Numero di Emergenza
Training in the same location over and over gets tiring, so join me for a week on the other side of the Mont Blanc in the Valle d’Aosta region of Italy. Bionaz was the spot.
It’s only two big hours away from home yet I’ve never been. Most other training locations around France like Bessans, Corrençons or even Prémanon are further away from where I was last week. But because it’s the other side of the Tunnel du Mont Blanc you automatically think it’s a longer drive (it does however cost more because of the tunnel). So finally after having heard great things from the Italians, a couple of teammates of mine and I set off for the alpine town of Bionaz. A short 1h wait at the tunnel on the French side, down to the lovely Italian town of Aosta and then a big left up a very steep hill to Bionaz.
The roller ski track is green and short
It’s one of the first things you notice when you turn up to Bionaz. All around the world roller ski tracks are made out of the same tarmac you find on cycle paths, it was no different in Bionaz however it was green and there was a reason for this. Roller ski stadiums can take up quite a large portion of land and look very out of place in some areas. So to combat this, when they built the track, they then went on and painted it green to blend in with the surrounding grass. This also helps reflect the sun a little bit and keeps the tarmac from melting in the summer heat.
It works surprisingly well, because even though from this satellite image it stands out quite a bit, from the road above all you can see is grassland and fields. Apart from that the track is great for a week’s training camp. I say that because I wouldn’t like to train here all here. 1,7km or approximately 6 minutes to do a full loop is very short and it means you go around a lot (about 75 times during the week). I can get a little repetitive. But apart from that the track is great, a very fast and technical downhill with some nice bends and a good uphill section in the middle of it.
The shooting range and the gym were great as well. Fully automatic electronic targets so no need to fath around setting the targets back to zero after every shot and the gym which was very presently renovated was super. All the right equipment we needed and aircon, always appreciated when the sun is beaming straight through the windows. Their’s also plans to expand the roller ski track to 2,5km which would make this a prime training destination in the years to come.
What did we get up to:
Let’s try some mountain biking
Théo and I had decided to bring our cross-country mountain bikes with us to Bionaz. We knew Bionaz was at the end of a long valley so road biking wasn’t going to be very interesting and we both liked mountain biking a lot so decided it would be a good idea. We hadn’t really planned any routes or even looked up how good riding was where we were staying. The locals weren’t big into riding so I was on my own with Komoot planning our trips the night before.
Our first ride on paper was going to take us up the Col de Vessonaz a 2800m mountain pass. It had been ridden before by some people going down where we were planning to head up so we decided it should be doable. This quickly turned out not to be true. Straight from the get-go, the single track we were riding up was incredibly steep and technical, but we pushed on, quite literally pushing the bikes up the path until we got to a magnificent plateau with some incredible views of the Col up ahead. We ran out of time very quickly and it was getting dark so we turned round and headed down where we came up. The downhill was really fun and steep, you definitely needed a decent level on the bike to get down the singletrack. My brake pads still remember that downhill.
For our next ride, we wanted to head up the water barrage that powers the whole Aosta Valley. We’d been tipped off by some locals about a small single track that headed up the river. It was marked on the Strava heatmap and on Komoot so we deemed it good to go. And guess what, it wasn’t. The path was there, that was not the problem. But it turned out the path had been closed for a couple of decades now and the vegetation had completely outgrown everything. It made progress on bikes extremely difficult. So we made the wise decision of crossing the river and climbing up to the road with our bikes on our backs. Not the best of afternoons out but once we’d made it to the barrage the views were incredible and we did not regret going up. We went back down on the road after that.
So maybe running is a better idea?
Yes most definitely, running in Bionaz was hard but wonderful with some of the most incredible views all around us. Bionaz is at the bottom of a valley, but don’t be mistaken this doesn’t mean the village is low in altitude. We were staying at 1650m of altitude, which means, that whenever you go running you automatically have to climb up the walls of the valley and they are steep. Very steep. We managed two very nice runs, one up to 3000m of altitude and the other along the barrage we cycled up to previously.
Our climb up to 3000m was to a place called the Col du Mont Gelé, culminating at 3144m. It’s the highest point I’ve ever climbed up to using my own power (not taking the lift up to the Aiguille du Midi for example), and boy was it hard. We started straight from our accommodation and started climbing right away. The path follows a trail that is used for a vertical kilometre race in the spring so it was very steep. You then get up to the Rifugio Crête Sèche at 2400m. It flattens out a lot after that until you then start the final ascent. This next bit was extremely technical and proper mountain shoes and gear is highly recommended. We pushed on and finally made it up the col. A beautiful mountain pass with a great view of the Matterhorn and the surrounding mountains. We wanted to climb higher to the top of the Mont Gelé but we did not have the adequate gear and made the wise decision to turn round. A good 4 1/2h trip, you can find more details by clicking here.
The next run is a much easier one along the left side of the Lago di Place Moulin, the high-altitude barrage I talked about previously. You can drive all the way up and park right by the start of the track. Be careful though as it can get really busy during August. You are then able to run all along the side of the lake to a refuge on the other end. This refuge marks the end of the easy trails and the start of the high mountain zone. You can continue on after but it gets very hilly really quickly. But if you are brave enough and have the right gear you can climb all the way up the Matterhorn from the lake. That wasn’t on our agenda and we swiftly turned round and back to the car.
And apart from sport?
Yeah don’t worry, we didn’t spend all our time training. We were invited over by some of the local athletes who live and train in Bionaz all year round so they were keen to show us some of their local bars and cool sports to hang out.
One of them was the Lago di Lexert, a small lake right in the centre of the village. It was a great place to hand out after a long day of training and get the stand up paddle out for a trip around the the lake. Very cold and the sun disappears reasonably fast but if you head there over lunchtime or during the early afternoon you’ll be sure to have a great time. Over the summer period, there are some slack lines swung across the lake for people to have a go at. Not for everyone though as they were very high up.
And finally, we got to try out two of the local pizzerias. I won’t tell you which one was best you’ll have to try that for yourself. But if you ever visit Bionaz you need to head down to Des Amis and try out some of their incredible pizzas and then you need to have a go down by the Camping Lac Lexert for some pizzas or some of the famous gnocchi.
That’s it for my week in Italy. My friends and I had an incredible time and we’d like to thank Julien Petit-Jacques and his family for hosting us during the week and all the wonderful locals for showing us around their beautiful village. There is so much more to discover than what I’ve just spoken about and I highly recommend you go and visit. You can find all my pictures from the trip on my Instagram, and my training sessions from that week are visible on my Strava. I’m off to Belgium now for my first biathlon race of the year during the Belgium Championships.