Wild camping on the Sasseneire

Wild camping on the Sasseneire: the summit is the commune line

The Sasseneire is a walker's three-thousander, and that is why the night question comes up. The normal routes climb from the Moiry dam on the east or from Villa above La Sage on the west, meet at the Col de Torrent, 2'916 m, and follow the ridge north for about an hour to the top. No glacier, no rope. People who have done it once want to see the sunrise from it.

The summit point sits on the boundary. The federal communal boundary layer, current year, puts the highest point, WGS84 46.13869 / 7.52515, LV95 2'606'685 / 1'109'693, in Evolène. Two metres north or east of it is Anniviers. Two metres south or west it stays Evolène. The ridge to the south, towards the Col de Torrent, is Evolène; the slopes falling to the Val de Moiry and the Lac des Autannes are Anniviers.¹

The top itself takes no tent. Within 30 metres of the summit the median slope is 51 degrees, and 96 percent of that ground is steeper than 30 degrees. The nearest patch under 20 degrees is 210 metres east and 165 metres lower, on the Anniviers flank. Level ground first appears 800 to 1'100 metres north-east and east, between 2'716 and 2'791 metres, all of it in Anniviers. On the Evolène side the only small level patch near the top lies one kilometre south-south-west at 2'622 metres.¹

Nothing federal adds to the picture at the summit. No federal game reserve, wildlife rest zone, park, moor, floodplain, dry meadow, forest reserve or army firing area lies on the top. The edge of the federal landscape inventory object Val de Réchy - Sasseneire passes within 200 metres; that inventory binds the authorities, it does not fine a hiker. The rule that decides is communal, and on this summit there are two of them.¹

Evolène and Anniviers both forbid camping on their whole territory

Evolène's rule is art. 54 al. 2 of its Règlement communal de police, adopted on 20 March 2018 and homologated by the Conseil d'Etat on 21 November 2018.

"Le camping, le caravaning et ce qui leur est assimilable sont interdits en dehors des emplacements autorisés expressément désignés comme tels par l'Autorité."Règlement communal de police de la Commune d'Evolène, art. 54 al. 2. Camping, caravanning and what is comparable to them are forbidden outside the authorised places expressly designated as such by the Authority.

It reaches the summit because it reaches everything. Art. 4 al. 1 applies the regulation "sur l'ensemble du territoire de la Commune d'Evolène", and al. 2 lets the commune act on private ground. There is no altitude where it stops. Art. 78 al. 1 sets the fine between CHF 10 and CHF 10'000. The commune's own tariff sheet lists "Camping en dehors des emplacements autorisés" at CHF 200 to 400, CHF 500 on repeat, and its road signs read "Wild camping forbidden, Fine frs 500".²

Anniviers' rule is art. 58 al. 1 of its Règlement de police, adopted on 15 December 2014 and homologated on 26 August 2015. It is the same sentence with three words more.

"Le camping, le caravaning et ce qui leur est assimilable sont interdits sur le domaine public et privé en dehors des emplacements autorisés, expressément désignés comme tels par l'Autorité."Règlement de police de la Commune d'Anniviers, art. 58 al. 1. Camping, caravanning and what is comparable to them are forbidden on public and private ground outside the authorised places expressly designated as such by the Authority.

"Sur le domaine public et privé" means the owner's yes changes nothing. Art. 1 al. 2 applies the regulation to the whole communal territory. Art. 58 al. 2 lets the police order a tent removed within two hours and remove it at your cost if you do not. Art. 78 caps the fine at CHF 5'000.³

Why a communal article decides in Valais. The canton has no general camping ban. Its building ordinance only requires a permit for tents beyond three weeks or twelve units, far above one night. The cantonal structure plan, sheet B.3 "Camping", instructs the communes to "fixent les prescriptions relatives au camping sauvage dans leur règlement de police". Evolène and Anniviers did exactly that.⁴

Evolène says it in plain words too. On its website the commune writes that "le camping sauvage reste interdit sur le territoire de la Commune d'Evolène" and sends visitors to its campsites. The item is about the valley after the 2024 floods, and it shows how the commune reads its own art. 54: the whole territory.⁵

A tent is caught. A bivvy bag is an untested edge

Both articles end their list with "et ce qui leur est assimilable", and what is comparable to them. That clause reaches past the word camping. A tent pitched for one night is comparable to camping on any reading, so the tent question is not close on either side of the summit.²³

Neither regulation uses the word bivouac. Whether a sleeping bag on the ground with nothing put up is "assimilable" to camping has no answer in either text, and no Valais court has ruled on the clause. Zermatt, a few valleys east, defines camping as staying in tents, caravans or similar installations, which would leave a bare sleeping bag outside. Evolène and Anniviers wrote no definition at all, and they wrote the wide clause.

That is an edge, not a plan. Sleeping out on the Sasseneire without a tent means betting on a reading neither commune has confirmed. The night out no Swiss rule fines is a genuine emergency bivouac forced by injury, weather or darkness, which the Swiss Alpine Club treats as always permitted. A planned sunrise night is not that.⁸

Where you can legally sleep near the Sasseneire

Consent is no route here. Both articles allow camping only at places "expressément désignés comme tels par l'Autorité", and the Authority is the communal council, not an alp tenant or a hut warden. Neither commune has designated a tent place on this mountain.²³

• A bed in the valley. Villa and La Sage, 3.6 to 4.3 km south on the Evolène side, are where the western route starts. On the east, Grimentz and the Moiry dam area are the base for the Moiry route.
• An authorised campsite in the Val d'Hérens. These are the "emplacements autorisés" Evolène's art. 54 means. Check the commune's page before you go: the Arolla site closed in 2025, and Molignon at Les Haudères was ordered shut for flood risk in early 2026, with only a small sector open.⁵⁷
• Not the Col de Torrent. The pass, 1.1 km south-south-east at 2'916 m, is Evolène ground under art. 54.
• Not the Lac des Autannes or the level ground north-east of the top. That is Anniviers, under art. 58, where the police may have a tent removed after a two-hour warning.

No fire. At 3'000 metres there is nothing to burn, and Valais declares fire bans in most dry summers. A gas stove covers everything.

General rules for wild camping

This applies wherever you are genuinely allowed to sleep outside, which around the Sasseneire means a booked bed or an authorised campsite, never the summit or the slopes below it.

• No fire. An open fire has no place in the mountains. A gas stove is enough.
• Pitch late, strike early. Set up towards evening, gone again early. A bivouac is one night, not a base camp.
• Leave no rubbish. Everything you carry up you carry down, organic scraps and toilet paper included.
• At least 50 metres from any water for the big business, so you do not foul what people and livestock drink.
• Stay small and quiet. A small group, no speaker, no drone, dogs on the lead, and the alp staff's word goes.

Disclaimer

This article reflects my research and assessment to the best of my knowledge, as of October 2026. It is based on the publicly accessible and official sources linked below. It does not replace legal advice and is not a binding statement of the current legal situation.

The verdict rests on the police regulations of Evolène (2018) and Anniviers (2014, homologated 2015), Evolène's fine tariff of 2018, the cantonal structure plan of Valais and the federal boundary and terrain data for the summit. No permission has been asked for. Terrain figures come from official elevation data, not from a survey on site. Before every tour, check the current sources yourself and follow instructions on site. A genuine emergency bivouac in distress is a separate question from a planned camp. Anyone who spends the night outside bears responsibility for their own conduct and any consequences themselves. Hikebeast, Leon Helg and Saftladen GmbH accept no liability for decisions made on the basis of this text, and call on no one to break applicable law.

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Leon Helg

Swiss filmmaker and software developer. Spends his free time in the Swiss Alps and maps his favourite spots for Hikebeast. Posts as @leon.helg on Instagram and TikTok.

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