High Route 2 — Stage 12: Rifugio Dondena → Champorcher

Short scenic stage: descend Champorcher valley on the Scaletta trail to the village.

A descending stage along the royal hunting road built for Vittorio Emanuele II, dropping at an even grade from Dondena into the Ayasse valley: past a medieval bridge and the upper hamlets of Champorcher, among larch and birch woods, to the main village dominated by the square tower of the lords of Bard. The whole descent follows the engineered grade of the royal road, comfortable underfoot and rich in viewpoints over the Mont Avic park, whose dark serpentinite peaks and pine forests of uncinate pine make it one of the Alps’ most distinctive protected areas.