“Between strength and vertigo
on Fort Bard”
At Fort Bard the ice age meets with the virtual age.
Imposing, in the middle of the valley, the Fort stands out
as a natural continuation of the rock it rises up from.
An enormous stone structure, powerful,
whose surface bears the traces of ages past.
Inside is the museum and cultural centre, the Museum of the Alps
for lovers of the mountains, mountaineering and traditions.
The exterior is thousand year old rock,
which not even the glaciers defeated.
Only Napoleon managed to conquer this fortress,
portrayed in some of Stendhal’s sketches.
“On the cliff of Bard the Salassi gorge, the Roman fortified camp, the Burgundian city walls, the feudal and the modern fortresses follow and overlap one another, one destroying the remains of the other, or taking advantage of them, according to the ever changing laws and tactics of warfare”, Giuseppe Giacosa writes.
The medieval village of Bard stretches out along the foot of the rock fortress:
it is among the most evocative and best preserved villages in the entire Aosta Valley.
And the best view, to truly appreciate the power of the fortress?
At sunset, light comes from the valley
and lingers on the bastions glorifying their ascent.
Action Bard
Climbing around Bard: from the town of Donnas, you reach the hamlet of Albard di Bard. In the lower part, the routes Olimpic Spirit, T Rex, Dr. Jimmy and the ‘Via dita dal naso’ (this last meaning in Italian‘Don’t pick you nose!’) begin.
Climbing upwards you will reach the higher sections (including the ‘Lawrence’ section with 7 mono holds from grades 3c to 6a).
Other rock climbing musts are the famous Paretone (‘great climbing wall’) and the Corma di Machaby, close to the nearby hamlet of Arnad. On the Corma, exposed to the South-West, you can climb almost all year round. Many routes have several holds, have been recently created and are never too difficult (despite the fact that some of them include a good number 6b+ grade holds), and always offer a remarkable degree of variety (plates, holes, ledges, …). On the way back, you can stop off at the tavern “L’arcaden” for a fantastic post-climb snack.
From 2008, for climbing enthusiasts: the Fort Bard Boulder Contest.
An international meeting dedicated to artificial wall climbing; the walls were initially set up in the Parade Ground of the Fort, and in recent years have been moved to Gressoney-La-Trinité.
Bard is also the ideal start point for a number of hikes, in particular towards Mount Avic, the destination of many fascinating naturalistic hikes.