Family hikes a four-day stretch of the Grand Tour de Tarentaise to Varlossiere, a roadless side valley beneath saw-toothed peaks and near the Col du Bonnet du Pretre. High peaks, shepherds, a bothy, and an eagle close to eye level create a primeval, solitary atmosphere despite occasional other hikers. Soaring temperatures across Europe have driven many visitors to mountain areas this summer. Social media channels funnel tourists to the same scenic honeypots, creating pressure on fragile environments and local infrastructure. Some communities in the Dolomites have installed turnstiles and begun charging tourists to protect meadows from trampling. Managing overtourism and environmental stress poses growing challenges for mountain resorts.
My husband, two sons and I are midway through a four-day stretch of the Grand Tour de Tarentaise hiking trail in the French Alps, and we've stopped near the top of Varlossiere, a roadless side valley among a great arc of mountains that runs to the west of the ski resorts of Val Thorens, Les Menuires and Saint-Martin-de-Belleville. Hiking up here from Gittamelon, a rustic, summer-only mountain refuge in the neighbouring Vallee des Encombres, we've paused to exhale breath, and to inhale the primeval views.
Climbing higher, an eagle flies past almost at eye level, no more than six metres away. Though we meet three other hikers on the other side of the Col du Bonnet du Pretre, the 2,461-metre (8,074ft) pass that leads from Varlossiere to the Nant Brun valley and detect from sheep bells that at least two shepherds must be somewhere among the great folds of these hills it feels as though the landscape is ours alone.
Many of the new summer visitors are first-timers, unfamiliar with the mores of mountain adventuring That may not be the case for long. Soaring temperatures across Europe this summer have fuelled a rush to the mountains, social media funnelling many visitors to the same honeypots and creating infrastructure pressure points; in Italy some farmers in the Dolomites have resorted to installing turnstiles and charging tourists 5 to pass, incensed at having their meadows trampled.
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