Grand Combin - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

Great Saint Bernard Pass, Italian Colle del Gran San Bernardo, French Col du Grand-Saint-Bernard, one of the highest of the Alpine frontier passes, at 8,100 feet. It lies on the Italian-Swiss border east of the Mont Blanc group in the southwestern Pennine Alps. The pass connects Martigny-Ville, Switzerland, in the Rhône River valley, with Aosta, Italy. The alpine crossing was a significant stretch of the pilgrim routes between north and south.

The Valpelline is a side valley of Valle d'Aosta. It takes its name from one of the towns in the valley: Valpelline. It branches off from the Gran San Bernardo Valley at Gignod and climbs up to Colle Collon which separates it from Valais. It is located at the foot of the Grand Combin mountain, although the summit of the latter is entirely in Switzerland because the borderline passes south of the mountain.

Val Ferret is the name of the two separate valleys, departing from the Col Ferret on the border between Italy and Switzerland, on the southern and eastern sides of the Mont Blanc Massif. The Swiss valley drains northeastwards towards Orsières and on into the Rhône basin; whereas the Italian valley drains southwestwards towards Courmayeur and on into the Po basin. The two valleys are connected by a mountain footpath through Col Ferret which forms part of the 170 kilometres circular Tour du Mont

Pigne d'Arolla is a mountain in the Pennine Alps in Switzerland. The first ascent was made by A. W. Moore and Horace Walker with the guide Jakob Anderegg on 9 July 1865. It is commonly climbed as part of the Haute Route. It is an excellent ski mountain, that is often climbed on the famous Haute Route that leads from Saas-Fee - Zermatt to Chamonix.

Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses is a scattered Italian town of 337 inhabitants in the upper valley of the Gran San Bernardo, in the northwestern Valle d'Aosta. The function of the inhabited center closest to the hill on the southern Alpine side has characterized Saint-Rhémy over the centuries. The Latin toponym is Endracinum: in Roman times an important mansion stood on the spot to control the road, while the villa of the dominus Baucius stood not far from the artery, on the hill.

The Lake Place-Moulin is located in the municipality of Bionaz in the Valpelline, side valley of Valle d'Aosta at a height of 1968 m above sea level. It is an artificial lake formed by the waters of the Buthier stream, a stream that cuts through the entire Valpelline. It is one of the largest lakes in the Aosta Valley, together with Lake Beauregard in Valgrisenche, and measures about 4 km in length. The dam, one of the largest barrages in Europe, was built between 1955 and 1965.