Trek around Monte Viso in 4 days

I think it was a 1:25 map, the same scale as the IGN map.
Happy hiking!

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@Eniramen : Hi, did you buy the Italian 1:25 or 1:50 map? Thank you for your reply.

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Hello,
Not a very busy route at this time. Few people on the Tour du Viso, more on the Tour du Pain de Sucre.
For the 2nd stage, we didn't go as far as Piano Del Re as indicated, as this would take us down to a very low altitude, so we stayed at a higher level, passing the Giacoletti refuge. This option is possible at the end of the season. Be careful at the beginning of the season if there is still snow, the slopes are quite steep for the traverse and the climb to the Giacoletti hut. As previously indicated by D. Perrodin) it's a bit steep with a few fixed ropes and chains but no gaps. We arrive at the Refuge Giacoletti and it's magnificent.
The GPS track is off the marked path more than once.

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Great itinerary! We did it all in bivouacs and on our own, but camping close to the refuges.
The Italian map (Instituto Geografico Centrale - Monviso) is very accurate, including on the French side, and may be enough to do the whole tour (on the other hand, the French IGN map is insufficient on the Italian side. We had both and hardly ever used the IGN map).

Day 1: We left Echalp at 1pm because we had to drive in the morning. This stage was doable if we arrived rather late at Granero, but that left enough time to pitch the tent and have dinner. Beautiful views over the plain before the final climb and a good bivouac spot next to the lake (despite the mosquitoes - which didn't manage to get through our layers of clothing).

Day 2: As planned, a fairly long stage, shortened by taking the route recommended by another hiker (Col de Seillierino). The rocks are magnificent. As we'd saved ourselves a bit of ascent and descent, we went via the Col de la Traversette rather than the pass: very nice view from up there.
For the rest, I'd imagined an alternative route via the upper lakes (intermediate path between Pian del Ré and Giacoletti), but the path was closed so we followed the normal route: in my opinion, there's not much point in going all the way back down to Pian del Ré.
As for the bivouac, we arrived late again because of the length of the stage. We were very alone and very quiet below the Quintino Sella refuge, on the shores of Lake Viso (Lago Grande di Viso). A bivouac could be envisaged a little earlier for self-catering campers at Lake Chiaretto, allowing the effort to be spread out a little more evenly between days 2 and 3.

Day 3: some fine mountaineering and a great torrent break. This is more of a "rest" stage, but a very pleasant one. There are a number of bivouac sites to the north of the Vallanta hut, near the lake. We were told of an alternative route branching off to the right just after the Lac du Viso, staying at a higher altitude and thus extending the alpine section, but this appears to be a more vertiginous route with more perilous passages.

Day 4: Also fairly short, and very fine, we returned to the Echalp car park at 2pm.

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We based our tour of the Viso on this route. Day 1 perfect from L'échalp to Granero. What's more, we had a car for the return trip to the bottom of the valley at the crumbling rock.
Day 2 needs to be revised, but still to go from Granero to Qintino Sella. After discussions with the guys at the Granero hut, we did the following
Refuge Granero -> Pas de Sellard or Col de Seillierino (very easy to follow) which is magnificent and above all avoids having to descend very far. On a good Italian map, you can see that there is a path that goes from the col down to the path that goes up to the tunnel.
Go through the tunnel
Don't go as far as Piano Del Re as indicated, as this will take you very far down the mountain. You can stay at the top of the mountain by passing the Giacoletti refuge. At the end of the tunnel, follow the signs for Piano Del Ré and descend. Take the VA-D46 to the right, then the V21 and V19. The V21 is marked with dotted lines and is steep, with a few fixed ropes and chains, but no gaps. You arrive at the Refuge Giacoletti, which is magical.
From Giacoletti take the V14 and much further down, when you see Lake Chiaretto cut off to join my V13 then continue towards Sella. It's much shorter that way in terms of distance.
For days 3 and 4 we did as indicated and it's great.

If you have 5 days, cut stage 2 into two parts:
Granero -> Giacoletti
Giacoletti->Sella

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Beautiful trek with varied landscapes, Italian refuges where life is good, visible fauna.... so I'm taking a group of 10 people in 2023. Note that it's possible to do 4 days/3 nights: VISO hut + Quitino Sella hut + Vallenta hut from Echalp. The advantage is that you can go through the Traversette tunnel, which also makes the 2nd day less difficult. I'd recommend it.

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Very nice 4-day hike. Favourable weather. Magnificent high mountain scenery. From the traversette tunnel we climbed to the Giacoletti hut via a beautiful couloir. Of course, the ibex were not shy. An excellent experience. I would recommend

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The stage from the Granero hut to the Quintino Sella hut is long (9 hours) and has a significant altitude difference (+1700m). For this reason, it is rated as very difficult. There are no particularly tricky sections.

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Hello
regarding the 4D tour of the viso, you mention some tricky sections. what type of sections are these?
thank you

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Hello, what kind of difficulties are there on this trek? climbing? and where are they?
thank you

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Super trek around Viso, Day 2 is a bit harder than the other days but all the scenery is worth it. There were 3 of us and we bivouacked around the refuges near the lakes. The itinerary is clear and well signposted, even if there are possible variations! Well worth doing!

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Hello,
A real pleasure, there were three of us and we had great weather. From 05 to 09 July 2017.
To complete the 4 stages you need to have a good level of fitness and a bit of experience, it's high mountain. Bad weather can cause problems. Beautiful landscapes, animals and tricky sections. We were well looked after in very good quality refuges. When we passed the Mont Viso refuge, we decided to stay an extra night and, for the pleasure of it, return to the Col Sellière 'without a bag' and enjoy the view. I recommend this beautiful hike. All the technical data is reliable.
Beautiful memories and well balanced in this configuration.

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