Brusson - Antagnod - Saint-Jacques -Champoluc - Brusson

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Itinerary to discover the upper Val d'Ayas, to Champoluc, Saint-Jacques des Allemands and the Walser roots, as far as Antagnod and Lignod with their ancient buildings, in a beautiful alpine landscape

With a total length of around 32 km, this is a beautiful route through the landscape of the upper Val d'Ayas, touching on its main villages: from Champoluc - where the ski lifts start - to Frachey, where the funicular railway departs, and to Saint-Jacques des Allemands, which is enchanting for its landscape and the context of the houses and the mountain. From here, hikers' trails also start out towards several mountain huts. The closest are the Frachey guides' hut and the Ferraro at around 2066 m and a 40-minute walk from Saint-Jacques.

The return trip by bike leads to the other side, climbing first to Antagnod, with a recommended stop at the churches and the village centre, and to Lignod, to discover the traditional dwellings.

The descent is dedicated to the landscape and natural surroundings, with traces also of ancient and more recent crops. On the section between Extrepiéraz and Brusson, take a look at the climbing wall.

9 Discoverable heritages

Flora
Bosco di Goën" picnic area
A Pic Nic area at an altitude of 1350 m inside the Goën forest, which has a varied vegetation that includes larch woods with spruce, Scots pine and broadleaf trees.

Looking south, Mont Nery, Becca Meriú, Becca Torché, Becca di Viou and Punta Comagne are visible from the east, Mont Pareil is to the west and the Vallone di Fornolle to the north.
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Casa Challant Maison Fournier
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Extrepiéraz Chapel
Dedicated to Our Lady of the Snow, it is dated 1880 and conserves even older elements: an eighteenth-century altar, a satin, eighteenth-century planet and a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary with Child, holding the moon under her feet and measuring 1.10 metres tall, probably from the seventeenth century.
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Church of Lignod
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Parish church of Sant'Anna-Champlouc
In the square, immediately after the bridge, there are two churches side by side, both dedicated to Sant’Anna. The oldest of the two already existed in 1659, but was rebuilt and completed with a bell tower in 1715. Here in 1770 a school was founded, with the obligation to teach Latin up to third class. It was then interdicted in 1821 due to its miserable conditions, but it re-emerged in 1840 thanks to the work of the parish priest of Ayas, D’Andrès. In 1946 it became independent from Antagnod. The new church was consecrated by the bishop of Aosta, Monsignor Lari, on the 30th of August 1970.

INTERESTING DETAILS
- The main altar and the two side altars are from the eighteenth century: they are made of wood and have good carvings.
This altar was transported to the new church
- Some precious objects originating from the mother church of Antagnod
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Parish church of San Martino
Extrépieraz rock climbing wall
The walls are all visible from the road to Ayas and have always been frequented by local mountain guides. The pegging is available with resin-bonded bolts and the spacing between pitons is not excessive. Both novice and medium-high level climbers can find ventures here, as the more difficult routes maintain a slightly severe grading.
The activity requires technical experience; it is advisable to be accompanied by a mountain guide.

Descent: The belays have chains and abseiling carabiners or abseiling rings. The descent is carried out in moulinette with a 60m rope and in double rope for routes of several lengths.

Minimum, maximum and average difficulty of the routes from 3c, to 7b, average 6b.

Total number of routes 37.

Average length is 20 metres, minimum 10 metres and maximum 80 metres.

Source: https://www.lovevda.it/en/database/7/climbing-walls/brusson/extrepieraz-rock-climbing-wall/2647
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Saint-Jacques des Allemands
Panorama
Brusson playground and lake
The Brusson lake is an unmissable destination for everyone. The little ones in particular will find along its shores a playground, a beach volleyball court and many meadows where they can run and have fun.

Those who enjoy walking can walk around the entire lake, passing over beautiful grassy areas and through a small stretch of forest. Or they can discover the small wetland area of the 'Goya de Tchmpats' from the wooden walkways and stop at another playground along the way.