The Alps west of Austria - looking for small roads

Zuckerbaron

Tour Pro
Come on let's leave Leukerbad, which is covered in low hanging clouds.



First thing I see in the morning when I leave the hotels door is this ad. It is in the entrance of a supermarket and tells the people that Swiss farmers care for what they feed to their pigs.


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That is the tour of today not really much, let me blame a late start and the weather for it.


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First I drove through the clouds back to the slopes of the big industrial Rhone valley above Leuk.

Strange cattle they have up here. :bs

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I try to reach the hamlet of Tschaermilonga. Just because it is a small road though the clouds.
Suddenly I am in front of a typical Swiss street sign.


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In 2003 they had a bushfire here (didn't know that this is possible in Switzerland) and some fireman from the town of Thun were here on duty. They came back and planted the sign here.








I reached Tschaermilonga but they don't want vehicles in their village so i left again. The weather was not good enough for a stroll.
By going down into the Rhone valley, there was sunshine when I reached this BBQ area for the locals. It was nursed as it was someones own private place
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After this I went down and than up to Sanetsch.
 

Zuckerbaron

Tour Pro
Ok, let's go up to Sanetsch Pass which is more or less the back of the well known ski arrea of Les Diablerets.


First of all an old bridge again, first time with a marker. I wonder if this is typical for Wallis so many of that kind of old bridges. W-)

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By driving up to Sanetsch I passed a house beautful arranged with flowers and Swiss and Wallis/Valais flags - I have seen this pic before? Probably used to be a restaurant, but it was closed.



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After a nice drive on this narrow road it is clouds again. Then follows a black hole and the road turns into a single laner. This is from the upper side.


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But when you turn around and you are lucky you see Hotel Sanetsch.



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In the distance under the clouds is the now quite small ice field of Les Diablerets.
I got a good menue up there and if you like you can sleep there as well. A sunrise up there must be beautiful.


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http://www.hotel-restaurant-sanetsch.ch/


When you pass the Sanetsch Pass the singlelaner ends at the Santesch barrier lake. From the other valley a cable car comes up and there is a closed restaurant, which looks like a collection of huts. But people up there, mostly cyclists, told me: When it is open, they have good food.


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Let's move again. Turning and down into the Rhone valley. Coming to the tunnel now I have a fantastic view.:clap:
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I end up in a hotel in Ovronnaz from now on they talk french to me.
 
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Zuckerbaron

Tour Pro
Today I will leave the Wallis/Valais direction south.



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But first I wanted to drive from Ovronnaz to a place called Jeur Brulee which Pete mentioned in his tornanti report. So I left Ovronnaz in the direction Chiboz, that was a very nice ride.:glu
In Chiboz was a sign in front of the Relais des Chasseur telling road closure ahead due to road works. Well it was a Sunday, so my hope was that the workers have probably left a path to drive a bike through.

2 km further down the road I had a nice view to Martigny...


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...and to a road work that I couldnt manage with my KTM SMT 990. Would have been possible with KTM EXC.W-)


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There was no other chance as to head back to Ovronnaz. Ok, I skip Jeur Brulee. Col du Lein is the new destination.



The day before I could already realize grape picking was in full swing. I even could smell the mature grapes. When I drove through Leytron I passed PROVINS perhaps a wine cooperative. The place was packed with vehicles carrying the harvest to the winery. They even came with the family car, probably it's just to get some bottles some month later. :chug::chug:



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And after delivery it's time for a glas.


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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
By driving up to Sanetsch I passed a house beautful arranged with flowers and Swiss and Wallis/Valais flags - I have seen this pic before? Probably used to be a restaurant, but it was closed.



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.



Here it is in full swing during the summer season

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...and the Sanetsch with an early coat of white


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Good to see you copped a good sniff of the local Fendant :bs
Heady stuff, that half-fermented grape stuff on those open trailers...
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
And looking at that map...maybe next time, check out the Val Darpette from Bovernier on the St. Berhard ramp just out of Martigny, cutting south via the little resort of Champex au Lac and join the St. Bernard again at Orsieres.

With an extra couple of hours, the valley (Val Ferret) south from Orsieres is also a cracker ride, far more twisty than what the map promises and with some of Switzerland best cheeses at the very end while being straight underneath the glaciers of the Main Ridge.


Some pics here

http://www.alpagedesars.ch/

https://goo.gl/9Jq5Lv
 

Zuckerbaron

Tour Pro
And looking at that map...maybe next time, check out the Val Darpette from Bovernier on the St. Berhard ramp just out of Martigny, cutting south via the little resort of Champex au Lac and join the St. Bernard again at Orsieres.

With an extra couple of hours, the valley (Val Ferret) south from Orsieres is also a cracker ride, far more twisty than what the map promises and with some of Switzerland best cheeses at the very end while being straight underneath the glaciers of the Main Ridge.


Some pics here

http://www.alpagedesars.ch/

https://goo.gl/9Jq5Lv






You are right, a glass of Fendant at the lake of Champex is a good option. I have had that three years ago when I was heading direction Ligurian Coast.



I also went into Val Ferret. I still remember the first half of the valley running upward in the morning hours, perfect!!:thumbs:
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Good on you!! :chug:

NOBODY seems to have even heard of those places.... despite all the waffle around the EU-section of ADVrider and the Swiss Toeff-Forum etc. over the years.
Those places are the real heart + soul of the region and nobody knows them :doh:
Maybe it's better that way...

Thanks for all those pics, great stuff!
 

Zuckerbaron

Tour Pro
Good on you!! :chug:

NOBODY seems to have even heard of those places.... despite all the waffle around the EU-section of ADVrider and the Swiss Toeff-Forum etc. over the years.
Those places are the real heart + soul of the region and nobody knows them :doh:
Maybe it's better that way...

Thanks for all those pics, great stuff!




From my point of view it can stay as it is. I don't want to have it like on Stilfser Joch or some places in the Dolomites. But I believe all this drivers will not come because their suspension is not good enough. :wink::killingme
 
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