Champex-Lac

Champex

Champex-Lac is a holiday village in the municipality of Orsières in the French-speaking part of the Swiss canton of Valais , 15 km south of Martigny .

geography

The resort is located on the Lac de Champex at an altitude of 1470 m. ü. M. in the valley between the Mont Catogne 2597 m. ü. M. and La Breya 2373 m. ü. M. At the northern entrance to the village is the apex of the Col de Champex .

tourism

The village consists of many holiday chalets and is known for its postcard idyll.

Two chair lifts and two ski lifts open up the small ski area (15 km of slopes) of Champex-Lac at the foot of La Breya up to an altitude of 2197 m. The region around Champex-Lac offers a beautiful network of hiking trails and is an important stop on the Tour du Mont-Blanc long-distance hiking trail and the ultra-marathon Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc . Various routes are available for mountain bikers .

The Aubert Jean-Marcel Foundation maintains the alpine garden, which was laid out in 1926 and is very species-rich with 4,000 mountain plants from all over the world .

North of the village in the direction of Martigny , a path leads through the Gorges du Durnand (Durnand Gorge) .

history

The name Champex has its origin in Campellum , which means small field.

Champex was a Maiensass of Orsière with pastures up in average heights. As early as 1876, the Vaudois Alpine Association built the Cabane d'Orny hut . The tourist boom began in 1892 with the construction of the Hotel de la Poste . At that time, Champex-Lac was accessed by horse and cart from Martigny . In 1907 the holiday village already had nine hotels with more than 500 beds. It was mainly used in summer and offered many activities such as boating on the lake, excursions, tennis or trout fishing. From 1926, the construction of the Valettes-Champex road made it easier to access Champex-Lac. In 1928 the road Orsières-Champex-Lac was built. In the 1950s, winter tourist activity developed when the Breya1 chairlift was built in 1952.

Artillery plant Champex (Army designation A 46)

The Champex artillery plant at the southern entrance to the town belonged to the fortress area of Saint-Maurice . The large fortress to secure the Great Saint Bernard was built in 1940-1943 with 4 casemates and 600 m tunnels. It could hold a crew of 300, was armed with eight 10.5 cm and two 7.5 cm cannons and protected by six flab cannons. It can be visited.