The Valley des Ormonts lies right in the heart of the Vaudoise Alps, stretching over 16 miles from the city of Aigle to the foot of the Diablerets massif.

The borough of Ormont-Dessus covers 15,182 acres in the upper part of the Valley, rising from 3,589 feet at Le Rosex to 10,528 feet at the Diablerets summits. The Pillon Pass links the Valley with the Bernese Oberland (Gsteig) and the Croix Pass with the Gryonne Valley (Villars).

Originally the Ormonts Valley depended on the Abbey of St-Maurice, from where the first inhabitants probably came. Later, in the Middle Ages, the House of Savoie governed the Valley. The upper part of the Valley was called "Joux d'Ormonts", then "Outre Joux" in the 15th century, finally becoming Ormonts-Dessus a century later.

In 1475, the Bernese conquered Aigle Castle and the surrounding region. The Ormonts Valley became one of the 4 mandates under the authority of Aigle. Some years later, in 1529, the new governors forced the Ormonans, in spite of their resistance, to accept the Reformation and become Protestant.

In 1798, after fierce combats in La Forclaz, on the Tine and Planches bridges and at Tréchadèze (Croix Pass), against the revolutionary forces, the Ormonans agreed to join the Canton de Vaud.

The village of Les Diablerets covers an extensive area at the foot of the glacier, strewn with chalets, meadows and forests, flanking the Grande Eau on both sides.

When a road was built from Aigle to Le Sepey in 1840, this opened up the Valley, which until then, had been more or less cut off from the world. By 1867 horse-drawn coaches and carts could reach le Plan des Isles. This meant that timber could be exported and increasing numbers of tourists could come to enjoy the fresh, pure air and magnificent peaks.

July 1914 was a very significant date for the entire Valley; this is the year a mountain railway was inaugurated. The towns of Aigle, Sépey, and Les Diablerets, were at last, open to the world.

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