Alongside the pass road, there is also a hiking trail that leads to La Forclaz. There, the mountain trail climbs slowly up to the Bovine Alp. This is above all grazing land for Eringer cows, which are used for the famous cow fights in the Wallis region. If you are lucky, you will see the cows fighting in their pasture. After this alp, turn into a small side valley. Right at the end, a trail leads down into the wood. The trail now remains on a rather level course and leads through the wood to the vast high plateau of Champex. Below the pass road, the hiking trail leads uphill through the wood to the pass. After the crossing, you will see the lake and village of Champex, the stage destination. This peaceful holiday resort is a famous alpine centre and starting point for many strenuous hikes around Mont Blanc.
(Schweizer Wanderwege)

The Exploitation of the Glacier
In 1865, Maurice Robatel was granted the rights to exploit the Trient glacier. Around thirty workers split ice from the glacier and carved it into uniform ice blocks. Then, using “Grespils”, long rods with ice hooks, they threw the blocks onto a channel made from larch rods, on which they were directed into a retention pond covered with fir branches. 20 years later, a narrow-gauge railway was built to transport the ice blocks along the Suonenweg (old water channel) trail to the Forclaz pass. The train departures are signalled using the telephone. The stopovers of Gare de Lyon, Gare de Montparnasse, Gare de Marseille, the ice blocks’ destinations, are among the most important trans-shipment centres. From the Col de la Forclaz/Forclaz pass, 10 to 15 large trucks were transported each day to Martigny train station, which corresponds to around 20,000 to 30,000kg of ice blocks. Every week, a train left Martigny in the direction of several French cities (Lyon, Paris, Marseille). Around 10 years later, the exploitation of the glacier was abandoned.
(Schweizer Wanderwege)