Rooms
Stays at Alpe Rebelle
Adams Reilly
Camera Luseney
The Luseney (3504 m above sea level) is a pyramid that stands majestically just above Bionaz, the inhabitants of Bionaz are proud of this elegant peak.
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Adams Reilly, a famous Anglo-Saxon mountaineer and cartographer, was the first to climb it together with Jean Antoine Carrel (the first climber of the Italian route to the Matterhorn) and Henry Charlet on 22 August 1866. Reilly, after exploring all the Alps, will say the following words about Luseney: “it is one of the most beautiful snow-capped peaks in the Alps.”
Michel Croz
Room
Mont Gelé
Mont Gelé (3518 m above sea level) is the classic ascent on mixed terrain starting from the Crête Sèche refuge. The 360° panorama of the most important peaks in the Aosta Valley and Switzerland, thanks to its centrality, makes it even more interesting.
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The panorama ranges, being a peak in the center of the Aosta Valley, over all the important mountains, from Dent d’Herens, to Monte Rosa passing through the Matterhorn, to reach Grivola, Gran Paradiso, Mont Blanc and just a breath away from the nose are Mont Vélan and the Grand Combin. Below we see the Fenêtre Durand leading to Switzerland.
Among the many fugitives who were aided by the partisan band commanded by Ettore Castiglioni, this hill was also crossed by President Einaudi during the Second World War, fleeing the Nazi-Fascist regime headed for neutral Switzerland.
The first to climb it was Michel Croz (first climber with Whymper of the Matterhorn) with his brother Jean Baptiste and Frederic William Jacomb on 11 August 1861. Castore and Monviso also went up first that same year.
The Devil
Becca Crevaye
at Morion
Becca Crevaye (3300 m above sea level) (from the patois “hole”) takes its name from the characteristic hole of almost 10 metres in diameter that is located under it.
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It was first climbed by the omnipresent Habbé Henry, Habbé Pantaleone Bovet and the porter Teodulo Forclaz on 11 July 1904.
Legend has it that the Bishop of Zion (Saint Theodulus) in the 4th century, during his return journey from Rome with his blessed bells, hired the Devil as a worker to transport the heavy bells. To save effort, instead of passing over the tip, the Devil crossed it, thus leaving a characteristic bell-shaped hole.
Habbé Henry
Tour de la Tsa
The Tour de la Tsa (3058 m above sea level) was climbed solo for the first time by Habbé Henry. Habbe Henry was first and foremost a great and valiant mountaineer, far-sighted and with many interests. Joseph-Marie Henry was one of the last examples of the Aosta Valley clergy interested in mountaineering, botany and science in general.
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Initially assistant parish priest in Cogne, he collaborated with Pierre Chanoux on the creation of the Chanousia Alpine Garden on the Little St. Bernard Pass. In his native Courmayeur he wanted to establish another botanical garden. The garden still exists and is the park of Abbé Henry, in the Plan-Gorret area. He became particularly well known when he celebrated Holy Mass on the summit of Mont Blanc for the first time on August 5, 1893.
Having become parish priest of Valpelline, he studied the valley in depth, climbing all the peaks in the surrounding area, giving many names to the different peaks. He actively collaborated with the Société de la flore valdôtaine, and was its president from 1901 to 1941. In 1929 he wrote his most famous work, “L’Histoire populaire religieuse et civile de la Vallée d’Aoste”.
Nel luglio del 1931 Henry portò a termine un’impresa assolutamente singolare: riuscì, infatti, non senza difficoltà, a scalare il monte Gran Paradiso portando con sé fin sulla cima un asino, chiamato Cagliostro dal suo padrone.
This intelligent initiative provided a major boost to tourism in the Valsavarenche area because it attracted the attention of many hiking enthusiasts to Gran Paradiso, who wanted to try their hand at a climb now certified as “easy” by the fact that even a donkey had managed to reach the summit.
Joseph-Marie Henry died suddenly at the age of 77 while tending his garden, accompanied by his bees. (From Wikipedia)
Ettore Bionaz
The Aroletta
in Crete Seche
The Aroletta (3000 m above sea level) is the coastal feature that separates the Crête Sèche valley from the Faudery valley. Over the years it has become a real point of reference for climbing lovers. This coast is the one that most characterizes the area where the Crête Sèche refuge is located.
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The idea and design of the shelter just mentioned was by Ettore Bionaz.
The Alpine Guide Ettore Bionaz was a talented sculptor, one of the first founders of the avalanche dog association, the mayor of Bionaz, and the first manager of the Crête Sèche refuge. Above all, he was a person who lived the mountain completely and managed to make it deeply loved by those who were fortunate enough to spend time with him.
Even now, many climbers remember and talk about him at the refuge. Many people return to Bionaz and love this country thanks to the image of these places that Hector has passed on to him.
Ettore Bionaz unfortunately left us early, returning from Monte Cervo with a client during a disastrous fall and thus lost his life at the age of 45. Ettore is Daniele’s uncle
Edward Whymper
Dent d’Herens
and Matterhorn
The Dent d’Hérens (4171 m above sea level) was first climbed on 12 August 1863 by Florence Crauford Grove, William Edward Hall, Reginald Somerled Macdonald and Montagu Woodmass, with guides Melchior Anderegg, Jean-Pierre Cachat and Peter Perren.
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Edward Whymper, the first climber of the Matterhorn, says of the Dent d’Herens: “This mountain is the only one I’ve tried to climb several times without being able to climb it at one time or another, this was a humiliating shock.”
Whymper admired this mountain for a long time, portrayed it several times in his drawings, but never managed to climb it