Valpelline — Valle del Gran San Bernardo
Tour des Combins — Stage 1: Ollomont → Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses
18.6 km
+1635 m
−1585 m
11.5 h
Fitness level
Map & route
GPX track — verify on the ground before hiking
Description
From Ollomont climb to the luminous By basin, a pastoral amphitheatre below the Grand Combin, and cross the Col Champillon (2,709 m) beside the Letey-Champillon hut. A long descent through pastures and woods reaches Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses (1,632 m), home of the Jambon de Bosses ham.
The opening climbs to the By basin, a pasture amphitheatre at two thousand metres where copper was once mined: the Grand Combin commands the scene with its hanging glaciers. The trail traverses the high alps to the Col Champillon, beside which the Letey refuge offers the day’s only stop. From the pass the view embraces the Great St Bernard valley and, far off, Mont Blanc. A long descent through pastures and conifer woods leads to Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses, a medieval village on the Via Francigena and home of Jambon de Bosses DOP, cured at precisely this altitude.
Key points
Col Champillon
2709 m · 6.8 km from start
Earth sciences
Geology & landscape
The Grand Combin belongs to the Grand St Bernard nappe (middle Penninic): crystalline schists and gneisses of the Siviez-Mischabel zone, overlain to the south by the calcschists-with-ophiolites of the By valley. The great north wall above the Panossière hut shows the alternation of basement and carbonate cover; the Fenêtre de Durand is carved in the softer calcschists, ever the natural way between Bagnes and Valpelline.
History & culture
From the Ollomont copper mines, worked from the 17th century to 1945, ore descended by cableway; the By basin was a model alp of the Great St Bernard canons.
Water sources
Water at the stage's support points (Ollomont, Rifugio Champillon, Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses). On the high ground and at the passes springs are not guaranteed: fill bottles in the valley and at the huts.
Getting there
Aosta Valley side served by VITA buses and connections from Aosta; many valley heads have summer shuttles. Check seasonal timetables at arriva.it / vita-vda.com.
Warnings
- Snowfields possible on the passes until early July
- Book overnight stops in peak season
Start & end
Start
Ollomont
1370 m
Finish
Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses
1528 m
Refuges & bivouacs
Photo gallery
Adjacent stages
ACurated and verified by Andrea
Data source: Tour des Combins — itinerario ufficiale transfrontaliero · Traccia calcolata su rete sentieri OpenStreetMap (ODbL); verificare sul terreno
Last verified:
Valpelline — Valle del Gran San Bernardo
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