Château des Dames

Château des Dames

Page Type Page Type: Mountain/Rock
Location Lat/Lon: 45.91650°N / 7.57782°E
Additional Information County: Aosta valley
Additional Information Elevation: 11444 ft / 3488 m
Sign the Climber's Log

Overview

"Castle of the ladies", which in French is Chàteau des Dames, is a mountain totally in Italian territory; Aosta Valley. It's is a pyramid with 4 ridges, and placed on the long ridge that divides from north to south the Valpelline from the Valtournenche. This mountain is composed mostly of bad rocks, and it hasn't real climb routes; but it is a good position for a view to the major mountain as Matterhorn and Monte Rosa Group.

 

"Castle of the ladies ", che in francese è Chàteau des Dames, è una montagna totalmente in territorio italiano, la Valle d'Aosta. È una bella piramide a 4 creste, posta sulla lunga dorsale che divide da nord a sud la Valpelline dalla Valtournenche. Questa montagna è composta principalmente da rocce non buone e non ha veri e propri percorsi di arrampicata; ma è una buona posizione per una vista sulle principali montagne come il Cervino e il Gruppo del Monte Rosa.

Getting there

From Valpelline: Location Alta Valpelline. From Milan motorway A4 and from Turin, motorway A5 to Aosta. Take the direction to Pass. Gran S. Bernardo, and turn right at the village of Valpelline direction Diga Place Moulin. Godd startpoint is the Prarayer hut.
From Valtournenche: From Chatillon take SR.46 into Valtournenche. Most of the routes start from The villace of Valtournenche or the higher Perrères. Best position for rests are the area around the lake of Cignana.

Routes and History

From Valpelline: NORTHWEST FLANK: Normal route,across the Glacier des Dames From ref. Prarayer 3/4 hours (F/F+) (Federico Archier, Ange Maquignaz 17/08/1875) SOUTHWEST RIDGE: From Colle Bella Tsa (II°/III°) (Albin Lucat, Pierre Maquignaz 04/'9/1974) NORTHWEST RIDGE: Rarely climbed. Bad rocks. (Allamand, Halles, Dela Harpe 14/08/1899).
From Valtournenche: SOUTHEAST RIDGE: From Colle Volfrede (II°) Funny, probably the best. EAST FLANK: From Glacier Volfrede and Col des Dames (F+) Easy, but risk of falling stones.

Accomodation

Ref. Prarayer (2.005m) 50 places. Tel 0165/730040. From Place Mouline dike. 50 min (T).
Ref. Vuillermoz (2.920m) 30 places. Tel 338/4264705. From Valturnenche 4 hours (E).
Biv. Florio (3.320m) 9 places. From ref. Prarayer 4 hours (F).
Biv. Manenti (2.790m) 6 places. From Valturnenche 3/4 hours.
This is the Colle Volfrede.

Campings

Remember that free camping is forbidden (except for emergency reasons, over 2.500m, from darkness until dawn).

Mountain Conditions

  • You can get meteo information at the official site of the Regione Valle d'Aosta:
  • Valle d'Aosta Meteo

Webcam

  • WEBCAM on Aosta Valley:
  • Webcam

Books and Maps

BOOKS:

  • "Guida dei Monti d'Italia - Alpi Pennine (Vol. 2)" di Gino Buscaini - Club Alpino Italiano/Turing Club Italiano, Luglio 1970 (In Italian).
  • "Diari Alpinistici" di Osvaldo Cardellina e Indice Generale accompagnato da Schedario Relazioni Ascensioni 1964-2019 (inediti).
  • "Guida delle Alpi Occidentali" di Giovanni Bobba e Luigi Vaccarone C.A.I. Sezione di Torino Volume II (parte II), 25 Maggio 1896.
  • "Rifugi e bivacchi in Valle d'Aosta", di Cosimo Zappelli aggiornata da Pietro Giglio, Musumeci Editore, Luglio 2002.
  • "I Rifugi della Valle d'Aosta" di Stefano Ardito, Ed. Guide iter, Febbraio 2003.

MAPS:

  • Kompass "Breuil/Cervinia-Zermatt" Carta turistica 1:50.000.
  • I.G.C. Istituto Geografico Centrale "La Valpelline Valle di Ollomont Valle di Saint Barthélemy" (carta n° 115) Map1:30.000.
  • Studio F.M.B. "Cervino Monte Rosa" Bologna 1:50.000.
  • L'Escursionista "Valpelline-Saint Barthélemy” Carta dei sentieri (n° 6) 1:25.000.

Important Information

Useful numbers

  • Protezione Civile Valdostana località Aeroporto n° 7/A Saint Christophe (Ao) Tel. 0165-238222.
  • Bollettino Meteo (weather info) Tel. 0165-44113.
  • Unità Operativa di Soccorso Sanitario Tel. 118.


Children

Children

Children refers to the set of objects that logically fall under a given object. For example, the Aconcagua mountain page is a child of the 'Aconcagua Group' and the 'Seven Summits.' The Aconcagua mountain itself has many routes, photos, and trip reports as children.