Conca di By and Champillon Refuge

Introduction

Access: Exit the motorway at Aosta East, follow for Gran San Bernardo and after the tunnel turn right towards Valpelline. After the village of Valpelline take the left fork to Ollomont and continue to the end of the road. Parking at Glacier

Description

Access: Exit the motorway at Aosta East, follow for Gran San Bernardo and after the tunnel turn right towards Valpelline. After the village of Valpelline take the left fork to Ollomont and continue to the end of the road. Parking at Glacier From the Glacier car park, turn back and start climbing up the path, then mule track, following signs 3,4 and 5. The mule track leads us, with a continuous incline, to Pont (1681m) and finally to the Chapel of By (1904m). From here, after stopping to look at the By lake, take trail no. 4 until you reach the farmstead at By. Here, leave trail no. 4 towards the Chiarella amianthe hut, and turn left following the TdC (Tour des Combins) signposts. The trail leaves the road and continues to the right, where it climbs to the upper farmstead (2179m). The view over the basin and the Ollomont valley is very beautiful. At this point, the trail is in places equipped with chains where the path has been put in place following landslides that carved it away. You arrive at an unusual footbridge above the river where the path passes between the rocks. In the forest, the river initially passes through large pipes until it comes out into the open. CAUTION, the old path continues straight ahead and crosses the farm track just before the N.S. delle Nevi chapel. At that point, turn right and start climbing again. The new path is clearly marked on the right, crosses the river on a small wooden bridge and climbs up to meet path no. 1 at the Alpe Pessinoille altitude. A marker ball indicates that the Champillon hut is 45 minutes away. On arrival at the Tsa de Champillon, the yellow building of the hut is clearly visible. Go back on path no. 1 until, at the bend before the N.S. della Neve chapel, turn onto path no. 2, which follows the road past a couple of alpine pastures and a few houses before turning right and starting to descend in steep hairpin bends to Vaud (400m difference in altitude). You return to Glacier on the road.