December 4, 2021

Hike to Tête à Turpin

At the beginning of autumn, I went on a hike to Tête à Turpin, in the Bornes mountains near Thônes.

Here is a map of the path I walked:

The Tête à Turpin is a peak located above La Balme-de-Thuy near Thônes. It has a pretty distinctive shape and is noticed from far away.

▲ Tête à Turpin seen from Mont Veyrier

▲ Tête à Turpin seen from the center of Thônes.

▲Tête à Turpin and Mont Téret seen from Saint-Jorioz across Lake Annecy and Col de Bluffy.

▲ Mont Téret and Tête à Turpin seen from Alex on the left bank of the Fier.

While writing this post, I found this interesting video with drone shots:

I had read about climbing its face but I didn’t think it was possible to reach the summit by hiking and there was no guide available on the usual sites. However, earlier this year, I was passing by the center of La Balme-de-Thuy on the way to Passage de la Bourse and Mont Téret and I saw this map with a number of trails in the area:

It showed a path to Tête à Turpin and even a passage to Mont Téret above. Looking further into it, I could only find this description of that path, from a base jumping website. So I decided to go have a look at the trail, as well as explore other trails in the forest below Mont Téret between Dingy-Saint-Clair and La Balme-de-Thuy. In the morning, I hadn’t intended to go to the summit but the weather was great and I changed my plan: In the end, I walked to the top.

I arrived in Dingy-Saint-Clair by bus from Annecy (Car Région Y62 then Y63). I started walking towards the forest and below Mont Téret from there. At some point, I reached Le Replan. From there, I went up towards Tête à Turpin. The trail was pretty clear and well maintained until a chalet at altitude 1,350 m. The trail kept going up in the forest for a bit then the hard part started: There was a passage just below the cliff of Mont Téret where the trail got quite narrow and with a steep drop on the other side. I reached the forest at the top of Tête à Turpin after a while. The trail arrived at another chalet there. I walked a bit off-trail until the summit at the edge of the forest. There was a great view from there. Even Lake Annecy and Mont Blanc could be seen. I ate lunch then went back down to Le Replan. After that, I continued to the hamlet of Charvex then walked a trail along the Fier river until Pont de Morette in Thônes, where I waited for the bus to Annecy.

▲ Mont Téret (Falaise de la Tassonnière) seen from the center of Dingy-Saint-Clair.

▲ Tête du Parmelan.

▲ Dent du Cruet and Dents de Lanfon.

▲ Mont Baret and Mont Veyrier.

▲ Dirt road in the forest. The IGN map is a bit out of date in the area but OpenStreetMap should have the correct tracks.

▲ Mont Téret above.

▲ About to cross a dried torrent bed.

▲ Beginning of the trail to Tête à Turpin near Le Replan.

▲ The trail is well maintained.

▲ Tête à Turpin.

▲ Faces in the cliff of Mont Téret.

▲ Chalet La Ravine. It is private.

▲ Pyramide du Parmelan on Mont Téret. There is a cross at the top.

▲ Faint trail from the chalet.

▲ The trail to Tête à Turpin passes through there.

▲ The hard part starts after that cairn.

▲ Narrow trail.

▲ Lake Annecy in the background.

▲ Cliff above.

▲ Vertiginous drop on the other side.

▲ Forest at the top of Mont Téret.

▲ Private chalet.

▲ View of Mont Téret.

▲ Tête à Turpin seen from Mont Téret.

▲ Summit at the edge of the forest.

▲ View from the summit, towards Col de Bluffy and Lake Annecy. I walked down the grassy slope to reach the edge of the cliff.

▲ Pointe de Merdassier and L’Étale.

▲ Plaine du Fier.

▲ Thônes.

▲ Combe de la Balme in the Aravis mountains.

▲ Dent du Cruet, with La Tournette in the background.

▲ Mont Baret and Mont Veyrier.

▲ Looking down.

▲Pointe Percée.

▲ Towards Thônes.

▲ Mont Blanc.

▲ Lake Annecy.

▲ Trail on the way back. Before going down, I spent a few minutes trying to find the trail that goes up to Mont Téret like on the map I showed above (it is also on OpenStreetMap and here is a GPX track from another hiker, although it is not very precise) but I don’t think I was looking at the right place. Anyway, it was a bit late so I soon started on the way down.