At 3,727, metres Mont Vélan is the highest summit lying between the Great St Bernard Pass and Grand Combin.

The mountain is located south of Bourg-Saint-Pierre in the canton of Valais and north of Etroubles in the Aosta Valley.

The protagonist of the first successful ascent of the Velan was a priest of the Great St Bernard Hospice, Laurent Joseph Murith.

[2] Murith found two hunters who had some idea how to lead the climb, and the three men started on August 31, 1779, carrying food for several days and a barometer which, by luck, was not broken during the ascent.

They encountered numerous difficulties, amongst others a wall of ice which Murith climbed by hacking steps and hand-holds with a pointed hammer.