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Val de Bagnes (Vallese)

Tour des Combins — Stage 5: Cabane Brunet → Cabane FXB Panossière

EEExperienced hikersummer
Tour des Combins — Stage 5: Cabane Brunet → Cabane FXB Panossière
© Hans Grube · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Distance

7.2 km

Ascent

+870 m

Descent

−471 m

Duration

5 h

Fitness level

Map & route

GPX track — verify on the ground before hiking

Description

A short but spectacular stage: from the Cabane Brunet climb to the Col des Avouillons (2,647 m) and cross the Corbassière Himalayan footbridge, 190 metres suspended above the glacial torrent, to reach the Cabane FXB Panossière (2,641 m) facing the Grand Combin’s north wall.

Few hours, big emotions. From the Brunet you climb through pastures and hollows to the Col des Avouillons, suddenly overlooking the glacial Corbassière valley: below, the suspension footbridge — a 190-metre span opened in 2014 — crosses the glacial torrent’s gorge with the glacier flowing down from the Grand Combin right opposite. The Cabane FXB Panossière, rebuilt in 1996, is the most alpine hut of the tour: in the evening the sound of working seracs accompanies dinner. Recommended morning variant: the moraine tarns above the hut.

Key points

  1. Col des Avouillons

    2647 m · 4 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

The Cabane FXB Panossière, rebuilt in 1996 after an avalanche destroyed its predecessor, bears the name of the François-Xavier Bagnoud foundation; the Corbassière glacier is among the most studied in the Alps.

Water sources

Water at the stage's support points (Cabane Brunet, Cabane FXB Panossière). On the high ground and at the passes springs are not guaranteed: fill bottles in the valley and at the huts.

Getting there

Cross-border stage: on the foreign sides local public transport applies (PostAuto in Switzerland, line buses in France/Piedmont). Check seasonal timetables; in peak season several access links run by reservation only.

Warnings

  • Snowfields possible on the passes until early July
  • Book overnight stops in peak season
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Start & end

Start

Cabane Brunet

2101 m

Finish

Cabane FXB Panossière

2637 m

Adjacent stages

Previous stage

Tour des Combins — Stage 4: Cabane de Mille → Cabane Brunet

7.7 km · E

Next stage

Tour des Combins — Stage 6: Cabane FXB Panossière → Cabane de Chanrion

17.2 km · EE

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:

Val de Bagnes (Vallese)

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