In mid-April 2023, Cabane du Mont Fort shared the news that they would be closed for the entirety of the summer 2023 season. That means that Walker’s Haute Route hikers will have to find alternative accommodation and alter their route accordingly.
If you had existing reservations and/or an itinerary that included a stop at Cabane du Mont Fort, don’t worry! We’ve outlined some alternative options below and will update with additional information/alternatives if they become available.
Option 1: Utilize the Les Ruinettes Cable Car & Stay Two Nights in Le Châble
The first option allows hikers to hike the main Walker’s Haute Route trail from Le Châble to Cabane du Mont Fort, and then return to Le Châble via the Les Ruinettes cable car at the end of the day instead of staying at Cabane du Mont Fort. Then, the next morning you can take the cable car back up to Les Ruinettes and begin your onward hike to Cabane de Prafleuri.
View the Summer 2023 Le Châble-Verbier-Les Ruinettes Cable Car Schedule here.
This option only requires that you book a second night at your accommodation in Le Châble, but otherwise follows the same route. Your itinerary would like like this:
- Modified Stage 4: Hike from Le Châble to Cabane du Mont Fort as usual
- Upon reaching Cabane du Mont Fort, hike back the ~4km to the Les Ruinettes cable car
- Descend back to Le Châble on the cable car and spend the night
- Modified Stage 5: Travel from Le Châble to Cabane de Prafleuri utilizing the Les Ruinettes cable car
- Begin the stage in Le Châble and take the cable bar back to Les Ruinettes.
- Hike from here onward to Cabane de Prafleuri.
- Note that this will add ~4km onto the traditional Stage 5.
See below for a map overview of this option:
Option 2: Stay at Cabane de Louvie
The second option is good for those who would still like to stay at an alpine refuge on this stage. Hikers who opt for this can continue past Cabane du Mont Fort and spend the night at the lovely Cabane de Louvie, which sits just below the Col Termin.
If you choose this option, we recommend utilizing the Les Ruinettes cable car from Le Châble to cut out most of the initial ascent out of Le Châble, as Cabane de Louvie is another ~8 km past Cabane du Mont Fort and requires a short detour from the main route. The next day, you would simply hike up to rejoin the main Walker’s Haute Route and continue on to Cabane de Prafleuri.
Your itinerary would like like this:
- Modified Stage 4: Hike from Le Châble to Cabane de Louvie
- We recommend taking the cable car to Les Ruinettes unless you’re up for a very big day.
- From Les Ruinettes, hike ~11 km along the main Walker’s Haute Route to reach Cabane de Louvie where you will spend the night.
- Modified Stage 5: Cabane de Louvie to Cabane de Prafleuri
- From Cabane de Louvie you will hike up steeply to rejoin the main Walker’s Haute Route.
- From here you will hike along the main trail to Cabane de Prafleuri.
See below for a map overview of this option:
Option 3: Skip the Cabane du Mont Fort to Cabane de Prafleuri Stage & Use Public Transit
If neither of the first two options appeal to you, you can also skip the stage between Cabane du Mont Fort entirely and use public transit to reach Cabane de Prafleuri on the next stage. We would still recommend hiking from Le Châble to Cabane du Mont Fort, and then returning to Le Châble via the cable car upon completing the hike.
Then, the next day rather than hiking to Cabane de Prafleuri you would travel there via public transit and a short hike.
Your itinerary would like like this:
- Traditional Stage 4: Hike from Le Châble to Cabane du Mont Fort as usual
- Upon reaching Cabane du Mont Fort, hike back the ~4km to the Les Ruinettes cable car.
- Descend back to Le Châble on the cable car and spend the night.
- Modified Stage 5: Travel from Le Châble to the dam at the base of Lac des Dix, then take the gondola up and hike to Cabane de Prafleuri.
- You will take the train from Le Châble to Martigny where you will transfer and continue on the train to Sion.
- From Sion, you will take the bus to the Dixence, Le Chargeur stop
- From here, you will ride the Dixence cable car up and then hike the ~2.5km to Cabane de Prafleuri.
You can use the Swiss Public Transit Agency (SBB) website to see the connection options from Le Châble to the Dixence, Le Chargeur stop, but it will likely look similar to the sample itinerary below:
The hike from the Dixence cable car stop to Cabane de Prafleuri is described here and shown on the map below:
Conclusion
We hope you found these options useful and that they help you create an alternate itinerary now that we know Cabane du Mont Fort will be closed for 2023. If you have any questions or other thoughts, don’t hesitate to reach out or share them in the comments below!
