Sport Itineraries: La Thuile

Wall ascent: Walk along the stream and turn left to the wall.

The wall is clearly visible from the road and is made up of a hole on the left and a slightly steep sector on the right. Given the altitude and the fact that La Thuile is cool in the summer, the climbing season is short but this wall is best on hot days since cool. Since the 50’s, alpine troops have climbed this wall and all the routes have recently been re-bolted with stainless steel material. Holds are rather large and, at times, a bit protruding.
The activity requires technical experience. Alpine guide assistance is recommended.

Descent: Stops have quickdraw chains. Climbers abseil down on 50 m cords. 60 m cords are used for double lengths.

Minimum, maximum and average route difficulty from 3b to 6b+, average 6a.

Total number of routes: 17

Average length is 20 meters with a minimum of 12 and maximum of 30 meters on combined lengths.

When you get to La Joux (you can leave the car in the car park near the bar) take the dirt road that leads to Soudara, a hamlet of La Thuile. Go through the group of houses, then continue along the mule track on the orographic left bank of the stream, until you reach the first waterfall. You can return on the opposite side, taking trail 3 which descends and in no time at all takes you to the car park at the start.

From La Joux car park in the municipality of La Thuile near the restaurant, take trail no. 8 and go up. After the crossroad with the itineraries leading to the three waterfalls of the Ruitor, you come to another junction, where you continue on the left of the same trail (no. 8) leaving trail 3 for Deffeyes refuge on the left. After crossing a bridge on the torrent, at a junction take the left section (still no. 8) which goes into Bella Comba valley and leads to the lakes of the same name.

After a few kilometres from Pont-Serrand, in the municipality of La Thuile, go past the restaurant and you come to a left-hand bend. Leave the car and take the private road on foot until you come to the pasture of Plan-Véylé. (2080 m). Now, take route 10, until you come to Alpe Biolettaz (2175 m and Alpe Crotti (2520 m). Continue until you come to Col Bassa Serra.

From the centre of the village of La Thuile, go down along the street that flanks the Dora Verney until you reach a bridge which crosses over to the left. A trail leaves from nearby an old hotel, which intersects the bends on the paved state road and leads to the village of Pont Serrand. Just before reaching the dwellings, take a paved road on the right which rises sharply and, after several hairpin bends, leads to a holiday farmhouse. Go past this, then, on the right of the road, take trail no. 12, which crosses the stream several times then leads to a lake in Vallone des Orgères and the hill of the same name (Col des Orgères).

From the car park at the bar in La Joux, take the Alta Via 2 route, AV2. Go past the crossroads with the itineraries that lead to the three waterfalls on the Ruitor, and when you come to another crossroad, continue along AV2, ignoring route 8 on the right, and head for the lakes of Bella Comba. After a section on level ground at Alpe Glacier and the lakes of the same name, the path steeply gains altitude, climbing to the pasture of Ruitor and lastly to the Deffeyes refuge. From here, continue along the same itinerary, crossing grassy slopes and stone terrain until you come to Col Passo Alto.

Cross the bridge opposite the tobacconist in Thuile, then take trail no. 13 on the left, which leads to the climbing wall and reaches the inter-estate road which goes from the village of La Balme, through Arp and Peson and leads to the Youlaz pastures. When you come to Mayen de la Youlaz, continue along trail no.13, in the Youlaz valley, on the orographic left bank of the stream. After reaching the Maggiore Reggiani former Shelter, continue going up until you get to Col d’Arp (2570 m).

From the centre of the village of La Thuile, go down along the street that flanks the Dora Verney until you reach a bridge which crosses over to the left. A trail leaves from nearby an old hotel, which intersects the bends on the paved state road and leads to the village of Pont Serrand. Just before reaching the dwellings, take a paved road on the right which rises sharply and, after several hairpin bends, leads to the pastures of Monquet and Porassey. The now dirt road begins to climb gently up the valley, mid-slope, until it reaches the pastures of Berrio Blanc Inferiore and later Chavanne Inferiore. The slope now becomes steeper, and after a few bends, the road reaches the pasture of Chavanne Superiore and then continues gently until it joins the path that leads to Col des Chavannes.

At Villaret Dessous take the road, that has tarmac at the beginning and is then un-made, until you reach Foillex Damon. Here you take the path that turns off near the mountain chalets and goes uphill until you reach the Plan Praz plateau; climb the mountainside until you reach a height of 2111 m, where the path divides: to the left it goes to Col de la Croix, to the right to the Deffeyes refuge. When you reach 2520 m follow the path downhill which has a section equipped with a fixed rope and leads to a footpath that rises up to LaJoux. For the return journey follow the path which leads to the waterfalls. Go to the orographic left when you are at La Joux. From here you follow the tarmac road to the first hairpin bend, where a footpath turns off which you follow as far as a bridge over the stream in Promise. Instead of crossing the stream here,you follow the un-made road that leads to another bridge and then to Villaret dessous. Details of the excursion: - THE WATERFALLS You will certainly appreciate the series of waterfalls along the Ruitor stream, an unusual phenomenon in Val d'Aosta.

From Faubourg, follow the mule track by going uphill through the meadows towards Grande Golette. Follow the path that goes alongside the carriageable road, cutting the hairpin bends, as far as Pont-Serrand. Go right through the village and continue climbing along the valley. Then continue on across the Alpine pastures until you reach the Little St. Bernard Pass. Details of the excursion: - THE LITTLE ST. BERNARD, FROM PREHISTORY TO ROMAN TIMES The Little St. Bernard Pass has been used since time immemorial and during the New Stone Age it was already a privileged crossing point for peoples from both sides of the Graian Alps. Its most fortunate characteristic was linked to one of the two Roman roads (the Alpis Graia, as the Pass was called at the time) which passed through Aosta and Bourg-St-Maurice and connected two important cities, like Milan (Mediolanum), the Imperial capital, e Lyons (Ludgunum), the capital of Gallia Transalpina.

Day one
Once you leave the village of La Joux, take the easy pathway that - after a flat start - soon starts to head upwards winding through the forest. The pathway runs alongside the river nurtured by the Rutor glacier and by other glacier rocks in the area; it is worth remembering that the water flow forms three famous waterfalls that can be admired by following the short forks branching off from the main pathway. You will walk near the remains of the Montagne du Glacier in order to climb the last ramp that allows you to gain height and will lead you to the Deffeyes refuge.
Day two
From the refuge, follow the pathway that, passing through an area of small lakes, will lead to the Planaval Pass on ground that is rocky and stony in places: the route, where the pathway is less visible, is helped by the presence of stone figures. Once round a rocky ridge, you will walk at the foot of the rocks that support the Pointe des Invergneures and come to the entrance of the valley that descends from the Planaval Pass. Once on level ground, you will come to the summit that has to be climbed in order to reach the Rutor glacier. Head back up southwards, moving round the base of the ridge made up of the Flambeau, the Doravidi and the Château Blanc, and coming to the Rutor Pass (3373 m). From the pass, follow the southern ridge, in some places rocky, in others snowy, until you touch the end rocks that are easy to climb. The peak spike is just a few metres away.
Descent: down the upward itinerary.

This itinerary requires experience of high mountains and it is recommended that you get a mountain guide to accompany you.

You’ll find a fork with a signpost in Pierre Carrée (Pera Carà): follow the directions for Crétaz, path 2b, walking a short way along a paved road. Passing near a panel indicating the winter route, you’ll find a sign that prohibits road traffic where you can put on your snow shoes. Climb the snow-covered slope into the larch and red fir woods. There are some signs along the route that explain some aspects of winter hiking: from nature to safety ones. Climb the slope in a long series of turns that reduce the gradient. You’ll slowly exit the woods to a plain where the houses of Villaret are located. Just beyond you’ll find a wide turn to the left to a straightaway that leads to the small village of Cretaz.

Just before the village of Pont Serrand cross the bridge and follow the trail of the road that leads to the Orgère mountain pastures. Turn right and go up the steeper trail and enter the Orgère Valley. Once into the valley turn to the left and head up the slopes, in some stretches with supports, that lead to the Combe Varin.
Descend down the upward itinerary.

Da Morgex si seguono le indicazioni per il colle San Carlo – lago d’Arpy. In dieci km si sale di ciirca 1000 metri con una pendenza media del 10%.  Da qui, si rifiata e ci si gode il paesaggio nella discesa verso La Thuile, nota località turistica situata sulla strada che, tramite il valico del Piccolo San Bernardo, porta in Francia. Giunti a Pré-Saint-Didier, località nota per le sue terme,  si chiude il giro ad anello riguadagnando Morgex dove si producono pregiati vini bianchi.

THE LITTLE ST. BERNARD PASS
There is a mysterious and striking ambiance, around the cromlech or Hannibal’s Circle, on Little Saint Bernard. A large circle of stones planted in the ground, one of the rare megalithic circles existing in Italy. Turn off the engine, approach these stones and let yourself be guided on a journey back in time… Place of worship? Trail marker? Calendar? Primitive astrological observatory? Today it is still a mystery.
But on the Pass, beyond the dolmen, you find other important historic relics. Starting from the remains of the Roman mansio, large building on the ancient Road of the Gauls, and the adjacent temple that you see to the right, just beyond the former Italian customs. Continuing on, after the French customs, another Roman construction, possibly a sanctuary, and the the ancient Jovis Column, which originally held up the bust of Jupiter and today forms the base of the Saint Bernard statue.
Lastly, the Hospice, instituted around the year 1000 at Saint Bernard to welcome travellers, today a tourist information point. But that’s not all. Before returning to the valley, don’t miss Chanousia, a short distance from the Hospice: The celebrated botanical garden created by Abbott Abate Chanoux at the end of the 19th century, that today houses more than 1,600 species of alpine plants, a scientific laboratory and a botanical museum.

BLANC DE MORGEX ET DE LA SALLE
Delicately perfumed, with undertones of mountain herbs, dry taste, slightly acidic, lightly fizzy. If you are passionate about wine you are already acquainted with it, if you’ve never tasted it, you’re going to fall in love. It is the refined P.D.O. wine Blanc de Morgex et La Salle, the wine of Valdigne, produced by vineyards at the highest elevations in Europe. Want to bring a bottle home? Stop at the Cave Mont Blanc in Morgex.