ferro (2763m)

Area: Lacs de Vens, Maritime Alps

My original plan for today was to take in Pointe Giegn from Boreon, then drive to St Etienne, then walk in to the Refuge de Vens. Foolish. Instead, after a big day yesterday I had a leisurely and pleasant breakfast in St Martin, then drove over to the Tinee valley (only my second ever visit to this side of the range) and up beyond St Etienne to the start of the walk-in to the Refuge de Vens (after buying a gourmet 'auvergne' sandwich for lunch). I was glad my plan had evolved to something more sensible as the walk-in was steep, even more so when I left the zigzags to take in a short-cut. I wasn't sure what this was, but my instinct told me to take it: turned out to be the 'cheminee Vens' (chimney), leading alongside the Torrent de Vens in a steep 279m climb squeezed into less than 800m horizontal, which was as steep as it sounds! A few scrambly steps, and relentless, but emerging at the exquisite lower lake. From here on, the scenery takes on a magical, stunning quality, similar in character to that of Lac d'Allos a little north of here. An exquisite blend of lakes and mountains, dotted with little copses and boulders. The path heads up through the chain of lakes to the top Lac de Vens and a view of the refuge, perfectly situated above a waterfall overlooking the lake. At the sun-drenched hut terrace, I had half my gourmet sandwich and then, expecting an afternoon thunderstorm, decided to bag the most obvious peaks from the vicinity of the hut. The most obvious was the Aiguilles des Tortisses, accessed via the zigzags of the GR52 which led up to a little col (below the major Col de Fer). A short climb gained the weird pinnacled summit (reminiscent of the Col d'Izoard, which isn't too far away) with superb views down to the refuge nestling in its verdant meadows and across to bigger peaks like Clai Superior. This was all too brief, so I returned to the col, then took what looked like an ancient border path (marked with side cairns) to cross over to the Italian side briefly, then a superb romp along a lovely ridge. Above, an ibex poised artfully on a large rock. To the left, interesting peaks like Monte Peiron and some old Italian frontier huts. A sharp forepeak led to the summit of Cime des Blanches and stunning views up to the main Cime de Vens, savage black ridges, rarely climbed I would assume. Dark clouds gathered, so it was back along the crest of the ridge, mild scrambling, and back to the col. I had a rest here, admiring the wonderful alpine flora, particularly impressive here, then jogging back to the hut. I spent a reasonable night here, refuelling on a superb beef daube, dauphinoise and local cheese, but unfortunately a large group of pensioners made the dorm pretty crowded and stifling that night.