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ROUTE 2

Via Ferrata Jacques Revaclier

Location	Pomier (near Présilly), Haute-Savoie (GPS: Lat. 46º 4’ 46.02” N Long. 6º 6’ 25.63" E)
Length	500m
Ascent/Descent	200m
Route grading	technical grade: 2; exposure: 3; seriousness: A
Total time	1hr 45mins (approach: 25mins; route: 1hr; return: 20mins)
Highest altitude	1020m
Map	3430OT
Technical notes	direction: W; escape points: 0
When to visit	April to October
Useful websites	www.genevois-nature.fr; www.maisondusaleve.com

While undoubtedly brief, this via ferrata is still a tempting proposition due to its position on the western flanks of Mont Salève. This long escarpment runs south from Geneva and is much used by the inhabitants of that city for hiking, climbing and paragliding. The local authority asks that you exercise particular discretion if visiting this route during spring, due to the possibility of peregrine falcons nesting in the vicinity.

Note that there are two other cabled routes on Mont Salève, the Vires Büttikofer and Etournelles, both located above Collonges-sous-Salève. These involve sections of unprotected and exposed scrambling and should not be undertaken other than with a local guide.

Access

From St-Julien-en-Genevois drive south on the D1201. At a roundabout take the C11 and drive to Chartreuse de Pomier. From there, follow signs for ‘Parking Promeneurs’ until you come to a parking area with a large boulder at its centre.

Approach

Look out for a small yellow sign for Les Convers. Follow the indicated track, which winds steeply uphill through dense forest, until you reach an information panel for the via ferrata.

Route

Walk without any noticeable difficulty until emerging from the woods onto a pleasantly bulging rock-face. Continue, with intermittent protection, past some impressively overhanging bolted rock-climbing routes. There are 79 bolted rock-climbing routes in the vicinity of the via ferrata, graded 3–7. Just beyond the point where you pass a memorial to the mountaineer after whom the route is named (who died in an accident elsewhere), the nature of the route changes. Both exposure and difficulty increase as you edge out onto sheer rock and ascend for 20m to the finish. This final section is short but moderately strenuous and offers good views of the countryside surrounding Geneva.

The Genevois Plain from the exposed final part of the route

Return

A narrow path follows red waymarks uphill for a little way until joining a larger path. Turn left to extend your visit to Mont Salève, or right to descend and rejoin the approach path.