Mascognaz

Mascognaz

Like as Zerbion, the writer has got a special relation with this little village, located at about 1822 meters high, South East of Champoluc. It was one of my first goals, and it’s a daily rendezvous during my long summer holiday: every afternoon, in fact, I use to get there by bike, using the dirt road starting from Amponey Bridge, at the end of “Pratone”, in Varasc resort. Mascognaz is a obligatory aim for anyone who want to know Ayas. It gives a total view, glacier included, and it’s an extremely typical village. Just a few “baite”, old restored rascards, narrow alleys, a little church and a drinking trough: a typical mountain village, built to resist to the long and heavy local winters. It’s also a ancient place: the little building nearby the torrent, in front of Edoardo Fosson’s plaque, is date back to XVII century.

Mascognaz is a beginning point for important excursions: for example, the dirt road which takes to the pastures from where, with path like 14, 14A and so on, you can reach important places such Perrin Lake Palasina’s Pass and omonymous lakes. Behind Mascognaz there’s a narrow valley which, surrounded by high mountains like Mont de la Nonna (2534 meters) and Mont Chateau (2658 meters) northwards, Pointe Piure (2902) and Corno di Bussola (3023) southwards. More in details, the valley ends, after Palud village, at foothills of important Palasina’s Pass, 2668 meters. This valley is a perfect extension of a good walk, especially if it’s done with children or dogs, or both. It’s a place rich of water, woods and meadows: instead, there are no dangers. The dirt road is on a little slope, or even flat and can take about one hour and a half of pleasant walking, if you simply want to spend an afternoon on touch with the mountains. Finally, I have to speak about the way to reach Mascognaz. From Champoluc, with 14 –14A path, which starts from the Waterfall (going towards Pratone, after the Church and just before AIAT offices), which takes just 40 minutes; from Crest, instead, there’s 13A path, particularly picturesque because of its woods’ crossing. In case of heavy rains, however, some points would become absolutely wet, especially around those little torrents you can find all the way long, mostly in Crest’s area.