Snowshoeing

Plan Puitz from Eternod

Details

Eternod dessus

Departure location

Etroubles

Municipality

average

Effort

Difficulty

460 m

Ascent vertical drop

3h 20m

Total time

Description

Plan Puitz is a fortified complex forming part of the Cardorna Line (built in 1917 and never used, inside a cave). Easy, medium-length hike, with no special dangers, unfolds in the woods above the territory of Saint-Oyen in the upper Great St. Bernard Valley. Initially, it follows a farm road through wooded slopes that are even more striking in an environment made magical by snow.The arrival of the route is a scenic area that offers an excellent view of the neighboring valleys: the Flassin valle...

Services in the surroundings

CARREFOUR

Etroubles 1.356 m

Food and Tobacco of Crippa Stefano (C/O Marronners)

Etroubles 1.222 m

Nearby attractions

Château Verdun

Saint-Oyen 928 m

Vachéry Tower

Etroubles 1.285 m

Details

Eternod dessus

Departure location

Etroubles

Municipality

average

Effort

Difficulty

2h 0m

Ascent time

1h 20m

Descent time

3h 20m

Total time

1.646 m

Starting elevation

2.105 m

Arrival elevation

460 m

Ascent vertical drop

8.900 m

Total length

16,17,14

Ascent signposts

14,16,17

Descent signposts

Jan - Feb - Dec

Best period

high

Crowding

Overview

Reaching the start

From the Aosta East tollbooth take the tunnel leading into the Great St. Bernard Valley and continue along it, passing the villages of Gignod and Etroubles.Just before Saint-Oyen turn right, following the signs for Prailles. Go up the communal road for 3.6 km until you reach the junction for the small village of Prailles dessous: go straight on in the direction of Eternod dessous, which you reach a couple of kilometers later. Without descending into the hamlet, leave your car at the fork.

The route

From Eternod dessus you descend slightly to pass through the center of the small village (fountain), passing by the pretty little church; go up the lane between the last houses following trails 16-17 beginning to climb gently alongside a dry stone wall up an open slope with sparse vegetation, until you meet the farm track further upstream at an altitude of 1760 m.At the junction you continue on the uphill farm track, then neglecting the right fork to Essanaz, not far away.The now very pleasant and scenic track makes a long semicircle to circumvent the slopes of Mont Paglietta, until it crosses a small bridge over the Barasson stream, now a short distance from the beautiful Barasson alpine pasture 1868 m, at the foot of the dense pine and larch forest (Bois de Plan Puitz).We leave to the right any tracks that enter the wild Barasson valley to continue south along a secondary track that joins the main road coming from Saint-Rhémy.We follow the old military road of Plan Puitz accomplishing the various hairpin bends inside a dense forest that, however, often leaves room for panoramic and sunnier views. There are also a few trail shortcuts, a bit more strenuous.After the last hairpin bend to the left, you face a long traverse halfway up the hill, never steep, first reaching a small hut at 2077 m, and just beyond the entrance to the fortifications of Plan Puitz, where suddenly the forest ends, leaving room for a real panoramic balcony.For the more adventurous, it is possible without any danger to penetrate inside the fortified cave (there is a lighting system powered by photovoltaic panels) with a small tour guided by illustrative panels.To enjoy an even broader panorama, in a few moments one can climb the hump upstream of the fortifications, where there is a ruin of a 2125 m stakeout. Here we overlook, to the north, the real Plan Puitz, a small clearing at the edge of the Tête de Tchoume forest.The return to Eternod is along the same route as the ascent.