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Scenically Val d’Entremont is unremarkable, for it lacks the grandeur of the majority of Pennine valleys. True, it has the Combin massif and Mont Vélan to wall its upper reaches, but these are not as prominently displayed as one might expect, other than in brief select places, and there’s little to capture the imagination except perhaps by escaping the valley bed in order to gain a more elevated vantage point. The best of these will be found on the west flank, on the modest 2476m Tour de Bavon or the Bec Rond (2563m) above Vichères in the mouth of the Combe de l’A, for example.

A major highway cuts through the valley, bypassing its few villages and, since 1964, tunnelling beneath the actual pass to emerge on the Italian side of the mountains, leaving the old road to snake its way up to the Col du Grand St Bernard with its historic hospice, photogenic dogs and somewhat tacky souvenir stands.

It is at Orsières (901m), or rather just north of it, that the St Bernard road breaks away from the approach to Val Ferret. This little town, where the train from Martigny terminates, has most of the necessities for stocking up with supplies for the hills, with supermarkets, a pharmacy, several banks and an ATM or two, a post office, restaurants and three hotels: Hotel des Alpes, Hotel Terminus, and Hotel Union which also has 100 dorm places. For tourist information go to www.verbier-st-bernard.ch.