Grand Combin - Geography

Geography

The massif of the Grand Combin lies south of Verbier between the 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 Graffeneire) is 4,314 mteres in height, while the neighbouring north-east summit (Aiguille du Croissant) is lower by less than 60 meters (4,260 metres). Two other minor summits over 4,000 metres are located on the ridge: the 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 Rhone. After Dom, Weisshorn, it is the highest massif of the Alps situated out of the main chain. South of the Grand Combin, the ridge separating the glaciers of Mont Durand and Sonadon reaches the Grande Tête de By a few kilometres away, which is located on the main watershed. The ridge diverges to the south-west and appears to be continuous with the range of the Aiguilles Vertes, or Aiguilles de Valsorey, and that of Mont Vélan. From this branches the lower range, which divides the channel of the Glacier du Mont Durand (north) from the Piedmontese Val d'Ollomont (south), and extends by the Col de Fenêtre to the Mont Gelé.