Bessanese's Tour

Itinerary

The Bessanese tour is a circular track on high mountain habitat (2200-3200 m) with a total development of about 32 km divided into three parts.
The stopping place are inside preserved refuge on summer and there are winter room always open. The most of the way is on the path or on marked trace of path, there are not climbing problem but on account of the strict environment, especially with not optimal climatic conditions (fog or snow), is marked EE (italian shortening of expert hiker). Then this way requires training and equipping fairly. It is possible to leave from anyone of the three refuge (Ref. d'Averole, Ref. Gastalgi, Ref. Cibrario).
Though it is possible to make tour to both direction, is better clockwise.
The optimal period for the tour is from end of June to beginning of September.
The way is in the southern of "Alpi Graie", at the border between Italy and France, around the "Bessanese" (3604 m) and "Croce Rossa" (3566 m) mountains.
The starting refuge there are reached from the French side (Ref. d'Averole) from the municipality of Bessans/Averole (Haute Maurienne),  from Italian side from the municipality of Balme/Pian della Mussa for the Ref. Gastaldi and from the municipality of Usseglio for the Ref. Cibrario; the two last are both placed in the Lanzo Valley, about 50 Km from Turin.