The Tête du Rutor

The Tête du Rutor, also spelt Ruitor, rises to 3,486 metres above La Thuile. It belongs to the Graian Alps and lies in Italian territory, a short distance from the border with Savoie. Its summit overlooks a vast plateau of ice, the Rutor glacier, one of the largest in the region. On the other side of the border, the slopes run down towards the Tarentaise and Sainte-Foy. The name is thought to come from two patois words: roése, the glacier, and tor, the peak.

A Rutor glacier that frightened the villagers

The Rutor glacier long worried the people of the valley. For centuries, as it advanced, it blocked a side valley and held back a lake. Several times the ice gave way all at once. The water from the lake then emptied into the valley, sweeping away bridges, mills and fields as far as La Thuile and much further down, towards Pré-Saint-Didier and Morgex. The archives record these outburst floods, mainly between the 16th and 19th centuries. Today the glacier has retreated a long way and leaves several small lakes behind it.

The Rutor waterfalls, above La Thuile

The torrent that flows out of the glacier drops towards La Thuile in three large waterfalls. A path starts from the hamlet of La Joux and follows them one after the other, through the forest. It is one of the best-known walks in the upper valley. In early summer, when the snow melts, the volume of water is impressive.

The Deffeyes hut, at about 2,500 metres

Above the waterfalls, the path continues towards the lakes plateau and the Albert Deffeyes hut, at around 2,500 metres, on the shore of the lower Rutor lake. It takes about three hours from La Joux. The hut looks straight across at the glacier. It is a good walking destination in itself, and the base for the Tête du Rutor.

What the glacier leaves behind

As it retreats, the glacier uncovers polished rock, moraines and new lakes. Scientists follow these changes closely. For walkers, it is a chance to see a landscape that changes almost from one year to the next, between the hut and the ice front.

The summit, on skis or on foot: the glacier climb

From the hut, the climb to the summit crosses the glacier. In summer it is done roped up, with crampons and ice axe. There is no difficult section, but the crevasses mean you need to be able to find your way and know crevasse-rescue techniques.

In spring the Rutor becomes a great ski-touring classic. The glacier’s long, even slopes lend themselves well to climbing on skins and to the descent. From the summit the view opens onto Mont Blanc to the north and the mountains of the Tarentaise to the west.

Getting there

Albert Deffeyes hut (CAI Aosta)
Lower Rutor lake
11016 La Thuile (AO)
+39 0165 884238 · rifugiodeffeyes.it

The path starts from La Joux, above La Thuile, and passes the waterfalls: a fine walk, with no difficulty, up to the hut. For the glacier and the summit, it is easy but serious mountaineering: go with a mountain guide if you are not used to glaciers.

Main photo : Idéfix, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Maps: personal work by Marc Badjou.