route (now relegated to variant status) descends to the river, crosses a bridge and follows a farm track as the initial stage of the climb to the Grand Col Ferret (2½hrs) and the Italian side of Mont Blanc.
Meanwhile, on the other (east) side of the valley, a track winds up the hillside above the farm, and later becomes a footpath which leads onto an utterly charming plateau graced by the Lacs de Fenêtre at a little under 2500m. Reached in 2–2½hrs from Ferret, the first of these lakes presents a matchless foreground to a view of the Grandes Jorasses, Mont Dolent and the Tour Noir. To the south the frontier ridge is enticing for a different reason. In that ridge the 2698m Fenêtre de Ferret not only gives a sighting of Mont Blanc’s Italian flank, but of the Gran Paradiso range to the south; it also suggests a way over the mountains into Italy where the Grand St Bernard road can be seen descending to the plains.
Northeast of the Lacs de Fenêtre, the 2757m Col du Bastillon takes walkers over a ridge descending from the Monts Telliers, where it’s then possible to traverse the upper slopes of the Combe de Drône to Col de Chevaux and the Col du Grand St Bernard. Yet another option for walkers is to strike north from the lakes, passing below the Monts Telliers and rising to a saddle, over which a way descends through the long funnel of the Combe de l’A to gain the village of Liddes in Val d’Entremont.
2:2 Val d’Entremont
With the Col du Grand St Bernard at its head, Val d’Entremont has seen a steady procession of travellers since the earliest times. It was known to the Celts and the Romans; emperors and armies marched through the valley, as did countless pilgrims on their way to Rome. In the 11th century a hospice was founded on the pass, and on gaining it in the winter of 1178, the English monk John de Bremble uttered the heartfelt prayer: ‘Lord restore me to my brethren that I may tell them that they shall not come to this place of torment.’
Scenically Val d’Entremont is unremarkable, for it lacks the grandeur of the majority of Pennine valleys. True, it has the Combin massif and Mont Vélan to wall its upper reaches, but these are not as prominently displayed as one might expect, other than in brief select places, and there’s little to capture the imagination except perhaps by escaping the valley bed in order to gain a more elevated vantage point. The best of these will be found on the west flank, on the modest 2476m Tour de Bavon or the Bec Rond (2563m) above Vichères in the mouth of the Combe de l’A, for example.
A major highway cuts through the valley, bypassing its few villages and, since 1964, tunnelling beneath the actual pass to emerge on the Italian side of the mountains, leaving the old road to snake its way up to the Col du Grand St Bernard with its historic hospice, photogenic dogs and somewhat tacky souvenir stands.
It is at Orsières (901m), or rather just north of it, that the St Bernard road breaks away from the approach to Val Ferret. This little town, where the train from Martigny terminates, has most of the necessities for stocking up with supplies for the hills, with supermarkets, a pharmacy, several banks and an ATM or two, a post office, restaurants and three hotels: Hotel des Alpes, Hotel Terminus, and Hotel Union which also has 100 dorm places. For tourist information go to www.verbier-st-bernard.ch.
Green hillsides lead to Orsières
Although the Grand Combin does not impress itself upon Val d’Entremont as it does on Val de Bagnes, it’s a major massif with several high summits, big snowfields and glaciers. As its name suggests, the six-day Tour des Combins makes a circuit of the massif to give the experienced mountain walker some truly spectacular views and reasonably tough days. The trek leads through tracts of wild country and crosses several passes, but it also visits attractive small villages on the Italian flank. (For further information see: www.tourdescombins.ch)
Day 1: Leaving Bourg-St-Pierre the route heads north to the chapel of Notre Dame de Lorette where a path rises through forest on the east flank of the valley, leading to the alp of Creux du Mâ. It then sweeps up to the lower Boveire alp at 2230m and continues on a long contour with Mont Blanc’s outlying peaks on show to the west. In a little over 4hrs from Bourg you reach the grassy Col de Mille and the timber-built Cabane du Col de Mille at 2472m. Views include the Grand and Petit Combin, Mont Vélan, Grandes Jorasses and Mont Dolent.
Day 2: Crossing Col de Mille above the hut, this 5–5½hrs stage descends into a grassy combe, then works a way round the hillside above Val de Bagnes to gain the privately owned Cabane Brunet, from where two options take the continuing route to the Panossière Hut. The most direct climbs steeply to cross Col des Avouillons (2647m) onto the Corbassière glacier, while the alternative descends into a tight little valley, then mounts a vegetated spur and eventually reaches the east bank lateral moraine of the glacier on which the Cabane de Panossière (Cabane François-Xavier Bagnoud) is set at 2645m. The alpenglow on the Grand Combin is truly spectacular from here.
Day 3: This begins by climbing to Col des Otanes, at 2846m the highest point on the tour, followed by a steep descent towards Mauvoisin. After crossing the Pazagnou stream, veer away from the valley-bound route and cross the spur of Pierre d’Vire, then make an undulating traverse of the upper west flank of Val de Bagnes, near the head of which stands the 2462m Cabane de Chanrion. Ending with a seemingly relentless uphill drag, this is gained about 7hrs from the Panossière Hut.
Day 4: Taking the tour round the southern side of the Combin massif, all but the first 2½hrs of this stage are spent in Italy, where waymarks are painted yellow with the initials ‘TDC’. The easy 2797m Fenêtre de Durand on the frontier reveals a complex and varied panorama, and from it the way slants down to the vast pastureland cirque of Conca di By. A bisse is followed for some way beyond the cirque, curving south through verdant pastures. From the Néan alpage a trail then begins to climb northwestward to reach the next overnight shelter at 2380m. Cabane Champillon was inaugurated in June 2005, and is gained at the end of a 7–7½hr stage from the Chanrion Hut.
Day 5: An hour’s trek leads to Col de Champillon (2708m), which gives views of Mont Blanc in one direction, the Combin massif in the other. On the way down into the Vallée de Menouve the Grand St Bernard road intrudes into the landscape, yet the trail retains interest all the way, with one or two tiny hamlets and villages to pass through. St-Rhémy offers limited but comfortable hotel accommodation for the night at 1619m (6hrs from Cabane Champillon).
Day 6: Above the village the old road, now little more than a track, is followed all the way to the Col du Grand St Bernard at 2469m. Arrival can bring a shock to the system as the pass is invariably crowded with traffic and tourists, but it takes only a few moments to escape along a path that initially descends into Val d’Entremont along the right-hand side of the road, then crosses to the left through alp pastures and alongside the dammed Lac des Toules, before entering Bourg-St-Pierre about 5½hrs after leaving St-Rhémy.
From a ridge north of Mont Brulé, high above Val d’Entremont, walkers enjoy views to outliers of the Mont Blanc range
The main road loops up the hillside above Orsières, then strikes southeastward to ease into the valley proper, and after about 8km runs along the outskirts of Liddes (1346m). After Orsières this is the first
