Point of Arpisson, from Gimillan

Introduction

This is an easy and well-marked excursion up to Tsaplana, while beyond this you have to climb a very steep grassy ridge with rare, low stone cairns and a few faint signs of passage, but which does not entail any technical difficulty other than the effort of climbing it. Arriving at the summit, the panorama is magnificent with a 360° view that sweeps from Emilius to Tersiva, the Gran Paradiso group and the Grivola and certainly repays the effort made.

Description

From the car park, take the tarmac road to the left of the obvious markers, arriving just above a small votive chapel which you pass on the left, continuing along the edge of the stream; you leave a fork in a path marked by a yellow marker on the right, which crosses the stream bed, and you immediately arrive at a plateau, Pian di Teppe, where there are some beautiful huts. Cross the gravel road and immediately to the right of the first hut you come across is the start of the path that climbs up the wood, cutting it from right to left: beware that there are no yellow markers or vignettes at the start of the path that branches off from the gravel road. Walking through the beautiful coniferous forest without an excessive incline, you soon come to a fork signposted by the markers (2016m), at which you turn right and continue in the opposite direction, arriving near a long gully, which you cross around it. Without gaining too much height, we arrive at a second fork (2145 m) and, taking the track to the left, we climb up, with the gradient now increasing a little, making numerous hairpin bends until we come out of the wood, from where we can already see the peak that is the destination of this excursion. The track moves to the right, passing under the slopes of the mountain, crosses some grassy shoulders and, past a ruin, reaches a scenic little wooden cross next to another ruin (2508 m); now go up the grassy flank with a slightly steep stretch and you will come in sight of some windbreaks that go around to the left. A few more metres and you come to the little madonnina placed on the panoramic summit of Tsa Plana (2683 m) and continue towards the grassy ridge that rises up right in front of you. Climb the steep grassy ridge laboriously, keeping to the right of the line, and following a few rare cairns and faint traces of footpaths, you come to a section with stones and a bed of gravel. Leave it on the left and, bending to the right, head towards some rocks not far away that are easily climbed and above which is the little stone cairn of the summit.