Aosta Numero Uno
Description
The tour starts from the town center of Aosta with the gondola lift or the bike shuttle to Pila. If you are traveling in high season, you can also take the Chamolé and Couis chairlifts (which only operate for a short period in summer) and reach the mountain ridge with virtually no muscle power of your own. Otherwise, you can take the gravel road, which is well maintained but sometimes quite steep, up to the ridge. Up here you have a great view towards Monte Rosa, over to the Grand Combin and as far as Mont Blanc at the top of the Aosta Valley. The peaks of the Grand Paradiso region loom in the background, with the rocky Grivola at the very front.
The descent starts off crisply. The impressive path over the mountain ridge is technical and exposed and also requires the occasional footrace. Finally, you reach the eastern end of the ridge at Pointe de la Pierre and the trail with the number 1, which gives this tour its name. This trail is a flow hit! It leads through the open terrain down to Alp Champchenille and then dives into the forest. The flow down to Turlin is winding and varied, and here you tackle the third section of the seemingly endless descent. The style remains the same. In this way, you reach the Ru d'Arbérioz above Pomiod and follow the water channel path down to Jovençan, from where the cycle path forms the final point of this exceptional singletrail descent.
Map & GPX-Track
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Details of the tour
26 km
1000 m
2230 m
1 day
2608
well suited
More information
More tours nearby
User comments (9)
About the author: Thomas Giger
Note: This content has been automatically translated from German. Please report any incorrect translations.
Well, there are better things to do in Pila.
E.g. Punta Replan or down to Cogne. And from 2026, when the cable car rides all the way up, the trail will certainly suffer a bit due to the higher frequency. Lots of trees at the bottom. But you can see that things are slowly being tidied up.
I only did the tour in mid-July. The ridge path was very beautiful, but also involved a lot of pushing. After that, however, it got worse and worse. Trail #1 was completely washed out in many places and trampled by cows, and further on there were only fallen trees on the trail. I tried to get back on trail #1 at Turlin after I had to switch to a forest path, but the same thing there too, just fallen trees... The same was also the case on other trails such as #21B. Outside the Pila bike park, everything was very disappointing.
Maybe some of it has been cleared in the meantime, but in July hardly any of the descents described here were feasible.
There are still a lot of trees on the Pila mountain side of Aosta after the snowfall in April 2025, unfortunately not much has been cleared here yet (in contrast to the southern slopes, where many routes are rideable again).
The Couis 1 chairlift will not be in operation in summer 2024 because the lift is being rebuilt. It will be accessible again from 2025.
We climbed from the Alpe Grimondet up to the Pointe de la pierre. Great dreamy forest trail. Afterwards we pushed up to the Pointe.
Down also just to Alpe Grimondet via the super forest trail and then the hiking trail 21 D down to Aosta....very fun. It can certainly be ridden comfortably, but at high speed it was simply very cool. There are a few steep walls discreetly built in. A few steps in between. The upper section is rather damp.
Highly recommended! Have spare brake pads ready for the next tour 😁
Rode the tour today, just endless trail fun, brilliant!
I can only partially agree with mathisdaniel's comment. The ascent over the ski slope is a challenge, even with an e-bike, but it is doable. Once you reach the ridge, you are rewarded with a breathtaking view.
The first few meters on the ridge can be ridden with appropriate caution. However, this is followed by sections where the slightest mistake can lead to a fatal fall and are almost impossible to negotiate (especially with a heavy e-bike).
Once you reach the Point de la Pierre, the trail fun begins. And in comparison to the previous comment, I have to say it is pure downhill fun and includes every trail variant you can imagine. Absolutely first class with no ifs and buts.
Provided you enjoy riding on S2 trails.
Can absolutely agree with Garfield's comment. The ascent will probably ride through the construction site in the ski area until 2024, but is easily doable at the weekend. The route over the ridge is impressive and fun, provided you know how to deal with exposed sections. The descent is one of the best in Aosta, especially because of the varied trails from the highest point to the valley floor.
Did the tour this week. The ascent from Chamolé was very steep and the gravel road is currently closed due to roadworks. The bike has to be carried up the ski slope in this area. Once you reach the ridge at Couis 1, the panorama is really impressive. Half of the ridge path is then unrideable (partly out of caution) and very exposed in places. Normally I would recommend good hiking boots, but this is still difficult on a bike. Perhaps the ascent from the top station of the Grimondet chairlift (closed in summer) would be the better option. The view from the Pointe de la Pierre is again excellent.
The first few meters are brilliant & flowy, after that the trail unfortunately gets worse and worse. From around 1800m above sea level, the brakes are under a lot of strain and can practically no longer be released.
All in all, it's the strenuous ascent and the first few Elevation losses on the descent that I'll remember :)