Champorcher

Arrival point of the last valley on the right riverside of the Dora Baltea, Champorcher is the closest ski resort for those arriving from other Italian regions, only 21 Km. from the border with Piedmont.
The presence of a wild and unspoiled nature, even better preserved in the Mont Avic Regional Park, has allowed the development of a kind of tourism that respects the peculiarities, both environmental and cultural, of the place. The first frequent and illustrious guest of Champorcher was King Vittorio Emanuele II, who had the Royal Road built towards Dondena, his favorite hunting reserve.
Local craftsmanship is characterized by the weaving of hemp, currently carried out by the “Lou Dzeut” cooperative.

WHAT TO SEE
● Permanent exhibition of hemp processing, where it is possible to see the traditional handmade processing of hemp fabric and to buy the products.
● Hemp Ecomuseum, inside which the domestic life of the past is recalled, thanks also to sound effects, also characterized by the weaving of the canvas, which was carried out in all the families.
● Mont Avic Regional Park Visitors Centre: here it is possible to acquire any information concerning the flora, fauna and the way of enjoying the protected area.
● Misérin Sanctuary, standing on the banks of the lake with the same name.

NATURE AND SPORT
Along the several hiking routes, many of which winding through the Mont Avic Regional Park, it is possible to observe marmots, chamois and a wide variety of butterflies.
In the context of the pine forest along the Ayasse stream, a tourist fishing reserve can give passionates good catches.
During the winter period, ski lovers can take advantage of many ski lifts which allow them to ski on slopes of varying difficulty, of two cross-country ski tracks and numerous itineraries for ski mountaineering and snowshoeing.

EVENTS AND TRADITIONS
● Celebration of the Madonna delle Nevi at the Sanctuary of Miserin: on 5th August the faithful in Champorcher leave early in the morning in procession from the parish church in order to reach the Sanctuary, where they will meet the faithful coming also from the Valley of Cogne and the Val Soana.
● Black bread festival: Champorcher celebrates one of its typical products in two feasts held in August, one in the hamlet of Mellier and another in the hamlet of Chardonney; in the Christmas period, during the feast not only the typical bread is baked in the fractional oven, but also the Christmas bread, enriched with chestnuts, walnuts, raisins.
● Torchlight procession of the end of the year: as in many ski resorts in the Aosta Valley, a torchlight procession on skis is organized in Champorcher on 30th December, which descends from Laris to the village.

FOR THE LITTLE ONES
In the hamlet of Chardonney starts an educational path named Parcours découverte Bois de Chardonney which let children see closely various naturalistic aspects present in that area. Equipped with a backpack given on loan at the Park Visitors Center, in which there are various tools (meter, shovel, magnifying glass…) and an explanatory booklet, children and teenagers can explore the peculiarities of nature that they meet along the itinerary, made up of sixteen “thematic islands”.
In winter, in Laris, a snow fun park welcomes the little ones with two treadmills and inflatable games.

IDENTIKIT
● Altitude: 1427 m
● Inhabitants: 399
● How to get there by public transport: from Hône you can go up in the Champorcher valley (to Chardonney) by bus with the line 'Champorcher - Verrès - Pont-Saint-Martin'. For timetables and further information, please visit the website of the VITA Group company.