Arolla is a village in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Evolène Evolène is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Hérens (district), Hérens in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Valais in Switzerland. It includes the villages of Evolène, Les Haudères, La Sage, Villa, La For ...

in the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

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 ...

. It is situated at the end of the

Val d'Hérens Val d'Hérens is an Swiss Alps, alpine valley in the Valais canton of Switzerland. It was formed by the Hérens glacier, which retreated at the end of the last ice age. It is now the valley of the ''Borgne'' river, a tributary of the Rhone (conf ...

, south of the cantonal capital, Sion.

Geography

Arolla is situated at 1998 m above sea level, at the foot of Mont Collon in 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 ...

. The village is also overlooked by the 3796-metre

Pigne d'Arolla Pigne d'Arolla (3,787 m) is a mountain in the Pennine Alps in Switzerland. The first ascent was made by A. W. Moore and Horace Walker with the guide Jakob Anderegg on 9 July 1865. It is commonly climbed as part of the Haute Route The Haute ...

, which can be climbed from the Cabane des Vignettes or Dix Hut. The

Arolla Glacier The Arolla Glacier () is a long glacier (2005) situated in the Pennine Alps in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. In 1973, it had an area of . The Glacier d'Arolla is in fact composed of two glaciers: the ''Glacier du Mont Collon'' and the ''H ...

is located south of Arolla, between Mont Collon and the Pigne d'Arolla. Pra Gra is an abandoned hamlet above Arolla at 2479 m, which can be reached on foot in approximately 90 minutes. The views of Mont Collon and the glacial trench at the end of the valley are particularly notable from this location.

Tourism

Arolla's location makes it a popular starting point for mountain expeditions. Routes such as the Patrouillle des Glaciers and the

Haute Route The Haute Route (or the High Route or Mountaineers' Route) is the name given to a route (with several variations) undertaken on foot or by ski touring between Chamonix, France, and the Matterhorn, in Zermatt, Switzerland. First charted as a sum ...

, a classic high-altitude mountain trek between

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (; ; (no longer in use)), more commonly known simply as Chamonix (), is a communes of France, commune in the departments of France, department in the regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It was the site of the f ...

and

Zermatt Zermatt (, ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Visp (district), Visp in the German language, German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is cl ...

, pass through the village as well. There are over 100 kilometres of

mountain biking Mountain biking (MTB) is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability ...

paths in the area. Arolla's ski area lies above the village on the western side of the valley, with five lifts and 47 kilometres of pistes. Its high altitude guarantees snow well into the spring. Hotels in Arolla include Hotel Kurhaus, situated at the top of the series of hairpin bends that rise through the village. The historic Hôtel Mont Collon, located near the entrance to the village, is closed since December 2014. There is a post office, mountain sports equipment shop, hotel, and bus stop in the small village centre.

Flora and fauna

The Arolla pine or Swiss pine, a high-altitude species in the

white pine ''Pinus'', the pines, is a genus of approximately 111 extant tree and shrub species. The genus is currently split into two subgenera: subgenus ''Pinus'' (hard pines), and subgenus ''Strobus'' (soft pines). Each of the subgenera have been further ...

group, is named after the village and grows in the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

and the

Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains ...

References

Ski areas and resorts in Switzerland Villages in Valais {{Valais-geo-stub