Vélan hut

The Vélanhütte, officially Cabane du Vélan, is located at 2642 m north of Mont Vélan above Bourg-Saint-Pierre in Entremont in the canton of Valais. The modern hut of the SAC Geneva section sits spectacularly on a moraine above the Vallon de Valsorey and can be reached from the village in around three hours and around 1000 meters in altitude. It is usually open from mid-March to mid-May and from mid-June to mid-September and is mainly used as a base for ski tours in winter and for mountain hikes and high-altitude tours on Mont Vélan in summer, as well as for crossings to the Cabane de Valsorey. During the hut season, around sixty beds with comforters are available in multi-bed rooms, supplemented by a small winter room outside the manned period. The architecture, with its futuristic, almost oval shape and titanium-zinc façade, also makes the hut attractive to those interested in architecture. The first Vélanhütte was opened in 1944, destroyed by fire in 1991 and rebuilt in its current form in 1993. As in all alpine areas, current conditions, possible route closures and the weather forecast should always be checked carefully before embarking on a tour.