Ayas Walk along the Ru Courtod

The Ru Courtod is one of the symbols of Val d’Ayas, certainly known to locals but not very popular among tourists who come to the Aosta Valley for mountain hiking.
The scenic route along the Ru Courtod is semi-flat and runs along the western ridge of Ayas for almost 25 kilometers, with a calculated elevation gain in 2016 of about 460 meters both uphill and downhill.
How did the Ru Courtod come about?
The Ru Courtod was born in the early 1400s from the need of the inhabitants of theAyas valley settled between Saint-Vincent and Emarèse to build an irrigation canal to have water available for a 25-kilometer-long stretch.
Until then, the most convenient glacier to draw water for drinking was the Ventina glacier in the Monte Rosa Massif, which was much further away than the canal that exists today.
The Ru Courtod thus turns out to be an extraordinary work of medieval engineering, built without any technological support and sometimes even at rather hostile terrain.
How to get to the Ru Courtod The Ru Courtod is easily traversed thanks to the precise upgrading of the signage, which has been improved with the addition of the Le Ru Retrouvé project’s signposts.
The authentic starting point of the Ru is the water intake, from which a dirt road leads to two markers and then to trail number 5.
Continuing along the trail, one arrives at a wide panoramic opening to the deep Nana Valley.
Along the way there begin to be the first tunnels, interdicted to transit.
The route continues for a long time, before arriving at a funnel overhanging the Praz-Charbon forest, and then reaching the section of the Ru that is less scenic, because it is characterized by the presence of no less than 14 tunnels.