TETE D’ELEPHANT
SAINT JEAN D’AULPS, HAUTE SAVOIE, FRANCE
VIA FERRATA (D+)
STYLE: CLIMB
PHYSICAL RATING: 2
VERTIGO RATING: 4
TECHNICAL RATING: 2
SUMMIT RATING: 3
SATISFACTION: 4
STATISTICS
Departure Altitude: 960m
Arrival Altitude: 1173m
Climb (or descent): 213m
Length: 300m
Time: 1.5 hrs
SPECIAL FEATURES
Footbridge: 0
Monkey Bridge: 1
Ladder: 0
Zip Line: 0
Net: 0
ACCESSIBILITY
Open: in theory, Year round (except when snowing) but this year it closed in November until March
Parking: Parking for the via ferrata next to the Cemetry. Walk to the bottom of the course is about 20 mins up a steep well signposted trail through the woods.
WHAT TO KNOW!
La Tête De l’Éléphant Via Ferrata above Saint Jean d’Aulps in Haute-Savoie, France is a wonderfully airy rockface climb of around 225m. The course is the easier of 2 possible ascents, well laid out and pretty straight forward to climb as long as you have a good head for heights.
From the base of the course, it is a brief right hand direction, before a direct climb, a brief very vertigionous monkey bridge, and then up to the left all the way to the summit.
Rated D+, the course is only difficult for lack of resting spots, high vertigo, and the thin beam bridge. Straight forward for experienced via ferraterers.
When you get to the top, we advise to keep your gear on, as some of the descent is with metal wires again, and it is pretty steep (hiking poles will help a lot).
there is a bonus mini via ferrata just along the road from the car park also to try as a warm up.
Great climb!
