High Route 2 — Stage 2: Rifugio Elisabetta Soldini → La Thuile

Warnings

Check weather and residual snow early season
Book huts in peak season

EHikerSummer

1 / 2

Map & route

Official GPX track — Aosta Valley Region / lovevda.it

Description

Fitness level

~1071 kcal estimated

From Elisabetta, descend toward Col des Chavannes (2603 m) and cross Porassey and Orgères before reaching La Thuile valley floor.

A stage of crests and scenic cols: from the Col Chavannes — the high point, looking from Mont Blanc to the Rutor — you walk down the endless, gentle Chavannes valley among ruined alps and marmots, to the Little St Bernard pass and the descent to La Thuile. No support point for many hours: stock up on water at the hut.

Earth sciences

Geology & landscape

Southern flank of the Mont Blanc massif: Austroalpine basement gneiss and micaschists, Würmian moraines and proglacial deposits in Val Veny. The Brenva Glacier still shapes the valley floor morphology.

History & culture

At the Little St Bernard an Iron Age stone circle, Roman columns of the Gallic road and the medieval hospice coexist: three thousand years of crossings within a few hundred metres.

Water sources

Huts and bars in Courmayeur/Dolonne. Springs at Lac Combal; refill at Rifugio Elisabetta.

Getting there

VITA buses and connections from Aosta; check seasonal timetables at vita.it.

Aosta Valley bus site Timetables (PDF up/down)

Parking

Parcheggi comunali nei paesi di valle; verificare limitazioni in alta stagione.

Open parking in maps

Nearby peaks

Mont Blanc

4808 m

8 km (as crow flies)