The Belledonne range

Text and pictures © 2007-2008 Guillaume Dargaud
Last updated on 2008/07/10

"Belladonna /n/ in Italian, beautiful lady; in English, a deadly poison. A striking example of the essential similarity of the two languages."    — Ambrose Bierce.

Backcountry skiing in Belledonne

The Belledonne range is a minor mountain range which dominates the view eat of Grenoble. Although its main summit, the Grand Pic, is not very high at 2977m, the local weather ensures that the range receives a healthy amount of snow most winters. The wart visible on top of the summit closest from Grenoble is part of the downhill ski resort of Chamrousse which is located barely outside the outskirt of the city. For this reason every winter weekend, hordes of city people head for some skiing and lots of queuing, later coming back grumbling about never going back there again... until the following weekend. I must say that with only half and hour of driving it's a strong incentive to stay in bed late before heading for you white powder fix.

Left: The accesses to the peaks of Belledonne always involve some forest crossing. But the problem is not usually with the pine trees but more with what is normally called 'vern', low laying bushes, completely covered by snow or avalanches in good years and blocking the descents on warm years.

Left:

Right: Jenny in the powder snow towards Orionde.

Does the name of Belledonne has to do with pretty women and the proximity of Italy ? No idea. What it does provide is a wide variety of peaks for backcountry skiing. Out of the 16 peaks higher than 2500m, only a few have resorts on them. It may seem like the perfect wilderness, but there are relatively few access points to the range. On our first trip we were really surprised to find the road above Prabert covered with deep snow, very narrow, but nonetheless open for traffic and filled for kms with unstably parked cars after having raced to get as high as possible before getting stuck in the snow.

Left: Evening outing after work.

The Grand Pic has been skied (twice ?) but its rocky nature keeps it for summer hikes. On the other hand, its barely lower twin peak 'La Croix de Belledonne' is a classic winter tour. There are some glaciers in the range, but most are nothing more than permanent snowfields and you'll be hard pressed to find crevasses anywhere except maybe on the Freydane glacier. No road crosses the range, keeping it pretty remote and wild although it's on the outskirt of a city of 150000 people. In recent years a few wolves seem to have returned to the area, at least temporarily.

Right: Reaching the Mollard hut on an evening ski outing up the Sabottes (the minor summit on the left).

Left: The Grand Van, unlike its name indicates is a minor summit easily reached from the slopes of the ski resort of Chamrousse. Summit is reached in less than an hour.

Right: Agostino warming up from the storm thanks to a bottle of wine. That's poor thinking as the others were better prepared: they'd packed up mulled wine in thermos bottles.

Right: Skiiers at the Breche de Roche Fendue, just below the summit of the Ferrouillet.

Above: Below the summit of Orionde.

Above: The Chartreuse visible in the background of this panorama of the summit of Orionde.

Above: Panoramic view of Belledonne from the Mt St Mury.

Above: The Belledonne range as seen from the Chartreuse.

Above: 360° panorama from the summit of the Ferrouillet (2587m).

Above: Panorama of Belledonne performed from the summit of Pt 2232. The flat summit on the right is the Dome of Chamrousse.

Above: The Grand Sorbier as seen from the summit of the Grand Van.

Right: A view on the Grand Galbert, part of the Taillefer range. The obvious couloir slanting left of the summit is one of the most sought-after extreme skiing in the area: 1700m above 50°, including a 15m section at 70° which has never been skied. Because of its low altitude, conditions are rarely met for a good and safe descent.

Right: The north part of Belledonne as seen from Belle Etoile. The valley on the left leads to Chambery.

Right: The Crozet lake on the way towards the Grand Pic de Belledonne.

Above: The frozen Domenon lakes, a short distance from the summit of Belledonne (behind center). The summit of Domene is on the left. This way up Belledonne is not the most interesting. It's mostly flat, long and with tedious traverses.

Above: The cross on the summit of the secondary summit of the highest peak of Belledonne, dubbed 'La croix de Belledonne'. Behind the cross is the Grand Pic, barely 50m higher.

Left: Complete view of the Belledonne range from the Vercors, to the west. On the lower right is the Dome of Chamrousse, marking the southern end of the range. The Etendard peak, part of the farther Grandes Rousses range, is in the background.

Left: The Grand Pic de Belledonne, highest summit of the range, as seen from Balmette. Balmette pass is between the 2 peaks and is a classic ski tour.

Right: Balmette pass. On the way down my skis start feeling sluggish and when I get to the card I understand why: the sandwich structure is separating: they are completely bent with no elasticy left. After 12 years, RIP my Dynastar Vertical 4x4, it's time for a change.

Rocher d'Arguille

Left: La Plagne Vaumart, on the way up to the Arguille rock.

Right: Going up the Vaumart valley. This was my first steep skiing in a good 10 years, and rather unplanned too.

Left: The south couloir of Rocher d'Arguille, a 5.3 couloir with some steep 50° at the top and sustained. And that's only the upper part, the lower part is almost as steep and even longer.

Right: Going over a shoulder to access the Arguille couloir.

Left: Crampon time to get up the couloir itself with the snow not quite transformed yet.

Above: A view on the northern Belledonne range: Petite Valloire, Pointes de la Porte Eglise, Comberousse, Puy Gris, Grande Valloire...

Above: The Belledonne range as seen from Chamechaude in the Chartreuse

Left: Seb on an even steeper variant of the start of the couloir.

Right: While he's posing for the pictures, I am almost freaking out in the first few meters of the couloir. First, it's been a good 10 years since my last steep skiing. Then it's 50° on snow that hasn't quite gotten enough sun yet to transform and is still quite hard. Then I have brand new skis. And finally I have to try to hold steady so I can take a few pictures.

Left: A little farther down the couloir is in excellent conditions and we join Emanuele who was waiting down there.

Right: The middle part provides mental relaxation before the last bit: just 500 more meters of 45°.

Left: Seb on the lower part of the couloir.

Right: And Emanuele getting close to the bottom.

Left: Emanuele having reached the bottom.

Right: The great peak of Belledonne seen from Excellence where an excellent and very well hidden couloir awaits the interested skier.

From Prabert

Above: The Crop lake and the surrounding summits: the Ferrouillet (left), Colomb, Grand Replomb (in the sun) and Barlet (also in the sun), the latter being a great destination for a morning trip before heading to work.

Above: The other side of the Ferrouillet seen from the Sifflet, another excellent steep and short couloir done before heading to work.

Left: The lower and easy Orionde Peak seen from the summit of the Barlet. From where I am there are 4 ways down, starting at 45°. I'll pick the one in worst conditions...

Right: The Grand Replomb seen from Barlet. There's a classic couloir hidden on the right.

Left: The north-west couloir of the Barlet. If you look closely you can see my tracks from the summit, but although the east couloir was excellent, this one was hard-packed and exposed.

Right: Nicolas on the summit of the Sifflet in early morning.

Left: 50° in the Sifflet on powder snow, but the snow all goes down after each curve and there's nothing left for me !

Right: The Grand Colon.

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