Exploring Val Pellice means continuing to discover it : a new trail, a variant, a village, a story or simply the same place observed in a different season.
Val Pellice Outdoor was born from a passion for these mountains and a desire to collect, study, and share everything that can help us understand them better.
Walking through its woods, climbing to the mountain pastures, following a stream towards its source, reaching a hill or stopping in a village allows you to observe the valley from a different perspective: slower, more attentive, and perhaps even more profound.
The Pellice Valley is a relatively small valley, but it encompasses a variety of environments: from the woods and villages at the bottom to the large Alpine valleys, from mountain pastures to refuges, and even the ridges and passes that have connected these mountains to neighboring valleys and France for centuries.
All this is intertwined with Waldensian history, partisan history, Occitan culture, mountain agriculture, and a community that continues to live in this area.
Val Pellice Outdoor aims to tell the story of this heritage and make it accessible through its trails.
A PROJECT BORN FROM THE MOUNTAIN
My name is Giorgio Basile , born in 1984, and I've been visiting Val Pellice since I was a child. For many years, it was a place I returned to whenever possible; since 2020, it's also become my home.
Meanwhile, the mountains have taken me much further: to the Alps, the Himalayas, Patagonia, and many other regions of the world. I've walked, climbed, mountaineered, ski-mountaineered, and mountain biked, gradually transforming my passion for travel and the outdoors into my work.
I have been working in tourism and travel organization since 2005 ; in 2013, together with some friends and colleagues, I founded the outdoor tour operator Verticalife and in 2018 I became an Environmental Hiking Guide for the Piedmont Region.
Different experiences, but united by the same element: studying a territory to understand how to travel through it and how to tell others about it.
Val Pellice Outdoor was born in 2020 from the encounter between these experiences and the area I've known for a long time.
BEHIND A PATH THERE'S MUCH MORE THAN A TRACK
Describing a hike doesn't simply mean drawing a line on a map, but it means understanding where the trail actually passes, recognizing forks in the road, evaluating the terrain and elevation changes, checking possible alternatives and knowing which conditions can make a stretch more challenging.
For this reason, when preparing the Val Pellice Outdoor pages, I try to combine direct experience, site inspections, cartography, GPS tracks, local sources, and discussions with those who live and frequent the mountains.
The information is then organised with the focus primarily on who will be using it: not only to understand where to go , but also to evaluate whether that route is suited to their abilities, when to tackle it and which aspects to pay attention to.
Difficulty ratings such as "easy," "medium," or "challenging" can be highly subjective. Therefore, whenever possible, I prefer to provide specific information: length, elevation gain, terrain type, orientation, exposed sections, presence of snow, stream crossings, or other significant features.
Because the goal is not to convince everyone to go everywhere, but to provide enough information so that everyone can make an informed choice about their mountain.
→ Explore the trails of Val Pellice
A TERRITORY TO EXPLORE WITH CURIOSITY
There are places in the Pellice Valley known to many, such as the Conca del Prà , the Jervis Refuge , and the Monviso massif . Then there's a much larger network of side valleys, mountain pastures, hamlets, hills, and old trails where you can walk for hours without encountering many people.
Val Pellice Outdoor aims to showcase the valley's iconic hikes, as well as those side trips that offer a deeper understanding of its geography, history, and character.
Trekking, mountain biking, snowshoeing, ski mountaineering, climbing, ice climbing, and mountaineering thus become different ways of exploring the same territory . Not a collection of activities to be consumed, but different ways of connecting with the mountains.
The destination is not always the most important part of the journey.
THE MOUNTAIN ALSO REQUIRES HUMILITY
The more time you spend in the mountains, the more it becomes clear that not everything can be planned. The weather changes, a stream can be swollen more than expected, snow can linger longer, a trail can deteriorate, and sometimes our legs simply don't respond as we expected. This, too, is part of the experience.
Sometimes choosing to change route, turn back, or stop early simply means having listened to the mountain and to yourself. The mountains, after all, are still there , and perhaps that's also why we keep returning to them.
INFORMATION FOR DEPARTURE, CURIOSITIES FOR UNDERSTANDING
The goal of Val Pellice Outdoor is to build over time an independent and in-depth source of information on Val Pellice , useful both to those who live here and to those arriving for the first time.
In the Routes section , you'll find itineraries and practical information for organizing your own outdoor activities.
The Info and Curiosities section provides in-depth information on the area: access points, shelters, environment, history, local culture, and anything else that can help better understand the places you pass through.
For those who prefer to be accompanied or wish to organize a multi-day stay, excursions, treks, and outdoor packages are also available , created in collaboration with guides, accommodation facilities, and other local operators.
→ Discover Tours and Stays in Val Pellice
Exploring the mountains also means learning to observe and listen to them: walking with curiosity, making room for the landscapes, sounds, encounters, and sensations that the journey brings.
But fully experiencing these places also means approaching them with awareness , knowing the itinerary, knowing how to evaluate difficulty and conditions, choosing the right equipment and knowing how to recognise one's own limits allows one to move with greater safety and freedom.
Val Pellice Outdoor invites you to explore the mountains with all your senses, but also with the right preparation, so you can truly enjoy them and return home with something more than just a destination achieved.
I hope this site helps you learn more about Val Pellice, plan your experience in the valley, and choose the routes best suited to your mountain lifestyle.
