Sendero de los puertos alpinos

Champex-Lac is a lovely Valais holiday resort above Martigny. The landscape, the traditional chalets and the lake don't give any hints today that the village was of high strategic importance for the border region during the Second World War and the Cold War. An extensive underground artillery fortress was part of Switzerland's defence policy and can be visited today.

The first five or six kilometres provide a relaxed hike along a gravel road through the forest. Robust, black Eringer cows graze in the pastures. Later, the road gives way to a path that looks more like a streambed. The trail becomes steeper in the small side valley below the Génepi and Six Carro peaks. The stage's strenuous part ends at about 1,900 metres above sea level. The views of the rugged mountain slopes carved by streams and later over the Rhone Valley are impressive.

The trail runs above the timberline along the exposed northern slopes of the Alps, where wind, erosion, snow and avalanches push back the trees and keep them small. After the hike's highest point at the Porte à l'O, you descend to the Col de la Forclaz on a beautiful and partly enchanted path. The pass road, which has existed since 1824, connects Martigny with Le Châtelard. The last section descends steeply to the stage's destination at Trient. You walk along the rock face over a passerelle with metal grids. On the valley floor, you reach tranquil Trient with its raspberry-coloured church. The lively transit town attracts people from all over the world.

This stage is part of the famous "Tour du Mont Blanc", which passes through France, Italy and Switzerland for about 160 kilometres.