Mont Vélan is a
mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...
of 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 ...
, located on the border 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 ...
. At 3,727 metres, Mont Vélan is the highest summit lying between the
Great St Bernard Pass
The Great St Bernard Pass (, , ; ) is the third highest road pass in Switzerland, at an elevation of . It connects Martigny in the canton of Valais in Switzerland with Aosta in the region Aosta Valley in Italy. It is the lowest pass lying on t ...
and
Grand Combin. Two large glaciers cover its northern flanks: Glacier de Tseudet (west) and Glacier de Valsoray (east). The Glacier de Proz, lying on the west side, was traversed during the first ascent.
The mountain is located south of
Bourg-Saint-Pierre in the 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 ...
and north of
Etroubles in 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 ...
. The
Petit Vélan is a lower summit in the same massif lying north to the main summit.
First ascent
The protagonist of the first successful ascent of the Velan was a priest of the
Great St Bernard Hospice
The Great St Bernard Hospice (; ; ), named after its founder Bernard of Menthon, is a hospice and hostel for travelers at the Great St Bernard Pass in Switzerland. At an elevation of in the Pennine Alps, it is located a few hundred metre ...
, Laurent Joseph Murith. He had been born in the nearby village of
Sembrancher in 1742 and had taken holy orders in 1776. Murith, besides being an ecclesiastic, was a scientist, and was the author of a botanical handbook to the Valais. He was acquainted with the Genevese scientists and welcomed them when they came to his parish of
Liddes or to the St Bernard Hospice, of which he later became prior. He decided to climb Mont Vélan, which was the most impressive peak in his region.
[Claire Eliane Engel, ''A history of mountaineering in the Alps'', p. 32, 1950]
Murith found two hunters who had some idea how to lead the climb, and the three men started on August 31, 1779, carrying food for several days and a barometer which, by luck, was not broken during the ascent. They slept a night on the way and proceeded to attack the mountain from the Glacier de Proz. They encountered numerous difficulties, amongst others a wall of ice which Murith climbed by hacking steps and hand-holds with a pointed hammer. The hunters complained of the heat and of exhaustion, but Murith successfully reached the summit. When he was back in Liddes, he wrote triumphantly to
Horace-Bénédict de Saussure to describe his climb:
[
:"Had you been with me you would have enjoyed the most splendid spectacle of mountains and glaciers you can imagine; you would have been able to gaze on a wide circle of peaks of different heights, from Turin to the Little St. Bernard, from the St. Bernard to the Lake of Geneva, from Vevey to the St. Gothard, from the St. Gothard to Turin . . . But I cannot promise I will help you to enjoy so ravishing a view. In spite of my own intrepidity, I had too much trouble in gaining the summit of this wintry giant."
Feeling proud of his achievement he wrote a few months later to the Genevese traveller Marc Theodore Bourrit:][
:"The prospect from the Buet is magnificent but the Velan, which is hardly less than 100 toises lower than the highest point of Mont Blanc, would have delighted you; you would have seen the universe under your feet, the points and needles of the highest hills looking like a tumultuous sea ... I believe I ascended one of the first great peaks ever climbed in Europe."
]
See also
* List of mountains of Switzerland
References
External links
Mont Vélan on Hikr
Mont Vélan on Summitpost
{{DEFAULTSORT:Velan
Mountains of the Alps
Alpine three-thousanders
Mountains of Switzerland
Mountains of Aosta Valley
Italy–Switzerland border
International mountains of Europe
Mountains of Valais