Some mountains like to show themselves. Others seem to look back at you.
Grand Combin belongs to the second category.
From the terraces of Verbier, the lanes of Sarreyer, the alpine pastures of La Chaux or the paths around Mauvoisin, there he is. Always there. Still. Silent. Sitting in his vast armchair of ice like a patriarch with nothing left to prove to anyone.
The Matterhorn likes photographers. Grand Combin prefers observers. One poses. The other inhabits the landscape.
And if the people of Bagnes can be a little chauvinistic when it comes to mountains, perhaps it is because they know something the rest of the world has yet to discover: our giant needs no advertising.
The build of a lord
At 4,314 metres, the second-highest summit in French-speaking Switzerland, Grand Combin is not just a mountain. He is a presence.
Seen from Verbier, he sometimes looks like an old Alpine aristocrat: broad forehead, powerful shoulders, severe gaze.
On winter days, when clouds cling to his flanks, it looks as though he is pulling up the collar of his fur coat. At sunset, his face flushes like a man who has spent the afternoon telling stories over a glass of Fendant. And on foehn mornings, when a lenticular cloud settles on his summit like a hat, one can easily imagine he has decided not to receive visitors.
Because Grand Combin has character. The people of the Val de Bagnes know it well. You never see him the same way twice. He is our daily painting, a work that changes mood with the light, the seasons and the storms of the sky.
Some check the weather on their phones. The old-timers look at the Combin.
A gentleman who does not like to be disturbed
Grand Combin is beautiful, but not always friendly. That is the difference.
His elegance hides a formidable temperament. Beneath his snowy suit lie giant seracs, deep crevasses and slopes that regularly remind humans who is truly in charge up there.
Mountaineers know one almost legendary passage well: the Corridor. A couloir dominated by immense hanging seracs. The kind of poorly frequented street where nobody lingers. You move quickly. Very quickly.
Because Grand Combin has that rare quality among modern mountains: he has never tried to become approachable. He still demands respect, perhaps even more today than yesterday.
Stories of accidents, disappearances and rescues unfortunately continue to mark his history. Like all great lords, he sometimes brutally reminds us that his company must be earned.
@ Verbier Promotion / Lucia Harrison
@ Verbier Promotion / Merlody Sky
@ Verbier Promotion / Lucia Harrison
The first visitors
For a long time, Grand Combin remained a mysterious territory. An immense white mass between the Val de Bagnes and the Val d’Entremont. A kind of frozen continent set in the middle of Valais.
On 20 July 1857, chamois hunters Benjamin Fellay, Maurice Fellay and Jouvence Bruchez made the first ascent of Grand Combin, opening the way for the generations of mountaineers who would follow.
At the time, summits were neither trophies nor backdrops. People ventured up out of curiosity, a taste for the unknown, and sometimes simply because a mountain that dominates the horizon eventually draws both eyes and footsteps.
Early accounts describe an immense, complex, almost labyrinthine massif. A mountain that defends itself. A mountain that forces you to think before moving forward. Exactly like some old Bagnards.
The one who commands the valley’s respect
If Grand Combin were a man, the Panossière hut would probably be his sitting room.
Suspended opposite the Corbassière glacier, it offers one of the finest mountain encounters in the Alps. People do not come here only to sleep. They come to visit the giant.
The hut has observed Grand Combin for generations, like a neighbour watching the house across the way. Each day reveals a new expression, a new colour, a new mood.
And it must be said that, over the years, the successive guardians of the hut have helped nurture this special relationship between humans and the mountain. At Panossière, Grand Combin is never just a summit. He is almost a village character.
A few stories the old gentleman could tell
A character who has lived through more than 150 years of mountaineering inevitably gathers a few stories along the way.
The guides of Bagnes and Entremont once climbed him with equipment that would make any modern alpinist smile: nailed boots, woollen clothing, rudimentary ice axes and a very solid dose of courage. Listening to accounts of those ascents, one sometimes has the impression they were simply visiting a rather distant neighbour. A neighbour at 4,314 metres.
Grand Combin has watched generations of guides, hut keepers, dreamers, seasoned alpinists and ordinary walkers pass by in search of a little grandeur. He has seen them come and go for a long time, with the detached air of a grandfather watching his grandchildren run through the garden.
Walking around the character
For those who prefer to converse with the giant without shaking his hand, there is the Tour des Combins, one of the finest Alpine treks in Europe.
More than a hundred kilometres of trails, several days of walking, perched huts, hanging glaciers, and crossings between Switzerland and Italy. And always that immense silhouette reappearing around a bend in the valley, like a lead actor refusing to leave the stage.
You pass through landscapes where rock, water, ice and alpine pastures seem to have been gathered into a single setting.
A mountain that must be earned
Grand Combin is not only a summit to be contemplated. Some go all the way to visit him.
In summer, you meet him with crampons on your feet. In winter, you visit him on skis. The route changes, the scenery too, but the appointment remains the same: to greet one of the great lords of the Alps.
And then there is the Trophée des Combins. Since 1965, this legendary race has reminded us that in this valley, the greatest challenges are often lived out in the mountains.
The region’s most famous inhabitant
He is probably the most photographed inhabitant of the region. And yet he lives neither in Verbier, nor in Bruson, nor in Champsec. He lives a little higher up. Much higher up.
Grand Combin has always accompanied the people of the Val de Bagnes. He is in the windows, in the memories, in the postcards and in the conversations. We think we know him because we see him every day.
But his face is constantly changing with the light, the seasons and the years. So we must keep looking up.
Because even old gentlemen of 4,314 metres are not eternal.
Would you like to discover Grand Combin for yourself? Get in touch with our partner, the Verbier Mountain Guides Office.
Photos: © Verbier Mountain Guides Office / Verbier Promotion.