La Servaz, from Praz

Introduction

The valley of Saint-Barthélemy, due to its conformation, is an excellent terrain for winter hiking and not only: within it there is also a beautiful cross-country ski trail that will accompany the hiker for a good part of the itinerary.

Description

Leaving the car inside the village of Praz, continue through the hamlet until you meet the no-trespassing sign: leaving the last houses, go up a snowy track that gently enters the Saint-Barthélemy valley, accompanied by the watershed ridges with the valleys of Torgnon. After skirting a first alpine pasture, we meet two hairpin bends and soon reach the renovated Suchiller alpine pasture (1890m, 0h20'). Once past the alpine pasture, we turn left, climbing a short slope along the cross-country track until we reach a spectacular snow-covered plateau from which we have a privileged view of the Mont Emilius and the other peaks south of the Dora Baltea. With a slight turn to the right, we soon reach the cottages of Champcombre (1930m, 0h30').
From here, we continue alongside the cross-country ski track along a long, practically flat stretch that enters the middle of the valley; we enter a beautiful fir forest and, after passing the Vallorsière alpine pastures (below the track), we come to the Champlaisant crag and, shortly afterwards, a track that leads to the alpine pastures of the same name (1950m, 1h00'). Punta Montagnaya and Becca d'Arbière slowly appear on the horizon and the track gets closer and closer to the stream bed until it skirts it at a little bridge near Vayoux (1960m, 1h15'). Now that your destination is near, go up the track to a small bridge: here turn left and go up the short slope that separates us from the La Servaz mountain pasture (2008m, 1h30').
After a restorative break, you can either proceed downhill along the same route as before or cross the above-mentioned bridge on the orographic left and descend again to the cottages of Vayoux (1987m, 1h40'). Once past the cottages, descend towards the stream, which is crossed twice until reaching the vicinity of a peculiar aqueduct: also in this section, proceed along the cross-country track until reaching, after a steep but short descent, a beautiful plain in front of the Champlaisant chapel (1918m, 2h05'). After the chapel, the trail descends to the cottages below, heading to the edge of the stream: do not cross it but turn right, climbing slightly uphill in the direction of the forest, still along the track, until reaching the village of Vallorsière (1902m, 2h20'). Descend towards the houses of Vallorsière, abandoning the cross-country ski track, cross the village in a southerly direction and finally walk halfway up the lower edge of the forest until reaching a small valley: here, ascend slightly until reaching a clearing from which the renovated Suchiller alpine pastureland can be glimpsed. We head towards the alpine pasture, connecting with the outward route, which takes us back to our starting point in a few minutes.

A large part of this itinerary takes place on the beautiful cross-country ski tracks of Saint-Barthélemy: we advise you to take due care not to damage the groomed tracks.