The inn from the valley

The inn was built against the cliff in 1908, which seemed to the village a strange place to put it, until the avalanche winter of 1911 took the barn on the other side of the lane and left the inn untouched. Nobody has thought it a strange place since.

The cliff

It takes the wind, which comes down the valley from the north and would otherwise take the roof. It takes the snow, which slides off the face above and stops in the gully behind the inn rather than on it. And it holds the day's warmth into the evening, which is why the terrace is usable in October.

The building

Larch, on a stone base, with a roof that was slate until 1970 and is larch shingle again now. Eleven rooms, a kitchen, a lounge with the stove, and the terrace. It has been extended once, in 1954, and the join is visible if you know where to look, which is the third window from the left.

The valley side

Faces south-east, so the sun is on it from first light until mid-afternoon. Every room but two faces the valley. The two that do not face the peak, and they are the two people ask for.

Getting here

The questions below are the ones we answer most, and the answers have not changed.