Les Diablerets

Origin of the name Les Diablerets

The village bears the name of the neighbouring massif, formerly called « Rochers » or « Scex de Champ ». The present name Les Diablerets comes from the Valais and reflects the idea that these mountains were ruled by little devils. Since the end of the 19th century, the name has also designated the former hamlet of « Plan des Isles », which became a resort.

Founding of Les Diablerets

Les Diablerets is a locality of the municipality of Ormont-Dessus, at the foot of the massif of the same name (3'210 m, the highest point of the canton of Vaud), at an altitude of about 1'200 m. No source consulted dates its founding or names a founder. Under the Ancien Régime it formed the Seyte-d'Enhaut, one of the three administrative units of the municipality. The present village grew out of the hamlet of Le Plan des Isles, where the Grand Hôtel des Diablerets was built in 1856, the starting point of the tourist boom; since the end of the 19th century the name of the massif has also designated this resort.

History of Les Diablerets

1714. First of two devastating rockfalls in the Diablerets massif.

1749. Second devastating rockfall in the massif.

1850. First ascent of the summit of the Diablerets.

1856. Construction of the Grand Hôtel des Diablerets at Le Plan des Isles, the start of the resort's tourist boom.

1863. Founding of the Lausanne section of the Swiss Alpine Club, which would later build a hut in the massif.

1869. A tourist office opens in Les Diablerets.

1871. The Hôtel des Diablerets takes the name Grand Hôtel; the road between Le Sépey and Les Diablerets is completed.

1882. The road to Gstaad over the Col du Pillon opens.

1904. The Lausanne section of the Swiss Alpine Club builds the Cabane des Diablerets.

1914. The Aigle-Le Sépey-Les Diablerets railway line reaches the village.

1942. Construction of the first ski lift, at Les Vioz (to be cross-checked).

1953. Construction of the Isenau gondola, 2'400 m long (to be cross-checked).

1964. Construction of the cable car that makes skiing on the glacier possible even in summer.

1969. First Festival international du film alpin des Diablerets (FIFAD), held every year since.

2017. Closure of the Isenau sector after a failure of the gondola (to be cross-checked).

2020. The Meilleret sector hosts the alpine skiing events of the Winter Youth Olympic Games.

Historic sites in Les Diablerets

Diablerets massif. Glacier massif where the cantons of Vaud, Valais and Bern meet, rising to 3'210 m, the highest point of the canton of Vaud; the naturalist Albrecht von Haller (1708-1777) took an early interest in it.

Le Plan des Isles and the Grand Hôtel. Former hamlet where the Grand Hôtel des Diablerets was built in 1856, the birthplace of the resort.

Col du Pillon. Pass at 1'546 m, opened to road traffic in 1882, giving access to the Bernese Oberland and the starting point of the glacier cable car.

Cabane des Diablerets. Hut built in 1904 by the Lausanne section of the Swiss Alpine Club.

Legends of Les Diablerets

The little devils of the mountain. The name Les Diablerets, which came from the Valais, reflects an old belief that these mountains were ruled by little devils.

Sources

• Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Diablerets, Les »
• Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Ormont-Dessus »
• Wikipédia, « Ormont-Dessus »
• Wikipedia (en), « Les Diablerets »
• Statistique Vaud, « Population résidante permanente au 31 décembre 2025 »

Other villages near Les Diablerets

• Vers-l'Église (VD)
• Ormont-Dessus (VD)
• Les Mosses (VD)
• La Forclaz (VD)
• La Comballaz (VD)