Val Ferret is the name shared by two valleys separated by the Col Ferret, a pass on the border between

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. The valleys lie southeast of

Mont Blanc Massif The Mont Blanc massif (french: Massif du Mont-Blanc; it, Massiccio del Monte Bianco) is a mountain range in the Alps, located mostly in France and Italy, but also straddling Switzerland at its northeastern end. It contains eleven major indep ...

. The Swiss valley drains northeast towards

Orsières Orsières is a municipality in the district of Entremont in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. History Orsières is first mentioned in 972 as ''Pons Ursarii''. In medieval times, it was a stage on the '' Via Francigena''. Geography Orsière ...

and on into the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...

basin; whereas the Italian valley drains southwest towards

Courmayeur Courmayeur (; Valdôtain: ) is a town and '' comune'' in northern Italy, in the autonomous region of Aosta Valley. History The toponym ''Courmayeur'' has been mentioned as ''Curia majori'' (1233–1381), ''Corte Maggiore'' (1620), ''Cormoyeu'' (1 ...

and on into the Po basin. The two valleys are connected by a mountain

footpath A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as motorized vehicles, bicycles and horses. They can be found in a wide ...

through Col Ferret which forms part of the circular

Tour du Mont Blanc The Tour du Mont Blanc or TMB is one of the most popular long-distance walks in Europe. It circles the Mont Blanc massif, covering a distance of roughly with of ascent/descent and passing through parts of Switzerland, Italy and France. I ...

route. Access to Col Ferret is forbidden for private motor vehicles, on both sides.

Swiss Val Ferret

The Swiss Val Ferret is a

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...

on the southern side of

valley in the 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 26 cantons forming the S ...

. It lies between the

and 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 Ital ...

, with the river ''La Dranse de Ferret'' running down the length of the valley from its source to ''La Dranse'' river.

Geography

The valley starts at the Col Ferret (2490 m) on the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

border. It is surrounded by high mountains, especially on the west side (

Mont Dolent Mont Dolent () is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif and lies on the border between Italy, Switzerland and France. As a mountain, Mont Dolent is regarded as the tripoint between Italy, Switzerland and France, although the tripoint itself lies a ...

Tour Noir The Tour Noir is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif on the Swiss- French border. It is located between the Aiguille d'Argentière and Mont Dolent. See also *List of mountains of Switzerland This article contains a sortable table of many of th ...

and other summits of the

). The main villages of the Val Ferret are (descending from the pass):

Ferret The ferret (''Mustela furo'') is a small, domesticated species belonging to the family Mustelidae. The ferret is most likely a domesticated form of the wild European polecat (''Mustela putorius''), evidenced by their interfertility. Other mus ...

La Fouly La Fouly is a village in Val Ferret in the Swiss canton of Valais. At an altitude of 1,600 metres, it is part of the municipality of Orsières (900 m). It sits at the foot of Mont Dolent (3,823 m) and the Tour Noir (3,836m) in the Mont Blanc m ...

, Prayon,

Praz de Fort Praz may refer to: Places *La Praz, Vaud, Switzerland * Le Praz, Courchevel, Savoie, France, *Präz, Graubünden, Switzerland * Les Praz, Chamonix, France Names *Mario Praz Mario Praz (; September 6, 1896, Rome – March 23, 1982, Rome) was an ...

, Issert and

Som la Proz Som, SOM or Søm may refer to: Computing * System Object Model (file format), of the HP-UX operating system * Simulation Object Model, in computer high-level architecture (simulation) * System on module, in computer embedded systems * Self-orga ...

, all belonging to the municipality of

. Altogether, the valley had approximately 700 inhabitants as at 2008Municipality of Orsières official website
/ref>).

Italian Val Ferret

Geography

From the Col Ferret (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 ...

border), the valley runs down, beneath the Pré de Bar glacier and the towering

Grandes Jorasses The Grandes Jorasses (4,208 m; 13,806 ft) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif, on the boundary between Haute-Savoie in France and Aosta Valley in Italy. The first ascent of the highest peak of the mountain (''Pointe Walker'') was by ...

. The stream running through the valley is the Dora di Ferret (french: Doire de Ferret), which, near La Palud (in front of the Italian

Mont Blanc Tunnel The Mont Blanc Tunnel is a highway tunnel between France and Italy, under the Mont Blanc mountain in the Alps. It links Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, France with Courmayeur, Aosta Valley, Italy, via the French Route Nationale 205 and the Italian T ...

exit), joins the Dora di Veny (french: Doire de Veny) flowing down from Val Veny to form the

Dora Baltea Dora Baltea () or Doire Baltée () is a river in northwestern Italy. It is a left-hand tributary of the Po and is about long. Name The river's Latin name was ''Duria maior'', ''Duria Baltica'' or ''Duria Bautica''. Strabo called it Δουρ� ...

, a left-hand

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

of the Po. The main villages in the valley are Arnouvaz, Planpincieux and La Palud, all in the comune of Courmayeur.

Tourism

The valleys are mostly frequented by hikers on the route of the

. Many excursions are possible from the villages, such as:

Cabane de l'A Neuve The Cabane de l'A Neuve (or A Neuve Hut) is a mountain hut in the Swiss Alps at 2,735 metres above sea level open for visitors. It can be reached from the Val Ferret. The hut lies below the Grand Darray (3,514 m) on the south side in the Mont Bla ...

from La Fouly or

Cabane de Saleina The Saleina Hut (French: ''Cabane de Saleina'', formerly spelled ''Saleinaz'') is a mountain hut in the Swiss Alps at 2,691 meters above sea level. It can be reached from the Val Ferret. The hut lies above the Saleina Glacier near the Aiguill ...

from Praz de Fort or

Cabane du Trient The Trient hut (French: ''Cabane du Trient'') is a mountain hut in the Swiss alps, near the Swiss town of Martigny and the French town of Chamonix. The hut sits at an altitude of 3,170 m (10,400 ft), on a rock perched above the Trien ...

above the

Trient Glacier The Trient Glacier (french: Glacier du Trient) is a 4.3 km long glacier (2007) in the Mont Blanc Massif in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. In 1973 it had an area of 6.4 km². The upper part of the glacier forms a large plateau n ...

References

Valleys of the Alps Valleys of Switzerland Landforms of Valais

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