High Route 2 — Stage 3: La Thuile → Promoud

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

~1745 kcal estimated

From La Thuile, climb the Rutor valley via La Joux, waterfalls and glacial lakes to Rifugio Deffeyes and Promoud bivouac.

You leave the La Thuile basin up the Rutor valley beside its three waterfalls, then the trail bends towards the Passo Alto (2,857 m), a stern gap among boulder fields where snowfields linger into July. The descent into the Planaval valley, beneath the walls of the Grande Rousse, reaches the tiny village of Promoud, whose gîte d’étape is the only support.

Earth sciences

Geology & landscape

Rutor valley: metamorphic bedrock and active glacial deposits. Retreating Rutor glaciers with proglacial lakes and recent moraines visible from the trail.

History & culture

The Rutor waterfalls fed Italy’s earliest glaciological studies in the 19th century: sudden outbursts of the Santa Margherita glacial lake repeatedly devastated the valley until the basin drained naturally.

Water sources

Services in La Thuile. Rifugio Deffeyes and Promoud bivouac with water in season.

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

Dôme de Rutor

3486 m

3 km (as crow flies)