AOSTA VALLEY CRAGS | Versante Sud climbing guide

CLIMBING GUIDE

The Aosta Valley is a decidedly vast and varied area from a climbing perspective. Its morphology is strictly Alpine , and the territory is divided into lateral valleys that flow into the central one, crossed by the Dora Baltea .

All are of glacial origin , and during the last ice age, the great Balteo glacier , which ran along the valley's axis, reached all the way to what is now Canavese . The signs of its passage are still clearly visible today, as local climbers have always known. They have equipped a large number of continually expanding sectors on its ancient "nails" carved into the sides of the main valley . While the first and most visible ones have shaped the now decades-long history of sport climbing, in recent years there has been a resurgence of new sectors , which has increased the offering of crags in the area, effectively making the Aosta Valley one of the national hubs for climbing.

The side valleys, which flow into the main valley from the main Alpine ridge after a few dozen kilometers, rise to fairly high altitudes and are also densely populated with cliffs, especially in summer, making it possible to spend cool days in the shadow of the Alpine giants, with breathtaking views of the region's 4,000-meter peaks . The winter temperature inversion in the lower valley, on the other hand, makes climbing in the sun possible even on winter days.

The authors decided to focus on the eastern part of the valley and its lateral valleys , including the piedmont areas in the Canavese territory, thinking of a macro-area although administratively divided into two different regions, in fact decidedly homogeneous both logistically and morphologically for the climber, who within a radius of about fifty kilometres, taking the Forte di Bard as the epicentre , has a considerable number of crags available for all four seasons.