Alpine Passes Trail

Mauvoisin is located at the end of the Val de Bagnes in the shadow of Europe’s highest arch dam. It holds 210 million m3 of water from the Lac de Mauvoisin from a catchment area of over 100 km2. The physically demanding route begins with a steep climb right by the hotel. It takes just over two hours to reach the Col des Otanes. After another hour, covering an elevation gain of more than 1,000 metres, you reach an altitude of almost 2,900 metres, the highest point of the hike. This is rewarded accordingly - with a view that is second to none: the Corbassière glacier is framed by the Grand Combin massif, which includes several peaks of 4,000 metres. The Grand Combin, with its thick glaciers and glacier balconies, does not look like the Matterhorn. Instead, it is huge and imposing like a mountain range beyond the 6,000-mark in the Himalayas. The glacier is almost ten kilometres long and covers an area of around 15 km2.

You now descend steeply to the Cabane FXB-Panossière. It is located at 2,641 metres in the heart of the mountain range. You will be tempted to take a coffee break and enjoy the magnificent view. The hut was named after the pilot and aeronautical engineer François-Xavier Bagnoud, son of the founder of Air-Glacier Bruno Bagnoud, who died in an accident.

You continue hiking down into the valley to the glacier tongue. A 190-metre-long suspension bridge crosses the glacial moraine there, at a height of 70 metres. It offers another wonderful view of this desert of eroded rocks and ice. You then continue on an attractive path for around two hours. This runs through green vegetation and is completely different from the previous setting. It takes you to the destination for this stage at the Cabane de Brunet.