Alpen-Panoramen, Panorama der Alpen

The Arolley cross lies on the old path from Pont Valsavacenche to the Col del Nivolet, at a cornerstone where the wide and nearly flat Piani del Nivolet give way to a steep mountain flank plunging into the valley.
The construction of a road linking the valley with the col (which can be reached on asphalt from the Piemonte side following the Valle dell'Orco) has been dismissed since long time: I guess that the authorities of the Parco del Gran Paradiso realized that traffic, and especially the noisy motorcycles of Alpine passes baggers, would have heavily upset the ecosystem, and particularly the steinbocks which you find in abundance along the path (see for example www.panoramio.com/photo/76861370 or picasaweb.google.com/albertopedrotti/Valdaosta#5481441370625697250).
I think that the name Arolley - resembling the Swiss counterpart Arolla - is to prefer to the Roley found on some maps - unduly resembling some Swiss brand as well...
In the «Essai de Toponimie» of the «Guide des Alpes Valaisannes», CAS, Maurice Brandt writes: «Arola, l'endroit oú le pin arole ou pin cembro est roi... L'etymologie du mot arole est encore inconnue; on a pensé, sans résultat, à une origine prélatine... Arolec serait un lieu planté d'aroles, come l'Aroley, avec une germanisation Aroleitwald et le diminutif Arolette».
The old Panoramio version is easily retrieved googling "croce arolley"...