Grand Combin

Coordinates: 45°56′15″N 7°17′57″E / 45.93750°N 7.29917°E / 45.93750; 7.29917
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Grand Combin
Alpine four-thousanders
Coordinates45°56′15″N 7°17′57″E / 45.93750°N 7.29917°E / 45.93750; 7.29917
Geography
CountrySwitzerland
CantonValais
Parent rangePennine Alps
Topo mapSwisstopo 1346 Chanrion
Climbing
First ascentJuly 30, 1859

The Grand Combin is a

mountain massif in the western Pennine Alps in the canton of Valais. At a height of 4,314 metres (14,154 ft) the summit of Combin de Grafeneire is one of the highest peaks in the Alps[3] and the second most prominent of the Pennine Alps. The Grand Combin is also a large glaciated massif consisting of several summits, among which three are above 4000 metres (Combin de Grafeneire 4,314 m (14,154 ft), Combin de Valsorey 4,183 m (13,724 ft), Combin de la Tsessette 4,134 m (13,563 ft)). The highest part of the massif is wholly in Switzerland, although the border with Italy
lies a few kilometres south.

The normal route starts from the Panossière Hut, which lies on the north side in the Corbassière valley. Despite the fact that no major difficulties exist, a particularly dangerous passage has to be traversed on the north flank: Le Corridor. It is a couloir dominated by seracs continuously falling on it.[4]

Geography

Corbassière Valley: Grand Combin (left) and Combin de Corbassière (right)

The massif of the Grand Combin lies in Lower

Val d'Entremont (west) and Val de Bagnes (west). The north-western facing side of Grand Combin is entirely covered by eternal snows and glaciers which are prone to serac
falls. The southern and eastern walls are more steep and thus exempt of snow.

The topography of the Grand Combin is intricate. Between the

Val d'Entremont and the Val de Bagnes are two high ridges, nearly parallel to each other and to those valleys, which both diverge from a short transverse ridge of great height. The southern end of the space enclosed between these three ridges is an elevated plateau of great extent, where the snows accumulate and feed the Corbassière Glacier which descends thence for about ten kilometers to the north. The glacier is surrounded by the peaks of Petit Combin, Combin de Corbassière and Combin de Boveire on the west, Grand Tavé and Tournelon Blanc on the east. Smaller glaciers lie on the external flanks such as Boveire and Mont Durand Glacier
.

At the south-east extremity of the plateau, the highest part of the enclosing ridge is surmounted by two conical summits, of which the higher south-west point (Grand Combin de Grafeneire) is 4,314 meters in height, while the neighbouring north-east summit (

Grand Combin de Valsorey (4184 m) on the west and the Combin de la Tsessette
(4135 m) on the east. On the west side, the plateau sinks to a considerably lower level, and over this lies the Col des Maisons Blanches (3,418 m), by which access to the Corbassiere valley is obtained from the side of the Val d'Entremont.

All the waters flowing on the region end up in the Dranse river and the

Mont Gelé.[5]

Climbing history

The Grand Combin, which yields in height to only a few European mountains, was long one of the least known of Alpine summits. The first to commence the exploration of the great massif which separates the Val de Bagnes from the Val d'Entremont was

C. E. Mathews, and in 1857, William Mathews anticipated Studer in the ascent of the second peak of the Grand Combin.[7]

The first four expeditions on Grand Combin reached only the minor summit east of Grand Combin (Aiguille du Croissant). The first one was made by mountain guides from the valley (Maurice Fellay and Jouvence Bruchez) on July 20, 1857. The first complete ascent of Grand Combin was finally made on July 30, 1859 by Charles Sainte-Claire Deville with Daniel, Emmanuel and Gaspard Balleys, and Basile Dorsaz.[8]

The Grand Combin de Valsorey on the west was reached for the first time on 16 September 1872 by J. H. Isler and J. Gillioz. They climbed the south-west face above the Plateau du Couloir. The itinerary on the south-east ridge was opened on 10 September 1891 by O. Glynne Jones, A.Bovier and P. Gaspoz.[4]

View from the northwest
View from the south

Climbing huts

Approaching the summit from the north-eastern ridge
  • Panossière Hut (2,641 m), north side
  • Valsorey Hut (3,030 m), south-west side
  • Bivouac Biaggio Musso (3,658 m), south side

See also

  • List of 4000 metre peaks of the Alps

References

  1. ^ Retrieved from the Swisstopo topographic maps. The key col is the Fenêtre de Durand (2,797 m).
  2. ^ Retrieved from Google Earth. The nearest point of higher elevation is west of the Dent Blanche.
  3. prominence
    of at least 300 meters, it is the eighth highest.
  4. ^
    ISBN 2-7003-1305-4
  5. ^ John Ball, A guide to the Western Alps, p. 271, 1866, London
  6. ^ Combin de Corbassière Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine bagnes.ch. Retrieved 2010-02-08
  7. ^ John Ball, A guide to the Western Alps, p.271, 1866, London
  8. ^ "Grand Combin on municipality website". Archived from the original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2008-11-20.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Grand Combin.
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