Tour des Combins — Stage 7: Cabane de Chanrion → Ollomont

From the Cabane de Chanrion climb among tarns and roches moutonnées to the Fenêtre de Durand (2,797 m), the historic crossing between Valais and Valpelline watched over by Mont Gelé. The long descent through the By valley, past waterfalls and alps, returns to Ollomont (1,356 m), where the Tour des Combins closes.

The tour’s last border is a pass full of stories: for centuries herds, merchants and smugglers crossed the Fenêtre de Durand, and in 1943 Luigi Einaudi, future President of Italy, escaped to Switzerland this way. The climb from Chanrion winds among tarns and ice-polished rock, with Mont Gelé and the Becca Faudery as stage wings. On the Valdostan side the descent is long and glorious: the By valley opens like a fan, the torrent’s waterfalls keep you company down to the alps and finally the roofs of Ollomont. The Combins loop closes where it began, beneath the bell tower.