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Southwest of the Valsorey hut Cabane du Vélan (2642m) serves climbers tackling the 3731m Mont Vélan, one of the earliest snow mountains to be climbed. The initial route of approach to the hut is identical with that to Cabane de Valsorey, but when the path forks just below the Chalet d’Amont, you branch right, cross a footbridge over the Valsorey torrent and climb south in a series of zigzags to gain the hut, which is situated below the Tseudet glacier with magnificent views of the Grand Combin in one direction, and the Mont Blanc massif in the other (3hrs from Bourg-St-Pierre). Property of the Genevoise section of the SAC, this modern-looking hut has 60 places and a resident warden usually from mid-March to the end of September, although the hut may not be permanently staffed in June (www.velan.ch).

COL DU GRAND ST BERNARD: A PLACE IN HISTORY

Reckoned to have been in use since the Bronze Age, the Col du Grand St Bernard is the oldest and best-known of the alpine pass routes. Tradition has it that Hannibal crossed with his elephants in 217BC, and in 57BC Julius Caesar marched with his army across the windblown gap in the mountains to attack Martigny. The emperor Augustus built a road across the pass, and there set up a temple to Jupiter, which was sacked with the fall of Rome.