Pointe de Chaligne from Gignod
Hiking
Pointe de Chaligne from Gignod
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Description
Pointe de Chaligne is the iconic mountain of Gignod, as well as one of the best known and most popular destinations in the middle Aosta Valley.
The proposed route is along one of the paths that allow to reach the summit starting directly from the village of Gignod. Therefore, it is dedicated to those well-trained hikers who want to test themselves on challenging gradients.
The ascent is very varied and never monotonous, you will start by passing some of the hamlets in the low hill of Gi...
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Details
Overview
Pointe de Chaligne is the iconic mountain of Gignod, as well as one of the best known and most popular destinations in the middle Aosta Valley.
The proposed route is along one of the paths that allow to reach the summit starting directly from the village of Gignod. Therefore, it is dedicated to those well-trained hikers who want to test themselves on challenging gradients.
The ascent is very varied and never monotonous, you will start by passing some of the hamlets in the low hill of Gignod, then a dense wooded area of the Bois Noir, and finally the panoramic grassy slopes leading to the summit, from which you will enjoy a 360° circular view of all the main Aosta Valley mountains.
The proposed route is along one of the paths that allow to reach the summit starting directly from the village of Gignod. Therefore, it is dedicated to those well-trained hikers who want to test themselves on challenging gradients.
The ascent is very varied and never monotonous, you will start by passing some of the hamlets in the low hill of Gignod, then a dense wooded area of the Bois Noir, and finally the panoramic grassy slopes leading to the summit, from which you will enjoy a 360° circular view of all the main Aosta Valley mountains.
Reaching the start
From the Aosta East tollbooth, take the tunnel along the E27 road leading into the Great St. Bernard Valley, at the end of which you meet the SS27 coming from the center of Aosta. Continue along reaching Gignod; just past the town hall building, with the medieval tower behind it, turn right following the road that continues downhill bypassing the tower hill. After 1 km you reach the hamlet of Cré where you park in one of the two available parking lots.
The route
From the Cré parking lot, follow trail marker no. 2 for the Pointe de Chaligne following the small asphalt road that passes below the SS27 road viaduct, to abandon it soon afterwards by continuing in a meadow on the right that then gives way to a wooded strip.
Having crossed a dirt road first, and the Ru Bourgeois irrigation canal shortly after, you reach a paved road halfway between the hamlets of Tercinod and Fiou-Planet with the beautiful church of the Visitation.
You continue along the road to the right of the church that climbs between the last houses until you reach a vast panoramic pastureland over the Valpelline, which precedes the few houses of Reysod 1180 m; passed a hut on the right, you continue following the asphalt road that quickly leads into the vicinity of Crou, where you continue on the right-hand dirt track that enters the forest.
The road ends at the Teusille hut, from here continue to the right along a nice mule track in the woods and quickly meet the houses of Ronc-Parmé 1461 m; continue in a northerly direction crossing some meadows until you meet a fence above some ruined huts, where the mule track becomes a grassy track that reaches the junction with path 2B coming from the municipality of Gignod.
The trails now enter the dense pine forest that covers the middle hillside on the slopes of Pointe de Chaligne; here the sun filters through little and the trail is cool and pleasant even in midsummer.
After encountering a first grassy plateau with wooden benches, you reach a second one at about 1980 m, where you leave the trail to the right for the Chaligne Refuge (reachable in 10'), making a marked detour to the left as you enter a small depression where the pines gradually give way to larches. At 2100 m at a shelf we meet trail 2A coming from Excenex (hamlet of the municipality of Aosta).
We now climb between depressions and clearings to the panoramic Plan du Debat 2342 m, where we find two large wooden crosses. The forest is now behind us while the bulk of the Pointe de Chaligne appears clearly in front. Reaching a stone marker with signposts, we continue southward crossing the slopes of the east side of the mountain; bypassing a ridge, we meet another marker with signs, always follow trail No. 2 that climbs a little more laboriously to the Col de Metz 2486 m, overlooking the comb of Mont Fallére.
Continuing to the right, we bypass an area of whitish stones, and gain the grassy ridge that culminates with the summit, now not far away. Following the earth path between the meadows, quite strenuous because of the slope, you reach the beautiful summit cross of Pointe de Chaligne 2611 m.
With clear days, from the summit the view is truly grandiose over the valleys of the Grand Combin as well as over the middle Aosta Valley with the Rutor glaciers and the imposing Mount Emilius just in front dominating the Aosta basin.
The return is by the route of the outward journey, perhaps with a detour to the Chaligne Refuge where you can refresh yourself and recover from the exertions of the climb.
Having crossed a dirt road first, and the Ru Bourgeois irrigation canal shortly after, you reach a paved road halfway between the hamlets of Tercinod and Fiou-Planet with the beautiful church of the Visitation.
You continue along the road to the right of the church that climbs between the last houses until you reach a vast panoramic pastureland over the Valpelline, which precedes the few houses of Reysod 1180 m; passed a hut on the right, you continue following the asphalt road that quickly leads into the vicinity of Crou, where you continue on the right-hand dirt track that enters the forest.
The road ends at the Teusille hut, from here continue to the right along a nice mule track in the woods and quickly meet the houses of Ronc-Parmé 1461 m; continue in a northerly direction crossing some meadows until you meet a fence above some ruined huts, where the mule track becomes a grassy track that reaches the junction with path 2B coming from the municipality of Gignod.
The trails now enter the dense pine forest that covers the middle hillside on the slopes of Pointe de Chaligne; here the sun filters through little and the trail is cool and pleasant even in midsummer.
After encountering a first grassy plateau with wooden benches, you reach a second one at about 1980 m, where you leave the trail to the right for the Chaligne Refuge (reachable in 10'), making a marked detour to the left as you enter a small depression where the pines gradually give way to larches. At 2100 m at a shelf we meet trail 2A coming from Excenex (hamlet of the municipality of Aosta).
We now climb between depressions and clearings to the panoramic Plan du Debat 2342 m, where we find two large wooden crosses. The forest is now behind us while the bulk of the Pointe de Chaligne appears clearly in front. Reaching a stone marker with signposts, we continue southward crossing the slopes of the east side of the mountain; bypassing a ridge, we meet another marker with signs, always follow trail No. 2 that climbs a little more laboriously to the Col de Metz 2486 m, overlooking the comb of Mont Fallére.
Continuing to the right, we bypass an area of whitish stones, and gain the grassy ridge that culminates with the summit, now not far away. Following the earth path between the meadows, quite strenuous because of the slope, you reach the beautiful summit cross of Pointe de Chaligne 2611 m.
With clear days, from the summit the view is truly grandiose over the valleys of the Grand Combin as well as over the middle Aosta Valley with the Rutor glaciers and the imposing Mount Emilius just in front dominating the Aosta basin.
The return is by the route of the outward journey, perhaps with a detour to the Chaligne Refuge where you can refresh yourself and recover from the exertions of the climb.
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Last update
30 April 2025, 15:09