Stage 3: St. Jacques – Gressoney / Gabiet

Stage 3 of the Tour Monte Rosa crosses the picturesque Gressoney Valley and offers a relatively gentle yet impressive alpine experience. Along the way, you’re immersed in majestic mountain scenery, with spectacular views of the towering peaks of the Monte Rosa massif.

What to expect:

• A hike in the Gressoney Valley with wide panoramas and striking views of the surrounding mountains.
• In summer, the trail leads through typical Aosta Valley alpine pastures, where you’ll often see local-breed cows and grazing flocks of sheep.
• If you choose a variant to the classic route over the Rothorn Pass, you’ll reach the Bettaforca Pass. Here, unspoilt alpine landscapes meet convenient lift infrastructure. You can take the chairlift up to Sant’Anna and continue from there on trail no. 8, or take the cable car down to the hamlet of Staffal.
• If you’d like to extend the route a little and enjoy extraordinary panoramas, a detour of about 45 minutes via trail no. 9 (or its variants) to Punta Bettolina (2’996 m) is recommended. From here you get an impressive view of some of the massif’s best-known peaks, including Breithorn, Castor and Pollux, the western and eastern Lyskamm, as well as the Vincent Pyramid.
• After reaching Staffal, you can continue to the Gabiet Hut via trail no. 7A (see GPS track), or use the cable car from here. Alternatively, you can plan a stopover in Gressoney-La-Trinité.
• In Gressoney, Walser culture is carefully preserved and kept alive. With prior booking, you can visit the Walser Ecomuseum in the village centre to learn about the traditional way of life in Gressoney since the 12th century.