Abandoned Villages and Tourist Villages

03/03/2026

We scooted back down the valley to Châtillon for a quick break, leaving Cervinia on the Friday afternoon to avoid the expected weekend hordes. Of course we don’t know if they arrived because we weren’t there to see. What we did see in Châtillon over the weekend was a steady conveyor belt of Italian vans turning up to use the service point.

Châtillon rest day

We had a good lazy day in Châtillon, doing not very much apart from a bit of pottering around. I treated Paul to a haircut and beard trim as he was starting to look a little wild and we popped to the supermarket for a top up of groceries. Laundry was dealt with, and for tea we finally had the pancakes we’d missed on pancake day. In the late afternoon two cars turned up with a man and woman who were very obviously having some kind of tryst in the sosta. They must have been very put out to find us there, but it didn’t seem to stop them disappearing into one of the vehicles for some time. Fortunately, for us and for them, they had blacked out windows.

One lazy day is enough for me. The following morning Paul cleaned the van and tidied the garage, a job that is regularly necessary to restore order after we’ve flung stuff into any available space. While he was pottering I went for a trail run, following some more aqueducts as I ventured over to the medieval Castle of Cly, once owned by the Counts of Savoy. The paths criss-cross the hillside above the autostrada, passing houses and villages, smallholdings and vineyards. Abandoned buildings, villages and hamlets with empty windows and missing doors, were reminders that many people have abandoned the subsistence farming lifestyle that used to be prevalent in this valley. The background presence of the autostrada probably doesn’t make it a popular location for renovations.

Torgnon sosta

We made our way up to Torgnon on the Sunday evening, giving the weekend visitors plenty of time to disperse. Last time we’d been here it was the weekend and pretty busy.

I was impressed with Paul driving up the switchbacks in the dark, especially as I’m not keen on night driving. As he pointed out, we encountered about four other vehicles so navigating the mountain switchbacks was much easier than it would have been earlier in the day against a constant stream of departing vehicles.

The drive up to Torgnon goes steeply up the side of the Valtournenche through farming villages that have found a second life as tourist destinations. There may be some dilapidated buildings up here but not wholescale abandonment. The final village before the ski resort is Mongnod, where most tourists stay. Beyond Mongnod the road climbs to some parking and recreational areas which includes the sosta.

We were the lone motorhome when we arrived. A few cars, whose occupants were dining at a restaurant on the slopes, occupied one corner of the car park. The restaurant has a skidoo with a trailer which runs regularly in the evening taking people back and forth for dinner. The following morning an early delivery van left boxes of supplies at the edge of the car park for the restaurant to pick up in it’s own time. We wondered what we would end up with if we picked up one of the boxes; a lifetimes supply of paper napkins maybe?

The parking in Torgnon, we had recently found out, is used for a major equestrian event in the summer. For about two months from mid June to mid August the sosta is unavailable. Horse transports arrive and horses are prepared for competition. That explains the consistency of the surface of the car park which must be made up of bedding and horse manure in the gaps between the grasscrete. Above the area we stayed in we found another car park with fresh laid tarmac where services appeared to be in the process of being connected. We wondered if the sosta was being moved up here. If we’d noticed it sooner we might have parked up there anyway. We’d have carried less detritus in and out of the van on our shoes.

A couple of ski days

The following morning we awoke to dense fog. The piste, directly in front of our van, was indistinguishable from the sky. We decided to abandon our plans to ski that morning and chilled out in the van watching the snow gently fall and the clouds occasionally lift and expose the mountains. By lunch time the mountain peaks were clear more than they were shrouded in mist. The snow had stopped falling, leaving a couple of cms of new snow on top of the pistes. The temperatures had stayed low-ish due to the cloud. We decided that we would buy an afternoon ski pass, the conditions were lovely and we enjoyed the remainder of the afternoon swishing around the slopes.

The following morning we opted for an all day pass and hoped for a repeat of the lovely conditions. It started well, but the sun was blasting the slopes with it’s rays and the runs soon turned slushy. We gave up at lunch time, kicking ourselves for paying for a whole day pass.

Motorhome Ski Torgnon – the practical stuff:

Here is the practical stuff, an update from our previous visits

Parking

We park and stay overnight in the Torgon motorhome sosta which is right next to the pistes. There is water and waste disposal and a number of EHU bollards around the edge of the car park. The parking is mixed but only motorhomes have to pay, spaces are not marked out so at busy times you might be squeezed between cars.

The parking is not in the main village (Mongnod) and it’s tricky to get from the parking down to the village except by downloading on the gondola. At night it is very quiet.

The parking is paid by EasyPark app or at the ticket machine.

Getting to the Slopes

The parking is right next to the slopes. The nearest chairlift is Col Fenêtre which is a short distance away.

Ski passes

Ski passes can be ordered online or there is a self service kiosk by the hut at the entrance to the car park.

Skiing Torgnon

Torgnon is small, but it has a good range of slopes although the blacks are not very black. There is a great children’s play area, good beginners slopes, a snow park with jumps and rails and a slalom which is open to all (although the timer wasn’t working).

The ski area is mostly south facing so it is prone to slushiness in the afternoon, but it is below the treeline so that helps shade it a little. When conditions are blazing hot the best runs are off the Collet chairlift that goes to the highest part of the resort.

There is one run that goes down to Mongnod village. It gets no shade so can get pretty slushy. A gondola brings people back up to the main ski area. We recommend going down to Mongnod while the gondola is running for a look around the village and any shopping.