The north-facing Ferpècle Valley is located in the upper part of the Val d’Hérens in the canton of Valais, SW Switzerland. This is classic alpine terrain, with narrow, high-elevation summits, most in excess of 3500 m. At 4357 m, Dent Blanche is the highest of these summits – and also arguably the most impressive.

The field trip starts at the dam at the end of the road (~1900 m asl) and then follows the western side of the valley as far as the Mont Miné glacier snout (~2100 m). This is just one of ten or so glaciers within the catchment; unfortunately, these are not visible from the valley-floor route taken by the virtual field trip.

The imagery for this virtual field trip was acquired in June 2017. You can download location data for each of the stops (for viewing in Google Earth, ArcGIS, QGIS etc), although location information is also provided within the virtual field trip itself. There are plans to extend this resource when time and finances allow.

UPDATE: There is now a virtual field trip that climbs the western slopes of the valley, carrying on beyond Bricola. The imagery was acquired in June 2022.

UPDATE 2: There is now a virtual field trip from June 2024. This tracks along the valley floor, as far as the Mont Miné glacier dead ice zone.