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Mountain guidesSwitzerland. Visit to a glacier in Les Diablerets
The Glacier 3000 cable car takes us up the Scex Rouge summit -just under 3,000 m high- in about 20 minutes. Once there, we’ll be able to walk along the Tsanfleuron glacier following the marked way, and enjoy the great views from the Quille du Diable peak.
We follow the blue rope on the glacier
Location
Les DiableretsAigleVaudSuiza Technical description
Duration 1 h. 30'
Difficulty 1/5
Level difference 60 m.
Length 6 Km.
Signposted Sí
Route status 2/5
Type Glaciar
Round-trip Sí
Season 
How to get there
The free car park in Col du Pillon where we’ll take the Glacier 3000 cable car is 45 minutes from Montreux. We’ll go past Aigle and Ormont Dessous driving along the route du Pillon.
The route
We start the route on the glacier towards the Quille du Diable, in sight in the background
Visiting a glacier is a must if you’re in Switzerland, and even better if it can be the longest in Europe, the Aletsch. Or at least that’s what we thought before seeing the Jungfrau Railway ticket prices, the Aletsch Glacier tourist lookout. We were resigned not to go up the Jungfrau, but we went up the Männlichen instead, a nearby minor peak with great views of the Eiger, the Monch and the Jungfrau.
Even with all that, we couldn’t get the idea of walking across a glacier out of our heads. We hadn’t done the Daubenhorn via ferrata yet, which crosses a small glacier on its way back. We decided to look for a less expensive alternative, closer to Valais, where we were staying. We chose Glacier 3000, in Les Diablerets, 45 minutes from lake Geneva in the Canton of Vaud, a high mountain family resort where the Tsanfleuron Glacier is. This high mountain resort concept is a strange one for us. They offer theme park-like activities: a slide on rails, a snow park, a panoramic bridge, a snow bus, a solarium, a restaurant and a gift shop… Well, the main thing is that there is a glacier, very impressive even though it’s melting at a rate of knots.
We kept moving on the glacier, dodging the biggest puddles
We took this trip as your typical sightseeing day: an opportunity to visit a place in a controlled way otherwise reserved for mountaineers. We went up to see the perpetual snow and decided to cross it and walk up to the Quille du Diable, a fascinating sight in the background from the moment you step onto the glacier. The route is a 6km round trip with over 60 metres of height difference. Add 40 metres to this if you don’t make use of the chairlift that takes you down at the foot of the glacier from the upper cable car station.
Once on the receding Tsanfleuron we follow the tracks of the snowplough and don’t leave the area delimited by strings, due to the dangerous possibility of ending up in a crack. In some areas and in the summer months, it just feels like walking on slush, and you’ll hear the characteristic cracking of the ice almost the whole way. The flooded areas are difficult to dodge and it’s common to end up with wet feet. We advise against getting overconfident because of the touristy appearance and false sense of security the hike may convey. You should carry minimal gear, good hiking shoes, sunscreen, sunglasses and warm clothing.
The terrace of l’Espace refuge overhangs the abyss, at the foot of the Quille du Diable.
Les Diablerets Glacier and summit (3,210 m.) from the Quille du Diable.
Once at the Quille du Diable, we enjoyed great views of the Les Diablerets peak (3,210 m.) and the nearby glacier Les Diablerets, hanging 1,500 metres above the Derborence valley. The Rhone valley is to the south and looking afar, there is a wide panoramic view of the Alps, with emblematic peaks such as the Matterhorn, the Dent d’Hérens and the Dent Blanche, among many others.
On our way back to the cable car station we went up the hanging bridge between the two peaks, the Peak Walk, included in the ticket and the main attraction of the resort since 2014. The 107 metre-long bridge allows us to hit the highest point of the Scex Rouge, 2,971 m. The views of the nearby Glacier de Prapio are very good.
If you decide to climb up here from the parking lot you’ll have earned the entrance to the walkway after having completed a good hike -see detailed options down below-. Although not as pricey as in the case of the Jungfrau, the price of the cable car will make you consider this option. The round trip tickets are about 75 euros per person. Going from the Col du Pillon at 1,546 m., to the almost 2,971 of the Scex Rouge base in 20 minutes is well worth the money in our opinion. If the weather forecast is bad, we recommend postponing the visit for another day.
View of the 107 metre-long walkway over the Scex Rouge with the Oldenhorn (3,123 m) on the left.
Routes of interest in Les Diablerets
When we’re back in the area, we’ll do one of these itineraries, some equipped.
- Drudy equipped path up to the Pierradar refuge and hike up to the Scex Rouge along the Dames Anglaises via ferrata (K3). It could work as an alternative way back, using the cable car to go up. It’s a 9/10 hour activity. Wikiloc - Scully Mountains
- Equipped path to The Diablerets hut and the Tete aux Chamois via ferrata (Gemskopf) (K5). They’re combinable routes. You can reduce the climbing time by taking the cable car up to the middle station, doing the ferrata and going back down on the equipped path. Wikiloc - Pedro Martinez Balgañon
- At 800 metres from Col du Pillon, where the Glacier 3000 cable car lower station is, there’s the Cascade Le Dar via ferrata (K4). Wikiloc - Scully Mountains. Visinand (FR)
In Glacier 3000, if you want to climb a peak higher than 3,000 metres, you’ll have to do some extra activities.
- Climbing the Oldenhorn, which reaches 3,123 m., with some areas equipped with lifelines. Hikr.org - Oldenhorn
- Going up Les Diablerets, 3,210 m., the highest peak in western Switzerland, going past the Diablerets Glacier and the Dome des Diablerets 2,996 m., with a section equipped with a fixed rope. Wikiloc - Francesc Català
