Arolla is a village in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Evolène Evolène is a municipality in the district of Hérens in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It includes the villages of Evolène, Les Haudères, La Sage, Villa, La Forclaz, and Arolla, the hamlets of Lannaz and La Tour, and the hollow of Fe ...

in the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

canton of

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 ...

. It is situated at the end of the

Val d'Hérens Val d'Hérens is an alpine valley in the Valais canton of Switzerland. It was formed by the Hérens glacier, which retreated at the end of the last ice age. It is now the valley of the ''Borgne'' river, a tributary of the Rhone (confluence abov ...

, south of the cantonal capital,

Sion Sion may refer to * an alternative transliteration of Zion People * Sion (name) or Siôn, a Welsh and other given name and surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Shion or Sion, a Japanese given name Pl ...

Geography

Arolla is situated at 1998 m above sea level, at the foot of

Mont Collon Mont Collon (3,637 m) is a mountain of the Swiss Pennine Alps in the canton of Valais. Its glaciated north face dominates the view south from the village of Arolla Arolla is a village in the municipality of Evolène in the Swiss canton of ...

in the

Pennine Alps The Pennine Alps (german: Walliser Alpen, french: Alpes valaisannes, it, Alpi Pennine, la, Alpes Poeninae), also known as the Valais Alps, are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in Switzerland (Valais) and Italy ( ...

. The village is also overlooked by the 3796-metre

Pigne d'Arolla Pigne d'Arolla (3,796 m) is a mountain in the Pennine Alps in Switzerland. The first ascent was made by A. W. Moore and Horace Walker with the guide Jakob Anderegg on 9 July 1865. It is commonly climbed as part of the Haute Route The Haute ...

, which can be climbed from the

Cabane des Vignettes The Vignettes Hut (french: Cabane des Vignettes) is an alpine hut, located south of Arolla in the Swiss canton of Valais. It lies at a height of 3,160 metres above sea level, at the foot of the Pigne d'Arolla and near the Col de Chermotane in the ...

Dix Hut The Dix Hut ( French: ''Cabane des Dix'') is a mountain hut of the Swiss Alpine Club, located south of Hérémence in the canton of Valais. The hut lies above the Cheilon Glacier, at a height of 2,928 metres above sea level, approximately halfway ...

. The

Arolla Glacier The Arolla Glacier (french: Glacier d'Arolla) is a long glacier (2005) situated in the Pennine Alps in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. In 1973 it had an area of . The Glacier d'Arolla is in fact composed of two glacier: the ''Glacier du Mo ...

is located south of Arolla, between Mont Collon and the Pigne d'Arolla. Pra Gra is an abandoned hamlet above Arolla at 2479 m, which can be reached on foot in approximately 90 minutes. The views of Mont Collon and the glacial trench at the end of the valley are particularly notable from this location.

Tourism

Arolla's location makes it a popular starting point for mountain expeditions. Routes such as the Patrouillle des Glaciers and the

Haute Route The Haute Route (or the High Route or Mountaineers' Route) is the name given to a route (with several variations) undertaken on foot or by ski touring between the Mont Blanc in Chamonix, France, and the Matterhorn, in Zermatt, Switzerland. Fir ...

, a classic high-altitude mountain trek between

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc ( frp, Chamôni), more commonly known as Chamonix, is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It was the site of the first Winter Olympics in 1924. In 2019, it had ...

and

Zermatt Zermatt () is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is classified as a town by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO). ...

, pass through the village as well. There are over 100 kilometres of

mountain biking Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...

paths in the area. Arolla's ski area lies above the village on the western side of the valley, with five lifts and 47 kilometres of pistes. Its high altitude guarantees snow well into the spring. Hotels in Arolla include the historic Hôtel Mont Collon, located near the entrance to the village, and Hotel Kurhaus, situated at the top of the series of hairpin bends that rise through the village. There is a post office, mountain sports equipment shop, hotel, and bus stop in the small village centre.

Flora and fauna

The Arolla pine or Swiss pine, a high-altitude species in the

white pine ''Pinus'', the pines, is a genus of approximately 111 extant tree and shrub species. The genus is currently split into two subgenera: subgenus ''Pinus'' (hard pines), and subgenus ''Strobus'' (soft pines). Each of the subgenera have been further ...

group, is named after the village and grows in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

and the

Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The ...

References

Ski areas and resorts in Switzerland Villages in Valais {{Valais-geo-stub