Combin de la Tsessette

4,135 m

Named after the Tsessette glacier at the foot of its east face. Tsessette is a regional diminutive of patois tsa ('cliff' or 'rocky place').

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Coordinates45.9389° N · 7.3033° E

UIAA rank№ 46 / 82

CountriesSwitzerland

Normal gradePD · peu difficile

First ascent1894 · E.F.M. Benecke & H.A. Cohen

Typical seasonJuly to September

Photo of Combin de la Tsessette — Photo: Carsten Steger · CC BY-SA 4.0

Eastern subsidiary summit of the Grand Combin massif, less frequently climbed than the main summit. Usually reached by traverse from Grafeneire or via the steep east face.

History

The easternmost summit of the Grand Combin massif, looking down on the head of the Otemma glacier. It is the lowest and least-visited of the three Combin summits, and its first ascent is conventionally credited to a Swiss party of the 1880s reached by a long approach from the Cabane de Chanrion. The peak is rarely climbed for its own sake; it is most often taken in as part of a full traverse of the Combin summits from the Valsorey or Panossière huts.

Location

Summit · huts that serve as bases for routes on this peak

Major routes

East summit traverse from Grand Combin de Grafeneire

AD · assez difficile

Vertical / summit day2,700 m gain · 7h

The third and easternmost of the three main Combin summits, rarely climbed on its own. Usually taken in via the corniced snow ridge from the Grafeneire summit — adds about 1 h each way of exposed snow-ridge traverse and a short rocky step to the route described for the Grafeneire.

Huts on this route

Cabane de Valsorey3,030 m

Nearby huts

Cabane de ValsoreySAC · mid-June to mid-September3,030 m Cabane FXB PanossièreSAC · mid-March to late September2,641 m

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