Val d'Isère is a commune of the Tarentaise Valley, in the Savoie department in southeastern France. It lies 5 km (3 mi) from the border with Italy. It is on the border of the Vanoise National Park created in 1963. During the Albertville 1992 Winter Olympics, the Face de Bellevarde was the site of the men's downhill race. Other alpine skiing events held during those games included men's giant slalom and alpine combined. Val d'Isère regularly hosts World Cup alpine events, usually for the men in early December, and hosted the World Championships in 2009. It is located in the Savoie région with good transport links in and out of Lyon, Geneva and Chambéry. The ski area of Val d'Isère and Tignes forms the Espace Killy, named after the triple Olympic champion Jean-Claude Killy who grew up in Val d'Isère. There are two mountain huts owned by the Vanoise National Park on the territory of Val d’Isère: le Refuge du Prariond and le Refuge du Fond des Fours.
The Haute Route is the name given to a route undertaken on foot or by ski touring between the Mont Blanc in Chamonix, France, and the Matterhorn, in Zermatt, Switzerland.
The Grandes Jorasses is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif, on the boundary between Haute-Savoie in France and Aosta Valley in Italy.
The Grand Combin is a mountain massif in the western Pennine Alps in the canton of Valais. At a height of 4,314 metres (14,154 ft) the summit of Combin de Grafeneire is one of the highest peaks in the Alps and the second most prominent of the Pennine Alps. The Grand Combin is also a large glaciated massif consisting of several summits, among which three are above 4000 metres. The highest part of the massif is wholly in Switzerland, although the border with Italy lies a few kilometres south.
The Mont Blanc massif 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 independent summits, each over 4,000 metres (13,123 ft) in height. It is named after Mont Blanc, the highest point in western Europe and the European Union. Because of its considerable overall altitude, a large proportion of the massif is covered by glaciers, which include the Mer de Glace and the Miage Glacier – the longest glaciers in France and Italy, respectively.
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 170 kilometres (110 mi) with 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) of ascent/descent and passing through parts of Switzerland, Italy and France.
Maurienne is one of the provinces of Savoy, corresponding to the arrondissement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in France. It is also the original name of the capital of the province, now Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne.
Mont Dolent is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif and lies on the border between Italy, Switzerland and France.
The Col Ferret is an Alpine pass between the canton of Valais and the Aosta Valley. It is crossed by the route of the Tour du Mont Blanc. Close to it stands the Petit Col Ferret, at an elevation of 2,490 metres (8,170 ft), which separates the Mont Blanc Massif from the Pennine Alps.
The Pointe Allobrogia is a mountain of the Mont Blanc massif, overlooking the Col Ferret on the border between Italy and Switzerland. It lies at the southern end of the range south-east of Mont Dolent.
The Grand Darray is a mountain of the Mont Blanc massif, located north of La Fouly in the canton of Valais. It lies on the range east of the Aiguille de l'A Neuve, between the Saleina Glacier and the main Ferret valley.
The Tête de Ferret is a mountain of the Pennine Alps on the Swiss-Italian border. It lies just east of the Mont Blanc massif, between the Swiss Val Ferret (Valais) and the Italian Val Ferret.
Val Ferret is the name shared by two valleys separated by the Col Ferret, a pass on the border between Italy and Switzerland. The valleys lie southeast of Mont Blanc Massif. The Swiss valley drains northeast towards Orsières and on into the Rhône basin; whereas the Italian valley drains southwest towards Courmayeur and on into the Po basin.
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. It sits at the foot of Mont Dolent and the Tour Noir (3,836m) in the Mont Blanc massif.
The Valdigne is the upper part of the Aosta Valley in north-west Italy. It is traversed by the Dora Baltea, a tributary of the Po.
Refuge Elena, sometimes also refuge Hélène, is a refuge in the Alps in Aosta Valley, Italy.
The Petit Col Ferret is an Alpine pass between the canton of Valais and the Aosta Valley.
The Partizione delle Alpi is a classification of the mountain ranges of the Alps, that is primarily used in Italian literature, but also in France and Switzerland. It was devised in 1926.
