Now, that makes you smile, because "Ravanel" is considered to be of a very average level. Yet it remains a captivating route thanks to its cold atmosphere and clever layout, which makes for a normally painless climb with a direct exit to the summit. The more modern "Moustiqu'oche" offers the same atmosphere, in clean rock (i.e. almost no grassy areas), but is harder. But it has one flaw: it doesn't exit at the summit. Other routes have been opened on this face, such as the "Face Nord Directe" (F. Braize and J.L. Urquizar - 1967) and the "Directe du Refuge" (A. Chamot and J.L. Urquizar - 1963), but have been completely abandoned due to uncertain rock conditions.

The southern foothills, below the path of the dent traverse, towards the Col de Planchamp, offer a number of low-level routes of modern standard, i.e. equipped with bolts and in nice rock.

Against all expectations, the facet at the base of the west pillar of the Dent d'Oche is easy to access. Yet it's hard to imagine how anyone could manage to mobilize for its two large 60- and 30-metre pitches, not uninteresting though they may be, but a little far from... anything. Not so with Canicula: 500 meters of fun climbing with a few (minor!) difficulties concentrated at the start, followed by 350 meters of quiet, albeit typically Chablais ridges, in a resolutely magnificent atmosphere.

The Darbon peaks (2028 m) form two small chains separated by a collet, commonly known as the Pas de Darbon, which rise above the Oche and Darbon valleys. Their steep rocky north faces overlook the tranquil Case d'Oche lakes. On the other side, to the south, they're just grassy, crumbling terraces. Although it's possible to traverse both peaks in their entirety, only the western massif is really worth climbing. The traverse of the western peaks, with average rock but no real difficulty, is frequently climbed. A route, probably never repeated, was set in the middle of the north face (TD sup, 5c and A2, 3 pitches) by F. Braize and J.L. Urquizar (him again!) in September 1963.

The Roc du Château d'Oche, a neighbouring peak to the Dent d'Oche, has two routes on its north face: the Petit Château route (P. Mégevan and G. Paignon - 1969) and the Grand Château route (J.L. Urquizar and G. Buisson - 1973). These two routes are not equipped and are therefore completely neglected.

Helmets are recommended.

Complete guidebooks at www.chablais-grimpe.com

This topo guide is on sale at tourist information offices in Abondance, La Chapelle d'Abondance and Bernex for 15€.