What is Ayas known for?

The 4,000-meter peaks of Castor, Pollux and the Breithorn close the valley head, fed by the Verra glacier. Champoluc is one of the three main valleys of the lift-linked domain, sharing 180 kilometers of pistes with Gressoney and Alagna. Saint-Jacques-des-Allemands carries the name of the thirteenth-century German-speaking settlers who crossed the Theodul Pass from Valais.

Ayas is a comune in the province of Aosta Valley, Aosta Valley region of Italy, about 109 kilometers from Torino.

Aosta Valley · Aosta Valley

Ayas

A scattered upper-valley commune of three villages under the Monte Rosa, where Walser settlers and Romance-speaking herders share the slopes below Castor and Pollux.

1710m

Elevation

109 km / 68 mi

Nearest hub (Torino)

1,357

Population

Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar

Best time to visit

Why come

Ayas runs along the upper Évançon valley at the foot of the Monte Rosa massif, with its municipal seat at Antagnod (1,710 meters) and its main resort centers at Champoluc (1,568 meters) and Saint-Jacques-des-Allemands at the valley head. The 1,357 residents are spread across these three villages and dozens of smaller hamlets. The peaks above the valley belong to the Monte Rosa: Castore (4,226m), Polluce (4,091m) and the Breithorn (4,165m), fed by the Verra glacier whose meltwater becomes the Évançon. Saint-Jacques-des-Allemands carries its medieval name from German-speaking Walser settlers who crossed the Theodul Pass in the thirteenth century and farmed the upper slopes. Champoluc is the main lift station of the Monterosa Ski domain, connected by gondola and cable car across two cols to Gressoney-La-Trinité and Alagna Valsesia in Piedmont. Antagnod is the older village. The parish church of San Martino there holds a seventeenth-century polyptych altar.

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Gallery

9 photos · scroll →

Known for

Chiesa di San Martino
Parish church in Antagnod with a seventeenth-century polyptych altar, the religious seat of the commune.
Monterosa Ski
Lift-linked ski domain reaching 3,250 meters, connecting Champoluc to Gressoney-La-Trinité and Alagna Valsesia across two cols.
Castore e Polluce
The 4,226-meter Castor and 4,091-meter Pollux, twin peaks of the Monte Rosa massif on the Italy-Switzerland border above the valley head.
Champoluc
Main resort village at 1,568 meters in a flat section of the upper valley, with the principal Monterosa Ski lift station.
Saint-Jacques-des-Allemands
Hamlet at the valley head whose medieval suffix records the thirteenth-century Walser settlement of these slopes.
Ghiacciaio del Verra
Glacier descending from the Breithorn and Castor, principal source of the Évançon torrent that drains the valley.

When to visit

Best months · Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

December through March is the Monterosa Ski season, when the lifts at Champoluc run and the link across to Gressoney-La-Trinité and Alagna fills with skiers chasing the Monte Rosa's north-facing snow. June through September is the climbing and hiking season, the months when the Quintino Sella and Mezzalama refuges open and the high routes onto Castor and Pollux become viable. April, May, October and November are the off-months. Many hotels close, the lifts shut, and the three villages of the commune return to their everyday rhythm. Antagnod in autumn, with the larches on the slopes around it turning gold against the Monte Rosa, is the photograph the valley keeps for itself.