Adler’s Nest Hut (2,365 m), Trail 11

From Stafal to the Adler’s Nest Lodge (formerly the Lys Lodge)

Adler's Nest refuge

Adler’s Nest refuge

Trail 11 starts in Stafal and ends at the Adler’s Nest mountain hut (2,365 m; formerly known as “Rifugio del Lys”, a name still used as the destination and starting point for this and several other trails in the Aosta Valley Trail Register). It is 3338m long and the total positive elevation gain is 539m.
The approximate time for the climb is 1h40. The trail is rated of difficulty E.

Please note: until June 2026, this trail was numbered 7A.

The Adler’s Nest is the current name of the Lys refuge, built in 1906 by the CAI of Gallarate (here you can find more information, and some photos showing the refuge at the beginning of its history). It is located a stone’s throw from the Stafal-Gabiet cable car station, Lake Gabiet, and other mountain huts/restaurants in the area: Bar Ristoro Gabiet See, Rifugio Gabiet (overnight stays available), and Albergo Del Ponte (overnight stays available). If you want to go further, following TRAIL 6B in about an hour’s walk you will reach another hut with overnight accommodations, theOrestes Hutte (exclusively vegan cuisine).

L’Adler’s Nest è punto di partenza per i molti sentieri che raggiungono le varie mete di questo versante: tra le principali, l’Alta Luce ( SENTIERO 7C ), il Lago Blu e Punta Telcio ( SENTIERO 2 ) , il Rifugio Città di Mantova e la Capanna Gnifetti ( SENTIERO 6A ), il Passo Zube e il Rothore/Corno Rosso ( SENTIERO 4 ), il Col d’Olen e il Passo dei Salati ( SENTIERO 6 ).

Since the cable car station is so close, few people choose to take Trail 11, which starts in Stafal and winds its way up the Moos Valley, running very close to the cable car route.

I, too, have never walked this trail uphill, except once in February 2021, during the lockdown for Covid: in fact, since it was completely snow-covered, I did not follow the entire trail but for the final two-thirds I simply walked up the Moos ski slope.

Instead, I have ridden it downhill several times, which allows me to give a couple of broad indications here. Undoubtedly I noticed that it is a trail without the slightest technical difficulty, for the first two-thirds very gentle and then rather steep in the last third, very well marked at least in the second half (from the point where you leave the Moos trail onwards). I never walked the initial section, because I always stayed without ever leaving it on the Moos track dirt road that runs practically parallel to it.

More information on level of difficulty, ascent times, maps and GPX tracks

Photo Gallery

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1. Start and finish

Trail 11 starts in Stafal, at an elevation of 1,840 meters.
See on Google Maps.

Latitudine e longitudine (WGS84 - EPSG 4326): 45.8568699995, 7.81362081222

The arrival location is Adler’s Nest/Lys Refuge. The altitude is 2365m.
See on Google Maps.

Latitudine e longitudine (WGS84 - EPSG 4326): 45.8572184107, 7.84677011066

2. The route

Trail 11 starts in Stafal (along with Trail 2 and the TMR Trail), just before the grocery store; see the photo from Google Street View:

The departure of 11/2 from Stafal

The departure of 11/2 from Stafal

After a few dozen meters you enter the ski slope, which appears as a rather flat dirt road that meanders up and follows the course of the Moosbach stream. At the end of the flat section of the road, when the track turns right past the creek to go up into the forest, leave it and take the path that starts on the left (be careful, it is not immediately obvious). One enters the trees, crosses over a new bridge over the stream, ascends again and crosses a second small bridge: up to this point the slope has always been rather gentle, but from here a rather steep ascent begins, with narrow hairpin bends, thanks to which a step of about 200 meters in height difference is overcome. You soon come to a shelf that looks like a balcony over the Moos valley, with a fascinating wooden sculpture: the view is unfortunately disturbed by the plant a few meters away.

Wooden sculpture at the end/beginning of trail 11 next to the gondola lift

Wooden sculpture at the end/beginning of Trail 11 next to the cable car

It is now very close to the arrival of the gondola, above which the Adler’s Nest is perched: many more sculptures and artifacts from the past can be seen there (look out for the collection of old skis hanging from the ceiling inside the lodge). On the roof above the entrance to the hut sits a tiny cabin from the old cable car: one cannot help but shudder to think of the times when even two people used to squeeze into that little pod-surely rocking at the slightest breath of wind…

The

The “ovetto” of the old gondola

3. Map and GPX track

This is the official map of the trail as recorded in the SCT Trail Registry of the Aosta Valley.
You can download the GPX track of the trail if you want to use it later in your favorite app.

Download the trail in GPX format