UKC

Hi All,

Heading to Lanslebourg-Mont-Cenis in the southern Vanoise next week. I've got the Vanoise ski touring guide which has lots of multi day tours, but very few specifics for day tours. Was wondering if anyone has any info/recommendations for day tours in the area. Will have our own wheels for tours from the trail head and a lift pass for Val Cenis for any lift fed tours. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks very much,
Paul

There are dozens of single-day tours in that area in the French-language guidebooks and websites.

How about a hint about what steepness, vertical gain/loss, directional aspect, and other characteristics (or technical difficulties to avoid) you're looking for?

In reply to PTatts:

Have you got this guide? It just does day tours.

http://www.editionsvamos.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypag...

In reply to DaveHK:

I'd looked at that guide, but thought it sounded like it was more for the northern vanoise, does it cover the lanslebourg area do you know?

In reply to kenr:

Generally nothing too hardcore in terms of steepness/narrowness, but good, big days out are the order of the day. Relatively fit party, but a couple of people don't have a huge amount of off piste experience/haven't skied much, so big days (upto 1000m height gain) of easy aspect is what we're aiming for I guess.
Directional aspect unimportant, we're staying just south of Termignon so anything from val cenis, bonneval, termignon areas would be good. The road up to la chaviere looks interesting also.

Do you have any links/specific recommendations?

Also, the Pointe de Ronce has perked my interest, does anyone know much about the normal route and the continuation ridge to the south east?

Thanks,
Paul

In reply to PTatts:


I can't check as I've leant mine to a buddy but I think you are right about the geographical spread.

I guess I have to take back what I said about "dozens" of tours aroung there . . .
There are only a few good tours in the northern French Alps which have an "easy aspect" and less than 1000 meters of vertical. Anything less than 1000 vertical meters is a small tour by French standards.
If you want a wider selection of suitable tours in close range of your base, better to switch your holiday to Austria.
If sticking with France, better make use of your own vehicle to drive longer distance to get access to the few suitable tours with safe conditions on your dates.

Keep in mind that overall long-term avalanche conditions in the French Alps will be dangerous for most of this season, because of weak underlying layers due to the bad early season.

My French-language guidebooks that cover that area are in France now, but here's some from memory.
* drive to Aussois and ride the lifts up to the top, ski down toward the obvious hut (? Refuge Dent Parrachee ?) which is guarded in winter, and there is at least one mellow tour from there. Or stay a night or two in the hut. Note that at the end of the day there is a free ride no-ticket-required up the lift from near the hut, which makes it much easier to get back to parking at the station. The hut can also be reached without lifts by skinning up from a different road west of the Aussois station.

* drive to Valfrejus and ride the lifts up to the top. There is a moderate tour S and SW toward the ? Argentiere ? (if my memory can be trusted). Also lots of non-moderate options. Or if start very early in the morning could skin up the Grand Randonnee south from the station and access moderate terrain S and SW from that. (Problem starting later than that is the GR is used as a busy downhill piste).

* drive to Orelle and can take the single-ride ticket up to Plan Bouchet with one mellow touring option to the NE which then gives access (? Col Pierre Lorry?) to the Chaviere glacier. And then those who (with crampons?) can handle a short steeper section could go to Col Gebroulaz. Then optionally to one of the peaks ESE from that Col -- and return the same way. Or pay for a full-price lift ticket and ride the lifts to Col Thorens, then access Chaviere glacier from there with much less work.
. (there's also a giant expanse of terrain SW + W + NW from Plan Bouchet toward Mt Brequin, but that typically requires some uphill to get back to Plan Bouchet at the end of the day) .

* ? (Pointe de Ronce by my memory is a serious Spring tour with steep slopes that require very stable conditions).

Ken

In reply to kenr:

Excellent, really appreciate the time you've taken. It's very hard to say how strong the party will be until we hit the slopes. >1000m may be an option, but I guess I'm just trying to get a feel for what's out there.

Seeing things like this:

http://www.alpine-guides.com/skiing/backcountry/haute-maurienne-powder%20sk...

with 6 different day tours in the general area has perked my interest, but obviously little information on the routes taken.

Do you know which guidebook covers the haute maurienne? I've struggled to find one, but my french is pretty poor.

In reply to DaveHK:

I have that book! Will check it out and confirm the area it covers tonight.

In reply to PTatts:

To me those options look mostly like not day-tours but lift-served off-piste -- which is surely there (like lots of places in France, but perhaps fewer crowds).
Bonneval-sur-Arc (that website needs to check its spelling) does have a large expanse of (obvious) lift-served off-piste (wind-exposed) above tree-line.
The Punta Bagna is one of the touring options accessed from the GR from Valfrejus (which I mentioned) - (? gets steeper w more avalanche hazard near the top ?)

. . (of course given the trickiness of conditions this year, the diversity of your group, and your limited time window, hiring a guide could be a good idea).


The "ski de randonnee: Savoie" guidebook from Editions Olizane surely does.
http://www.olizane.ch/article.php?IDrecord=103

Newer are the Volopress TopoNeige guidebooks. Looks like Lanslebourg is exactly on the boundary between the "Cerces + Tabor + Ambin" volume
http://www.volopress.net/volo/spip.php?article624
and the "Vanoise" volume.
http://www.volopress.net/volo/spip.php?article267

There's also an older French guidebook with lots of ideas, the title translates something "White Book of the Maurienne".
https://books.google.com/books/about/Le_Livre_blanc_de_la_Maurienne.html?id...

Anyway most of the good ski tours are on the web (in French).

Ken

In reply to kenr:

Thanks very much for your help, just need to learn french in 2 days to follow their descriptions!

In reply to PTatts:

Hi Paul
I was doing lift served off piste/touring with a group of Eagles based in Termignon (the village down from Val Cenis) 2 weeks ago. I know the Maurienne reasonably well. There are lots of short day tours (less than 1000m of up) on various aspects so you should be able to find something safe as long as conditions arent very bad. The 1:25,000 french maps mark ski tours, so if your french isnt good thats a useful option. Digital maps are easy to get in France now and cheap. The lift out of Orelle is often very busy, as there are so many other quieter places in the valley I would avoid that. As well as the places that have been mentioned Valloire (about 30 minutes drive down the valley) and Aussois (about 15 mins) have good day tours. Bonneval has lots of options. The Ouille du Midi is short day tour or the various huts would make good day trips if the conditions are stable. There has been lots of snow in the last 10 days (but its been windy as well). have a good time.

In reply to PTatts:

one buried in Bonneval yesterday:

Pisteurs Secouristes de Bonneval sur arc added 9 new photos.
12 hrs ·

Une avalanche de grande ampleur s'est produite aujourd'hui en fin d'après -midi sur le secteur des 3000 (zone hors pistes) .
Une personne ensevelie sous 120/150cm de neiges,retrouvée indemne par le service des pistes grâce au DVA .
Sauver une vie ça n'a pas de prix
❤

In reply to PTatts:
Just done a day ski outing in that area that can be thoroughly recommended, from the Aussois station just along the road.

Up to the Col de Labby (actually prob another close col at 3300m), then we skied back down the same way, in perfect snow.

Start from the Aussois station, take a pedestrian ticket to get up 2 lifts to , 2600m. Then traverse to the left of the station, looking up, take a gently rising left (same sense) traverse line to a valley beneath a ridge wall, close to the wall. Follow the valley in a rightward curving crescent, eventually up a steeper slope to the col. Almost certainly tracked, excellent descent, then a long flat rightward line (from your view in descent) from the lower refuge back to the station and pistes.

Nothing harder than S3 on the descent, never threatening, usual caveats about slope safety apply.

In reply to PTatts:

The route I describe is the one mentioned by Kenr above as the Dent du Parache (or v close by).

Nice that you got out there (on a sunny day I assume).

After descending from the Col to somewhere the Refuge Dent Parrachee hut, did you use the "free" mechanical lift ride to regain elevation up to the level of the pistes which then go south to the base of the Aussois station?
(at least in previous years they do not check for tickets on that lift).

. (My first time touring there I didn't know about that, so I put in an extra lap of skiing uphill in the midst of my descent).

Ken

P.S. Oddly the Dent Parrachee hut is nowhere near the normal ski route for the Dent Parrachee peak, a great and serious ski mountaineering outing.

In reply to kenr:

Your description of the route is a bit more informative than mine, if the OP is interested I can give him more details. No indications of free uplift, we paid for pietons passes at the start of the day (which was indeed sunny, the main sunny day in a week of "challenging" skiing weather).

The Dent Parrache itself looked a lot more serious than our ski to the col, maybe later in Spring or evev Summer.

The "free uplift" is only on the one lift near the West side of the top, useful only on your return (actually intended as "free" mainly for skiers returning from a night or two at the hut -- also worthwhile for a snack stop along the way to Col Labby or Col du Moine).
. . (old French saying with a pun for these two neighboring cols:
. . . "L'habit ne fait pas le moine").

So the pedestrian pass for getting uphill a good ways at the start of the day is worthwhile and unavoidable.

For those who enjoy downhill turns in corn snow on a warm sunny day, a full downhill-ski lift ticket for the multiple rides on all the lifts of the Aussois station can be a fun experience which Sharon and I have enjoyed in late March / early April (but this year might happen any time).

Ken

P.S. Yes the Dent Parrachee summit route has substantial avalanche danger, especially the exposed traverse just above the Col de la Loza (and of course also in the couloir below the SW side of the Col). Then the summit slope is sustained 40 degrees. So definitely want springtime conditions (and unless you're fast and after a very good refreeze, perhaps sleeping in the hut could be helpful for getting throught the danger spots early). But the seasonal window for the "convenient" approach is short, because the lifts at Aussois usually cease operation before mid-April.

In reply to kenr:




Warning for anyone skiing or climbing in the area now (in case they don't already know) - 30 cms of snow this morning, avalanche risk category 5. This for the Alpes Maritimes, but I imagine the Haute Maurienne is also at risk.