The Col de Crête Sèche ( French: "dry ridge pass") is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

in the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

, located between

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It lies at a height of above sea level, between the massifs of Mont Gelé and Bec d'Epicoune, in the

Pennine Alps The Pennine Alps (, , , ), sometimes referred to as the Valais Alps (which are just the Northern Swiss part of the Pennine Alps), are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in Italy (the Aosta Valley and Piedmont) an ...

. It connects

Fionnay Fionnay is a village in the Swiss Alps, located in the canton of Valais. The village is situated in the western part of the canton, in the Val de Bagnes, valley of Bagnes, south-east of Martigny. It is part of the municipality of Val de Bagnes. F ...

in the Swiss canton of

Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...

on its northern side to Bionaz in the Italian region of the

Aosta Valley The Aosta Valley ( ; ; ; or ), officially the Autonomous Region of Aosta Valley, is a mountainous Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region in northwestern Italy. It is bordered by Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Fr ...

on its southern side. The Col de Crête Sèche is the second-lowest pass between the valleys of

Bagnes Bagnes is a former municipality in the district of Entremont in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. On 1 January 2021 the former municipalities of Bagnes and Vollèges merged to form the new municipality of Val de Bagnes. With an area of , ...

and Valpelline, after the

Fenêtre de Durand The Fenêtre de Durand is an Alpine pass connecting Switzerland and Italy. It connects Fionnay (in Valais) on its northern side to Valpelline (in the Aosta Valley) on its southern side. At an elevation of above sea level, the Fenêtre de Duran ...

which lies about one hundred metres lower west of Mont Gelé. The pass is traversed by a trail, the Swiss side involving a much longer approach than the Italian side. On the latter side, at an elevation of , is the

Refuge Crête Sèche Refuge Crête Sèche or Rifugio Crête Sèche is a shelter in the Alps of Italy near the border with Switzerland. More precisely, this refuge is located in the valley of Valpelline, a side valley of the Aosta Valley in the Italian Pennine Alps, ...

(

Italian Alpine Club The Club Alpino Italiano is the senior Italian alpine club which stages climbing competitions, operates alpine huts, marks and maintains paths, and is active in protecting the Alpine environment. It was founded in Turin in 1863 by the then fin ...

). On the Swiss side the closest mountain hut is the Cabane de Chanrion (

Swiss Alpine Club The Swiss Alpine Club (, , , ) is the largest mountaineering club in Switzerland. It was founded in 1863 in Olten and it is now composed of 110 sections with 174,726 members (2023). These include the Association of British Members of the Swiss ...

), at an elevation of .

References

External links

Col de Crête Sèche on Hikr
Mountain passes of Switzerland Mountain passes of Italy Mountain passes of the Alps Mountain passes of Valais Mountain passes of Aosta Valley Italy–Switzerland border crossings {{Valais-geo-stub