Saint-Pierre mont fallère refuge

An Open-Air Museum

A unique refuge ,perfect combination of art, tradition and beautiful mountain scenery. Definitely among the most evocative and distinctive refuges in the valley. The Fallère refuge, recently built at the foot of the western slope of Mont Fallère (m 3061), is not only located in a scenic spot from which many hikes can be undertaken. But its peculiarity consists in being literally an ”open-air museum” . In fact, along the path from Vétan to the Refuge, small woodland creatures carved in wood, the owl, owls, hawk and jackrabbits, marmot, woodpecker, grouse, fox and eagle, to name a few, appear among the branches and behind the stones, while among the trees curious gnomes spy on the hiker. As you get closer to the hut, the sculptures get bigger, right down to the sculpture of the grandfather pointing his grandchildren in the direction to the hut, the pair of chamois and the ibex but also a mountain man hiding behind a rock. The sculptures in the Museo a Cielo Aperto, with the exception of the madonna inserted in a cave, are made in a more rustic way and using less valuable but certainly more suitable wood essences to withstand the outdoors. In short, this is not just a walk, but a real treasure hunt among wooden statues and mountain scents. The Mont Fallère hut is perhaps the highest art gallery and atelier in Europe.

The Path

The start of the trail to the refuge is at the side of the Notre Maison hotel in Vétan ( Signpost 13). A few steps from the yellow regional trail signs, you pass by the side of Siro Viérin’s first work of art, a wooden bas-relief with the name of the refuge pulled by a cow on wheels with an edelweiss in its mouth. Continue along the track that cuts through the forest until you reach the pastures below Alpe Chatelanaz. At the fork, go right, still following trail marker 13, across the pastures, first level then slightly uphill, until below Alpe Thoules. Here a trail ball indicates to continue flat, along a farm road that cuts horizontally through the valley of the Méod stream. The first part of the ascent is all within the shaded forest, which makes it pleasant to walk on the gently rising path. Turning around, one can see at the bottom the wide pastures upstream from the village of Vétan and at the top, on the other side of the valley, the unmistakable profile of the Grivola that accompanies hikers throughout the ascent. At the exit of the Méod stream valley, leave the path to Alpe Loé and turn left at the fork, following the signs for the Refuge Mont Fallère. Continue through the woods and pastures,and later from the dirt road appears first the Peak of Mont Fallère, then the Sogno Volando statue, then the roof of the hut.