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As for Bernard of Menthon, he was beatified shortly after his death around 1080, and in 1923 Pope Pius XI confirmed him as the patron saint of the Alps. His statue now gazes out over a wild landscape near the Italian customs post.

The Upper Val d’Entremont

Skirting the Lac de Toules reservoir above Bourg-St-Pierre the main road is protected by a long section of avalanche galleries and a tunnel. At the southern end the old road emerges to a moorland-like upper valley, while the main road enters the 6km long Tunnel du Grand St Bernard (open all-year, toll charged). The upper valley is clothed with rough slopes of grass, alpenrose, heather and scrub, but there’s skiing on the north-facing slopes of the east flank at the so-called Super-St-Bernard resort, served by the Menouve télécabine whose valley station stands beside the road on emerging from the avalanche protection galleries at Bourg-St-Bernard. A 20min walk from here leads to the Refuge du Plan du Jeu, which has 26 dormitory places (tel 027 787 12 35).