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Updated 18 August 2026.
These photos were taken yesterday, 17 August, at 2000 metres of altitude deep in the Valpelline, on Lake Place Moulin. This is where the Alpine Paradise Race was due to be held on 19 and 20 September, the fourth stage of the Alpine Lakes Tour 2026.
What the people who live by the lake are telling us
We wrote to the Prarayer refuge, which overlooks the start line and knows this lake better than anyone. Patrizio replied the following morning, with photos:
The situation is critical, there is less water than last year, and in September the level is usually even lower.
Patrizio, Prarayer refuge
The images speak for themselves: banks exposed over tens of metres, steep and unstable; a body of water reduced to a milky turquoise ribbon at the bottom of the basin; and upstream, no lake at all — only the braided bed of the glacial torrent coming down from the Tsa de Tsan.
Less water than in 2025. And in 2025, we already had to cancel.
In September 2025, CVA — the Compagnia Valdostana delle Acque, which operates the dam — informed us that the reservoir stood 5 to 6 metres below the expected level. Launching the safety boats at the foot of the dam became impossible, and the banks of the start area were no longer stable. We cancelled the race eight days before the event.
In 2022, the same thing: “The level of Lake Place Moulin is extremely low and the company operating the dam has warned us that conditions do not allow the Alpine Paradise to be held.”
Three times in five years. This is no longer a seasonal accident, it is a trend.
Where we stand
We have contacted CVA for their readings and their operating forecasts for 19-20 September. We have also asked them what they consider to be the best window in the year for paddling on Place Moulin — because if this site is to stay on the Alpine Lakes Tour calendar, it will be on a date that fits the dam’s filling cycle, not our habits.
The decision will come within days and will be announced here first.
One thing is settled: we will not paddle up there in poor conditions. Not for the safety of the participants, not for the quality of the race, and not out of respect for a place that remains, by far, the most beautiful on our circuit.
Thirteen years of watching lakes
Since the very first race in Sévrier in June 2013, the Alpine Lakes Tour has laid its buoys on 16 lakes, across 3 countries, over more than 84 events. We have known frozen lakes, wild lakes, lakes as smooth as glass. We are starting to know lakes that are missing.
No grand speech. Just what we observe, season after season, paddle in hand.
Thanks to Patrizio and the Prarayer refuge for their quick reply, and to Remo Bionaz for the photographs.