Balme

Access

Balme can be reached by taking the Val d'Ala provincial road starting from Lanzo Torinese, passing Ala di Stura and passing through the typical villages dotting the valley; the road is closed in winter from the village to Pian della Mussa and is used for cross-country skiing. The main car park is located near the village and Pian della Mussa; public transport in the valley is provided by the 'GTT' line with runs from Turin to Ala Stura and Balme.

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Introduction

Balme is the highest municipality of the Lanzo Valleys, located at an altitude of 1432 metres in the Ala valley, and represents the last outpost before the mountain arc closes the valley with the imposing Uja di Bessanese (3604 m) and Uja di Ciamarella (3637 m). At the base of these mountains lies the Pian della Mussa, a vast grassy plain at 1708 metres, a well-known and suggestive destination for its very pure waters, which have been feeding the Turin aqueduct for a century.

Description

The first documented news about Balme dates back to the 14th century, when it appears in the registers of the castellania of Lanzo; it was only in 1610 that Balme acquired autonomy from Ala, establishing its own municipality and, two years later, its first parish church (the current building is dated 1769). The place name 'Balme' has uncertain origins: according to some sources, it derives from the Celtic 'balma', a term indicating shelters and caves in the rocks, while other hypotheses link it to Latin and dialectal voices defining mountain areas or natural cavities.
The territory is dominated by alpine environments with larch groves, pastures and a rich fauna, including ibexes, marmots and eagles. The Pian della Mussa, modelled by the filling of an ancient glacial lake, is famous not only for its scenic beauty: the song 'La Montanara' was born here and people and goods have been passing through it via the Col d'Arnas since Roman times; other curiosities include the natural icehouse used in the early 20th century to supply hotels with ice during the hot season.
The mountaineering tradition of Balme is deeply linked to modern mountaineering, thanks to Antonio Castagneri ("Toni dei Tuni"), a pioneer of heroic mountaineering in the second half of the 19th century with 46 first ascents and remembered by Guido Rey; his birthplace can still be seen in the centre of the village. Balme is now a popular tourist destination both in summer, with trekking and rock climbing, and in winter, with cross-country skiing and ski mountaineering routes on Pian della Mussa and the surrounding mountains.

Information

Area: 62.71 square kilometres
Altitude: 1432m
Maximum elevation:
 Number of inhabitants: 97
Name in dialect:
 Inhabitant name:
Patron Saint:
Internet site:
 Webcam:
Neighbouring municipalities: Ala di Stura, Bessans, Bonneval-sur-Arc, Groscavallo, Lemie, Usseglio
 Villages and hamlets:
Alps: