The Rifugio Guide di Ayas is run by Livio Colli and Federico Favre. It is open in spring from April to May and in summer from mid-June to mid-September. The Rifugio Guide di Ayas is run by Livio Colli and Federico Favre, and is open in spring from April to May and in summer from mid-June to mid-September.
Situated on a large rocky outcrop rising from the Great Verra Glacier, the Refuge of the Ayas Guides at Lambronecca is perhaps one of the most interesting and challenging destinations in the Ayas Valley. The refuge was inaugurated in 1989. The structure, made of metal, masonry and wood, is imposing in size. The interior is perfectly maintained. Being on the flow of the Great Verra Glacier, one is projected into the middle of the ice, in fact from this hut roped parties depart for peaks such as the Castor and Pollux, the Breithorn and the Schwarztor with its passage to Switzerland. The southern buttresses of these peaks are particularly appreciable, as is the view down into the valley, which on fine evenings even offers the distant Monviso.
In the mid-1980s, thanks to funding from the Valle d'Aosta region and the free concession of land by the municipality of Ayas, the Guide Society embarked on a new ambitious project; the construction of an alpine refuge in Val d'Ayas.
The Rifugio Guide Ayas, opened in September 1991, stands at 3400m on the rocky ridge called Lambronecca. It is about an hour's walk from the Mezzalama Refuge and is a modern and functional structure, with a capacity of 80 beds. It further qualifies the local tourist offer, improving the usability of the area even for foreign mountaineers, very often accompanied by guides, who come from nearby Zermatt or Breuil-Cervinia to climb the peaks of Monte Rosa.
ACCESS:
From Champoluc, hamlet of St. Jacques, leave your car in the small church square and continue for a few minutes to the hamlet of Blanchard. From here follow path no. 7 until you cross a small bridge on the right. The path continues through the forest until it joins a fairly level mule track that joins the dirt road coming from Saint-Jacques.
We now have before us a plain called Pian di Verra Inferiore, at the end of which the signs indicate the Blue Lake, the Mezzalama hut and the Val d'Ayas Guides hut. After crossing the bridge, follow the path that cuts across the road as if it were a shortcut. At the end of the hairpin bends, the path continues on the dirt track leading to Pian di Verra Superiore.
Shortly before, the path climbs the steep slope that forms the edge of the glacier moraine. You walk along the crest of the bank and are in sight of the Mezzalama hut, further up you can also see the Rifugio delle Guide della Val d'Ayas. The terrain becomes stony and gravelly, typical of moraines. From the Mezzalama Refuge (3,004 m), take the path again and climb up the bank of the moraine.
We can always see the Rifugio delle Guide della Val d'Ayas, on the spur of the Rocce di Lambronecca rocks, and the ascent route is on its right-hand side. We then take a section of the path marked in yellow, which allows us to reach the Verra Glacier. Cross the lower section and climb up the steep scree slope on the path, equipped in the last few metres, to reach the Guide della Val d'Ayas hut.
