Triatel, from Grand Moulin

Access

From the motorway exit at Châtillon, turn left along Via E. Chanoux. Go past the roundabout, third exit, and continue through the town centre for about 600m and then turn right into Via Menabrea, which you should follow until you reach the roundabout with the "Cervino" on the inside. Take the second exit and take the road, following it for 7.1km to Antey-Saint-André where, on the right, you will find the Tourist Office chalet in Piazza Attilio Rolando where 🅿️ free parking spaces are available.

[0h12'] - [8.7km]
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The information provided here has been verified on the date of the route survey. Before setting off, it is advisable to ensure that no substantial changes have occurred on the route to the starting point. We therefore recommend the use of the satellite navigation apps provided by Google or Apple for up-to-date and detailed directions.

Introduction

This hike encompasses in a circular itinerary some of the most important monuments of the municipalities of Torgnon and Antey: the Ru du Pan Perdu and the medieval buildings of the Triatel ethnographic museum. The return trail passes by the three entrances to the Fiernaz/Petit Monde copper mine and then follows a long stretch of the Ru du Filey: a long panoramic balcony over the Antey plain. The wealth of historical and geological curiosities encountered along this itinerary makes it one of the most beautiful and interesting hikes in Valtournenche. The only challenging and exposed section has been equipped with metal chains to allow safer progression: it is however not recommended for people suffering from vertigo.

Description

From the car park in front of the chalet that houses Antey's tourist information office, cross the regional road and after a few dozen metres you will find the signs for Ru du Pan Perdu and the village of Triatel.
You pass in front of an oratory dedicated to the Virgin Mary, then take the steep slope that passes behind the village of Grand Moulin, (in Italian i Grandi Mulini) in which there is a mill, hidden but still perfectly preserved, originally powered by the waters of the Marmore stream and then converted to electric motors after the construction of the Covalou hydroelectric power station.
After a short flat stretch, we arrive at the bridge known as the Pinot bridge, named after the contractor who directed the work, where we cross the regional road to Torgnon.
During road construction work, which began in 1937, a few hundred metres further on, a small pre-Roman burial ground was found that contained no more than seven or eight tombs. It was completely destroyed and the only preserved finds were two bronze armillae and a 25 cm high funerary vase that remained in private hands until at least 1975. Traces of the objects were later lost.
We cross the road and then, following the signposts on the footpaths, walk up a short, steep slope to the wooden bridge upstream of which the slope becomes less steep.
We continue zigzagging first between the cut slabs of the old marble quarry and then between the boulders of an ancient landslide. Arriving at the foot of the rocky wall, one glimpses, high up among the trees, the pillars supporting the route of the ru, then one continues almost level and at the side of the path, on a large stone incorporated in the upstream wall, one notices a curious engraving on the interpretation of which opinions are divided.
For Professor Cristina Sanna, author of a study on the graphic evidence engraved in the commune of Antey, it would be the inscription "1879 7B", which would indicate with a little play on words the year and month in which the work was completed: 1879 7(m)B(re) = September. The architect Claudine Remacle, who has coordinated numerous studies on Valle d'Aosta architecture, prefers a less creative reading of the inscription and, having noticed that the last seven has a leg slanting to the left, proposes the following reading "1879 JB", where the letters "JB" would represent the initials of the person who commissioned the work.
A few dozen metres from this little enigma, a little further on through the sparse pine forest, a pleasant view opens up over the village of Antey with the Tantané peak in the background. At the height of the fourth hairpin bend, just before a large rock on which a yellow mark is traced, leave the path to the left, right on the bend, and following the track for about forty metres that zigzags its way up through the forest, you reach the base of the monumental square-section pillar of about 2.20 by 2.80 m that supported the Ru.
Those who wish to do so, paying particular attention to falling stones, can go to the original route of the canal. To reach the bed where the water once flowed, one must pass behind the old pillar and ascend the slope in front of the two arches until reaching a small patch of flat land that gives access to what remains of the hydraulic work.
Continuing along the path, at a bend to the left, a large boulder hidden among the trees can be glimpsed towards the valley: it is the partisans' barma, where resistance fighters used to lurk to check the movements of the Nazi-Fascists in the Antey plain.
With a little caution, it is still possible to visit it today. Just a few steps towards the valley and you reach the rear entrance of the barma, then you have to creep under the large boulder that covers it to find yourself inside the cavern overlooking the valley.
Warning! All it takes is one false step to fall into the void.
A little further on you arrive at the belvedere over Antey, which dominates both the Barma dei Partigiani and the villages of Fiernaz and Navillod.
One step after the other, you proceed through the shadows of the forest until you reach the fountain that the region's workers have dug out of a larch trunk, at an altitude of 1330 metres. At this point, half of the altitude difference of this itinerary has been covered.
The path climbs the steep slope below the little church of Notre Dame de Pitié with a few bends, and at this point it is a little difficult to identify the snow-covered track, but keeping to the right of the scree slope, you soon reach the beginning of the section equipped with chains, at an altitude of about 1400 metres.
This is a short but exposed section where carelessness can be fatal: the utmost caution is recommended when walking along it.
The trail continues across the south-facing ridge and then turns and opens out into the valley. In the distance you can see the peak of Monte Zerbion with a small white dot at the top: it is a statue dedicated to the Madonna. In the early 1900s, even Benito Mussolini made an offering for its construction.
The truncated peak of the Tantané and the plateau of Veuillen appear, with the ridge of the same name on the right, plunging down onto the plain of Antey.
The path continues almost level between the terraces that were once cultivated with cereals and ends in the square of the road between the farms. Follow its path until you reach the village of Triatel.
Just next to the first house in the village, which is partially in ruins, there is a memorial stone bearing the marker 105. If you take a left, you will pass by the base of one of the three medieval greniers of the village, which collapsed in 2005, and then continue towards the ethnographic museum; if you take a right after a few dozen metres, you will find the beginning of the return path, which passes between the structures of the copper mine.
The ethnographic museum of Torgnon is of particular interest because it is housed in two specially restored late-medieval wooden buildings: a grenier, used for storing cereals and foodstuffs, and a rascard used for storing and processing ears of corn, both dating from the 15th century.
The collections can be visited by appointment, and part of them is always open to the public and exhibited in the lower part of the rascard, built with wood felled in 1476.
The path back is not easy to identify as it is covered in snow, but after a few dozen metres of somewhat hesitant walking through the snow-covered meadows, one enters the forest where the trail is very clear. At the beginning of the forest, some larch stumps can be seen on the left, then you begin to descend into the dense fir forest.
The path is steep and exposed and quickly leads to the ruins of the first mine building, at an altitude of about 1400 metres. If you pass in front of it and climb up the little valley for a few metres on the old stairs, which are now in very poor condition, you arrive at the upper entrance to the mine, the oldest one.
Continuing downwards, you meet the two cable car stations built at the two new levels. At an altitude of about 1150 metres, the Ru du Filey, abandoned in the second half of the 20th century, intersects. One follows it in a southerly direction until arriving behind the village of the same name. You pass at the foot of a large boulder, then descend along the path until you reach the Antey plain and in a few minutes, following the signs for the path, you reach the tourist information office square.