Running the Gimillan peaks of the Aosta Valley, Italia in 5 days

As part of Michael's preparation to l'Echappee Belle ( read his awesome race report, here) and with Christophe inviting us to discover la Aosta Valley, we were off for 6 days to Gimillan, a small itallian village in the Aosta Valley near Cogne. There we covered more than 120 km with 10000m of ascent and enjoyed the best hot chocolate !
So if you are thinking of spending a week in the Valley, this is what you could do.

Day 1
We arrived around 1 pm, and our friend told us we could start already visiting the area, so we went to Coll de Laures on the Path number 8. All trails are very well marked, so it's a real bonus to not have to carry a map!

Gimillan 1800m- Coll de Laures 3035m, 22 km- 4 hours, 1400m of elevation gain
Difficulty: None, a bit of snow on the top of the Coll but nothing scary.

Day 2- Part 1
Because we wanted to go to Bivouac Gratton located on the other side of Cogne, we decided to do a small outing by going to Mont Creya in the morning, before going to Bivouac Gratton late afternoon. Gimillan 1800m- Mont Creya 3015m, 1250m of elevation gain. 3 hours

Day 2- Part 2
Gimillan to Bivouac Gratton (3195m) via Cretaz ( 1483m)- 3h30 Total Ascent: 1700m

Day 3
Bivouac Gratton- Gimillan- After a cold night in the Bivouac ( we were by ourselves) we went down when it was a bit warmer to Gimillan to have a hearty breakfast! We then went to

Gimillan 1800m- Tsa- plana (3030m)- Trail 4b a kilometer vertical.
Video of the whole trail!

Day 4
Gimillan 1800- Mont Emilius (3557m)and back 6-8 hours
Difficulties: loads of rocks, slippery at the top, can feel too long but it's totally worth it!

Day 5
Gimillan 1800m- Col Tsa-Seche (2815m) via Arpisson Chalet, 2-3 hours with a picnic. ;)
Difficulty: none

Day 6- Another up to Mont Tsa-Pla to see the Virgin Maria ;) and then down for a last hot chocolate at Albergo Le Belvedere.

Auberge le Belvedere has the best homemade REAL hot chocolate, as well as breakfast and food! It is a nice place to stay and quite cheap and are a very nice family!

So there we are, one week to discover Aosta Valley peaks in 5 easy steps! Let me know if you want more information on maps and distances!
Thanks to #Christophelesaux for this adventure!
Thanks to Merrell for the Allout Rush!

Next stop: Preparing for Les Mascareignes!