Grand Combin de Grafeneire

4,314 m

'Grand Combin' is the Franco-Provençal cumbin or combin, a Valais word for a high pasture or summit, ultimately from Latin culmen ('crest'). Grafeneire is a local toponym from the hamlet below, possibly from Romansh/Old French grave-noire ('black scree').

Card

Coordinates45.9372° N · 7.2992° E

UIAA rank№ 20 / 82

CountriesSwitzerland

Normal gradePD · peu difficile

First ascent1859 · Charles Sainte-Claire Deville with Daniel, Emmanuel & Gaspard Balleys and Basile Dorsaz

Typical seasonJuly to September

Photo of Grand Combin de Grafeneire — Photo: Carsten Steger · CC BY-SA 4.0

Highest summit of the Grand Combin massif in the western Pennine Alps of Valais. A heavily glaciated peak typically climbed from the Cabane de Valsorey or Panossière via the Corridor route.

History

The Combin is a sprawling glacier-massif at the head of the Val de Bagnes, and its summit was disputed throughout the 1850s. After a partial ascent by Combin de Valsorey in 1857, Charles Sainte-Claire Deville and four guides from Bourg-Saint-Pierre reached the true summit (Combin de Grafeneire) on 30 July 1859. The classic Corridor route on the west face is exposed to serac fall from the suspended glaciers of the Plateau du Couloir and has produced some of the worst single-incident accidents in Swiss alpinism.

Location

Summit · huts that serve as bases for routes on this peak

Major routes

Meitin ridge from Cabane de Valsorey (Normal route)

AD-Topo ↗

Vertical / summit day2,750 m gain · 6h

The 'safe' line on the Combin and the standard ascent today. From Bourg-Saint-Pierre the approach climbs to the Cabane de Valsorey (3030 m); summit day follows the long Meitin ridge over the Combin de Valsorey (4184 m), descends slightly into the Plateau du Couloir and continues up the corniced snow ridge to the Grafeneire summit. Replaces the historic 'corridor' route, which was abandoned due to severe serac hazard.

Sections

Bourg-Saint-Pierre (1632 m)→Cabane de Valsorey (3030 m)+1,398 m4h 30m

Cabane de Valsorey→Combin de Valsorey (4184 m)+1,154 m4h

Combin de Valsorey→Summit (4314 m)+200 m2h

Huts on this route

Cabane de Valsorey3,030 m

Couloir du Gardien / 'Corridor' (north flank, historic)

PD · peu difficile

Vertical / summit day2,500 m gain · 6h

The original Meunier 1859 line, climbing the north flank from the Panossière hut over the Corbassière glacier and through the 'corridor' under the Mur de la Côte. Easier glacier ground but exposed to massive serac fall; largely abandoned after fatal accidents in the 1980s–90s.

Nearby huts

Cabane de ValsoreySAC · mid-June to mid-September3,030 m Cabane FXB PanossièreSAC · mid-March to late September2,641 m

← Corno Nero / Schwarzhorn · 4,322 m · № 19

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Dôme du Goûter · 4,304 m · № 21 →