Mont Vélan

Mont Vélan stands on the border between the Aosta Valley and the Valais, above the Great St Bernard and Ollomont valleys. It is about 3,730 metres high: maps give 3,727 or 3,734 metres depending on the survey. Its summit is broad, flat and covered in snow. Directly opposite, on the other side of the Valsorey valley, rises the Grand Combin.

A very early ascent

The Vélan has a special place in the history of mountaineering. It was climbed on 31 August 1779, seven years before Mont Blanc. The first to reach the top was Laurent-Joseph Murith, a canon of the Great St Bernard hospice. He climbed with local chamois hunters, by way of the Proz glacier on the Swiss side.

Murith was more than a climber. He took an interest in plants and rocks, and corresponded with Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, the Genevan scientist who was then studying the Alps. Later he published the first guide devoted to the flora of the Valais.

The Italian route, through the Ollomont valley

On the Italian side, the route starts from Glassier, at the head of the Ollomont valley. A mule track climbs through the pastures to the Rosazza-Savoie bivouac, at 2,651 metres, in about three hours. This small shelter, always open, looks out over the By basin.

The next day, mountaineers make for the Valsorey col, on the border, then follow the ridge to the summit. Allow four to five and a half hours from the bivouac. The route is not very difficult, but it combines scree, snowfields, glacier and rock sections. It is a mountaineering route, to be done with a mountain guide if you lack experience of glacier terrain.

A view of three giants

From the summit, the view takes in Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa. But it is the nearby Grand Combin, with its hanging glaciers, that catches the eye.

Getting there

Rosazza-Savoie bivouac
2,651 m · always open, 20 places
Starting point: Glassier, Ollomont (AO)

The walk up to the bivouac from Glassier presents no difficulty and can be done from June to September. Beyond it, the Vélan remains a mountaineering summit: find out about the state of the glacier and go with a mountain guide.