The Palasinaz Lakes ( in Italian) are a group of lakes located in the Italian Alps, in the Aosta Valley region of northern Italy. They are of glacial origin and are situated in the southern foothills of the Monte Rosa group and are accessible from the villages of Brusson and Champoluc. The group is composed of the following lakes: the Lac Long, the Lago Pocia, the Lac du Couloir, the Lac Vert, and, the Lago della Battaglia.
Above them rises Corno Bussola ()—or Mont de Boussolaz—a mountain in the Pennine Alps.
Location
The Palasinaz Lakes are located in the Valle d'Ayas, in the North-western region of the Aosta Valley, in the province of Aosta. This is one of the mountainous regions of Italy along the border with France and Switzerland. The Val d'Ayas denomination is modern, mainly used following the birth of mountaineering. The territory of Ayas, at the top of the valley, then became a pole of attraction. The previous cartography uses the denomination "Val Challant" or "Val de Challant-Ayas".
Brusson
The municipality of Brusson is above sea level, is located in the middle of Val d'Ayas, between the town of Challand-Saint-Anselme and the city of Ayas in the Aosta Valley. The village is home to 852 inhabitants, who recognise both French and Italian as languages. Brusson is a tourist destination, characterized by a particularly mild climate; the landscape is full of springs and lakes and is the destination for walks in the summer. In winter, Brusson is a destination for many cross-country and Nordic skiing enthusiasts, offering over of slopes, that have been host to various international ski competitions.
Estoul
The village of Estoul can be reached from Brusson, where the downhill slopes cross the larch forests and go towards Punta Palasinaz. Estoul is part of the municipality of Brusson (from which it is located away), in the province of Aosta, in the Valle d'Aosta region. The locality of Estoul is located above sea level and is characterized by pastures and pine forests. Nine families live in the village of Estoul, which has a total of nineteen inhabitants. In this village there are 52 buildings, but only 41 are used of which 32 are for residential purposes, while 9 are intended for commercial or other use.
It is located in the upper part of the Messouère stream valley on the eastern side of the Val d'Ayas. From the village of Brusson, it is possible to reach the village by a steep but practicable asphalted road, which ends at an altitude of 1892m.
The five lakes
The Palasinaz Lakes area, located above Brusson, is a high altitude lake environment set in a natural environment of fertile alpine pastures. Its name derives from the term patois, which stands for steep pasture, as evidenced by medieval documentary sources.
This area consists of several lakes, all of which were formed through glacial excavation: Lac Long (, located below the Colle Bussola, Long lake); Lac Pocia (, Little Lake), which is at the base of the Palasinaz hill. The view from the Lac Pocia is wider than the view from the other lakes due to the higher altitude reached. The lake has an unrivaled amount of colors ranging from light gray to light blue, blue, green, brown with almost clear boundaries between one color and another; Lac du Couloir (, Corridor Lake), whose waters, together with those of Lac Vert (, Green Lake), flow into the great Lago della Battaglia (, Lake of Battle). This last lake is the largest of the group and is characterized by a trapezoidal shape and a large promontory that almost divides the entire lake in two. The Lac du Couloir () is located in a small glacial excavation basin. { "type": "FeatureCollection", "features": [ { "type": "Feature", "properties": { }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ 7.756716727162713, 45.789815221948885 ] } } ] }
Climate
The climate in the Palasinaz Lakes area is cold and temperate. Temperatures often fall below 0 °C during the second half of September, and start to rise back up again above 0 °C in the second half of May. During the warmest months (July and August) precipitation averages between , with about 15 to 16 days of rain per month, and during cold months precipitation averages around . Cold temperature also increases the possibility of significant snowfalls in the area and on the paths. Consequently, the lakes partially freeze (usually between October and April)
Geology
The Lakes are located along the Aosta-Ranzola Fault Line, which began to form a part of the Franco-Italian Alps between 40 and 49 Ma (million years) ago.