Val Ferret (Switzerland)

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Val Ferret
In the middle part of the valley (view to the south)

The Val Ferret is a side valley in the Swiss canton of Valais south of Martigny . It should not be confused with the neighboring valley of the same name in northern Italy to the southwest , from which it is separated by the Grand Col Ferret (Col du Ferret).

Val Ferret

geography

The Val Ferret is a left side valley of the Val d'Entremont . It is traversed by the Dranse de Ferret, which flows into the Dranse d'Entremont near the village of Orsières , and belongs to the catchment area of ​​the Rhône . It stretches for 18 km in a north-south direction between Orsières in Val d'Entremont and the mountain Grand Golliat ( 3238  m ) on the main Alpine ridge . The right (eastern) side of the valley is a federal hunting ban area (protection zone).

The valley area lies in the contact zone between the Helvetic nappes ( limestone and marl ) and the crystalline massif ( granite ) of Mont Blanc. The valley is entirely within the territory of the commune of Orsières in the Entremont district . It borders in the east on the Val d'Entremont, in the south on the Aosta Valley region , Italy , and in the west on the Montblanc massif ( border with France ). The Grosser St. Bernhard pass is a few kilometers east of the valley.

At the upper (southern) end of the valley on the main Alpine ridge is the Col Fenêtre de Ferret with the Petit Col Ferret at 2486  m and the Grand Col Ferret at 2537  m , separated by the Tête de Ferret at 2713  m . Beyond the Col Ferret extends the Italian Val Ferret, which lies on the south side of the eastern Montblanc massif and drains to the Po . To the east of the valley is the small, remote Combe de l'A valley .

The valley is surrounded by the following mountains (starting clockwise in the east): Mont de la Foully ( 2871  m ), La Tsavre ( 2978  m ), Monts Telliers ( 2951  m ), Pointe de Drône ( 2950  m ), Grand Golliat ( 3238  m ), Mont Dolent ( 3820  m ), Tour Noir ( 3836  m ), Aiguille d'Argentière ( 3901  m ), Aiguille du Chardonnet ( 3824  m ), Le Portalet ( 3344  m ) and Pointe d'Orny ( 2720  m ). On the west side there are four larger glaciers: Glacier du Dolent , Glacier de l'A Neuve , Glacier de Saleina and Glacier d'Orny .

Villages and hamlets

In Val Ferret there are the following places (upstream, with population on January 1st, 2008):

  • Som la Proz, village at the beginning of the valley (226)
  • Issert (72)
  • Les Arlaches (44)
  • Praz de Fort (229)
  • Industry (26)
  • Prayon (16)
  • La Fouly (81)
  • Ferret (uninhabited in winter)

tourism

Summer tourism developed in Val Ferret from the beginning of the 20th century. The guests came to enjoy the summer, hiking and high alpine mountain tours in the Montblanc massif. In the valley there are three SAC - huts : Cabane du Trient , Cabane de Saleina and Cabane de l'A Neuve . The Val Ferret is located on the Tour du Mont-Blanc (GR TMB), a popular long-distance hiking trail around the Mont-Blanc group. The long-distance hiking trail no. 6 Alpine Passes Trail from Wanderland Schweiz leads through the valley.

Winter tourism developed particularly after 1965, when the road to La Fouly was cleared in winter. La Fouly has a small ski station.

Wolf from Val Ferret

Between 1994 and 1996, numerous sheep grazing in the Alps were killed by wild animals. Because of the witness reports of a wolf or a large dog , people soon spoke of " la Bête du Val Ferret " (in German, for example, "the beast of Val Ferret"), which enjoyed a very strong media presence, especially in French- speaking Switzerland , because it was from Italy at the time coming wolves made their first appearances in Switzerland.

In autumn 1994, six sheep were killed in each of two Alps in Val Ferret (below the Petit Col de Ferret and south-east of the hamlet of Prayon). In 1995, 108 sheep were killed between July and December, almost all of them in two alpine areas, one in the southeast of Val Ferret (Arpalle and Plan de la Chaux, between the peaks of La Tsavre and Pointe de Drône) and one in the neighboring valley of Val d'Entremont northeast of Bourg-Saint-Pierre (Le Tsapi). In May 1996, the last 11 lambs were killed near Orsières. Most of the losses occurred in August 1995 with 76 animals.

Although two poaching dogs were also found during the time, the types of injuries and numerous eyewitness accounts by gamekeepers , hunters and dog owners suggest one or more wolves. Genetic analyzes of two fecal samples confirmed the presence of two wolves related to the wolf populations in Mercantour and northern Italy . No predator was captured or killed, despite numerous armed guards and lynx traps set up, but one wolf was likely injured in February 1996. After May 1996 there was no more damage or observation reports and the wolves are believed to have migrated back to Italy.

Web links

Commons : Val Ferret  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ordinance of September 30, 1991 on federal hunting areas (VEJ)
  2. ↑ Marcel Burri: Know the nature in Valais. Vol. 1 The rocks . Martigny 1992, p. 30
  3. ↑ Col Fenêtre de Ferret on ETHorama
  4. ↑ Population figures according to the municipality's website as of June 21, 2008.
  5. ↑ Alpine Passes Path On: Switzerland as a hiking region
  6. ↑ Ski area Val Ferret - La Fouly On: bergfex.ch
  7. ^ Documentation Wolf, prepared on behalf of the Federal Office for the Environment, Forests and Landscape (BUWAL) . KORA, Muri bei Bern 2005 (PDF file; 193 kB)
  8. ^ A b Jean-Marc Landry: La Bete du Val Ferret . KORA report no.1 , Muri bei Bern 1997 , ISSN  1422-5123 . (French; PDF file; 75 kB)

Coordinates: 45 ° 57 '  N , 7 ° 5'  E ; CH1903:  573000  /  88000