Backcountry skiing in Briançon

Text and pictures © 2004-2008 Guillaume Dargaud
Last updated on 2008/04/04

Gravity /n./: one of four fundamental forces in nature that affect skiers. The other three are the strong force, which makes bindings jam; the weak force, which makes ankles give way on turns; and electromagnetism, which produces dead batteries in expensive ski-resort parking lots.

Downhill skiing at Serre Chevalier

Left: Jumping off a rock cliff for fun and photography. And also to better enjoy the incredible powder snow.

Right: Vincent flying off a hill.

Briançon as a town has so many great advantages it's almost boring to draw a list. One of those is the downhill ski-lift taking off from downtown. Have a few hours off work ? Grab the skis, walk 5 minutes, shred a line and cool off. Briançon itself has the southernmost ski slope of the Serre Chevalier area, a ski domain including 4 valleys. The ski domain is not the most extensive of France, its main drawback being the frequent lack of snow, Briançon being the sunniest city in France. Which just goes to prove that you still can't have your cake and eat it too.

Left: Forest skiing in Serre Chevalier.

Right: Steep skiing out of the beaten tracks in Serre Chevalier.

If the slopes themselves are not that high or that steep, Serre Chevalier provides a large quantity of great off-piste skiing. From forest outings when the weather is bad, to long running slopes when all the accumulated fresh snow has had time to stabilize, to descents on the opposite side of the mountain needing a long car ride to get back home.

Left: The Corneille couloir right in the middle of the ski domain of Briançon/Serre Chevalier.

Right: Our tracks in the Corneille couloir.

The Corneille couloir is one of those off-track things you can't find if you aren't shown. It's a good thing having a guide like Vincent then, but he has to leave early to pick up his kids off school. So in the evening I decide to do that couloir a second time. I'm enjoying the sunset during the long traverse and stop briefly for an urgent need, when I hear a pircing howl. Thinking it's a crazy-ass mountain crow, I start again on the traverse when a wolf crosses the snow right ahead of me !

Right: Sunset on Grand Pre.

Alpine skiing at La Grave

Left: A dicey jump off a small cliff barring the descent of a couloir at La Grave.

Right: Vincent all white after falling off the cliff in a comic-book way (let's just say Will Coyote with skis and leave it at that).

Left: Looking for the perfect snow couloir. Now is that left or right ?

Right: One of the major summit of the southern Alps, La Meije looms above skiers of the small town of La Grave.

In the small mountain village of La Grave, off-piste skiing is not only allowed, it's actually the only way down once you get off the cable car ! The main valley is an easy way down, but there are plenty of couloirs and glacier shortcuts accessible directly, and if you bring the skins the choice of hard to extreme descents is staggering. Many americans come here year long for the layback attitude of the small village and its excellent powder snow. Unfortunately all this comes at the price of risk via avalanches, seracs, unexpected rock cliffs and getting lost down complex descents in poor visibility.

Left: Snowboarding a steep couloir.

Right: Some steep skiing down one of the numerous couloirs.

First time I went there was with Vincent and his cousins. Barely off the ski-lift, he gets us to climb a small ridge and start skiing down a steep slope. One of the problems of a place such as La Grave is that there are always many good skiers looking for new ways down. As soon as we started 4 other people started following... with everyone ending up stuck above a small but unexpected cliff. Vincent slides down carefully to the very edge of the cliff, decides it cannot be skied and is a little too awkward to jump, so he takes the skis off and starts downclimbing. Next thing I know he's cartwheeling into the air and land in a 'poof!' of powder snow. Once the quality of the landing established (hah!), we all jump off, but this time keeping the skis on.

Right: Group of skiers stopping for a snack in view of La Meige.

Left: Steep couloir skiing at La Grave.

If you happen to be in La Grave, it might be worth it to hire a guide for the day to enjoy many of its secret spots. Particularly if you are a good skier.

Left: If you look closely at the image, you'll see tracks coming down just about everywhere, even in the steepest rock or serac sections.

Backcountry skiing around Briançon

Left: Backcountry skiing at the Pegu pass.

Right: Ain't spring nice ? Even fairies learn to ski in our parts.

Above: Panorama from the summit of the Tete des Raisin. Briançon is the town in the valley on the right.

Above: 360 degree panorama from the Tete des Raisins.

Left: Going up the safe Crete de la Seyte.

Right: A spring river on the way up the Col Perdu (lost pass).

Above: Panoramic view from just below the summit of the Seyte crest.

Right: Panoramic view from the summit of the Ratelle (2550m) above Crevoux, with Embrun in the valley below.

Left: Backcountry skiing at Crevoux.

Right: Crocus flowers growing on the freshly thawed out fields of Les Laus.

Left: Trying to make the most of the little snow remaining: crossing a stream keeping the skis on (waterskiing ?)

Right: Cécile doing her last descent of the season on the Tete blanche du Galibier, a very crowded summit.

One winter day Cecile gives me a call saying that the early morning view from the Lautaret pass is excellent and I should go up there to take pictures. And while we are at it we should just ski up the Tête Blanche. Sure. So up we go, I try to take a few shots but there are too many clouds on La Meije and we soon start our climb. The view gets better as we go higher, I take time to do a few panoramas and then we start the descent on hardened snow. At a certain point I stop above a short jump to evaluate it. Firmly planting the pole I jump off and land... on Cecile who'd been skiing to my left and didn't see the hole. She falls into it just as I jump and we collide in mid-air. The shock does not seem at all violent to me and I'm immediately back on my feet while Cecile is laughing on the ground. Or is she ? It sounds more like a hysterical wailing. Her shoulder is dislocated.

Next thing I know is that I'm pulling on her arm, still with the skis on, trying to get it to move back into its socket. I'm clumsy and she screams and laughs at the same time. People pass on the trail barely 5 meters from us without giving us any attention, probably thinking we are fooling around. Following her indications, we finally get the very sore shoulder back in place and she manages to finish the descent. A month later she gets surgery, hoping to be back in shape for the summer, but in truth she won't be able to climb or work until autumn, a good 6 months later.

Above: Panorama taken during the ascent of the Tete Blanche du Galibier, the same pass taken every other year by the Tour de France cyclists.

Traverse of the Pelvoux

Above: The Pelvoux Refuge and the Pte of Celse Niere in the background. The couloir visible above the roof of the hut is the semi-classic Pelas Verne couloir (50deg).

Left: Start of the ski descent from the summit ridge of Pelvoux towards the Violettes glacier (left of the rocks).

The main summits of the Ecrins range are 'La Barre des Ecrins', 'La Meije' and the Pelvoux, with many other contenders. Only the first one reaches 4000 meters, but several of the others hover just below that. In all those years of coming irregularly in the area I've only managed to climb the Meije a long time ago via a solid 5.10 route on the south face. Now is the time for something different, a ski traverse of the Pelvoux.

Right: Jumping between crevasses and seracs down the Violettes glacier.

There's been a lot of snow this year in Briançon so even though we are a bit late in the season, Vincent claims we'll be able to ski up right from the Ailefroide parking lot. Right. When we get there, it's all green grass, purple flowers and happy marmots. We carry the skis half the time during our afternoon hike up to the Pelvoux refuge. The other half of the time we ski up very soft and heavy snow. The winter part of the refuge is already full: 6 german skiers and 3 other people we know.

Left: Getting ready to jump off a small serac.

The night is barely cold enough and the germans have started at 3am. At 5am we start with a few meters of rock climbing in the back of the refuge and 5 minutes later we are already overtaking the germans. The snow is hard and the area is globally exposed, probably the reason why we are the only two going up with the skis while all the others use crampons. The weather is quite cloudy and the forecast was to have the general conditions degrade by the afternoon. After crossing the Bosse de Sialouze and and reaching the namesake glacier in the fog, we have a little talk with the other 3 climbers. The descent on the other side must absolutely be done in good visibility. They decide to go down from where we stand while we keep going up. After a short time the weather clears up and from high up on the Coolidge couloir we see the germans reaching the glacier... as well as our friends who've changed their mind halfway through the descent.

Right: The last snow couloir before arriving at the Pré de Mme Carle, end of the trip.

The summit ridge is windy and the summit above is lost in the fog. The visibility is good on the east side, so we just skip the summit and start going down the complex itinerary of the Violettes glacier. An easy snow slope on the Pelvoux glacier crosses into the Violettes glacier, skirting seracs, down a rock cliff (skis off, and often a rappel is necessary), below a dangerous serac section and into a very long couloir of soft and patchy snow. Down, down, down for 2600 meters. At a certain point the couloir turns into a large cliff and we cross to the left on a ledge for a few hundred meters. The funny thing is that I can actually see the belays anchors of some of the rock routes arriving on this ledge ! I'd skied before in couloirs where other people where climbing with ice axe and crampons, but never where the rock routes are 5.10 and above ! A final couloir (le couloir des militaires) takes us down to the Pré de Mme Carle, the large flat fields at the bottom of the valley. There a long boring walk down the cleaned up but not-open-yet road and we are back to the car.

Left: Lower part of the descent, a hard to find but critical ledge with just enough snow to cut across to the next snow gully. Otherwise you end up having to downclimb 5.10 with skis...

The only thing spoiling the fun is that although our 10:30 timing up and down the mountain is far from being slow, the previous day a guy broke a speed record going up and down in 3 hours and 13 minutes... Makes you want to start collecting stamps instead.

Above: A panoramic view of a critical section of the descent, still on the left of the Violettes glacier. If there's enough snow, you can ski on the right of the bump, right onto the glacier. Otherwise you have to go left for a rappel or a bit of downclimbing like we had to do. On the right, the narrow couloir between the hanging seracs (right) and the rock ridge (left) is the classic Chaux gully.

Combeynot

Left: Skiing down the Combeynot in late season but still powdery snow.

Right: It's a minor summit located just above the Lautaret pass, and from the summit there's a central view of all the major summits in the Ecrins and Cerces range.

Right: Skiing down towards the Lautaret pass.

Right: Ski trail down the Combeynot. The two major summits in the back are the Tête Blanche and Tête Noire du Galibier

Glacier Noir

Right: Panorama taken from the Glacier Noir. Left to right: Barre des Ecrins, the bottom of the glacier, Mt Pelvoux, Pic Sans Nom, the Coup de Sabre (the sword cleave), Ailefroide and the Temple pass.

Left: Going up the 'Couloir de la Breche du Glacier Noir'

Right: The upper part of the couloir becomes rocky but is skiable earlier in the season (50° slope)

Left: Peak Coolidge shadowing the Ecrins, above the Glacier Noir.

Right: The Glacier Noir pass. Left to right: a short rappel down to the Sialouze glacier, Ailefroide, Ecrins, couloir down to the Glacier Noir, ridge leading to the Coup de Sabre.

Left: Skiing down the other side, the easy Sialouze glacier.

Right: Hideous rock covered snow on the last snow. Remnants of now mostly melted avalanches.

Left: Finish on foot trough bushes and rivers...

Skiing the Dome des Ecrins (4015m)

Left: Early morning light on Mt Pelvoux.

The 4088m Barre des Ecrins is an obvious target in summer, being the only 4000m peak in the southern Alps it tends to attract lots of passing climbers. In winter its summit is too steep and rocky to be skied except by the most fearless, so the obvious destination becomes the secondary summit called the Dome, just 73 meters lower.

Left: Trying to reach the Glacier Blanc by the left side of the valley. In summer the normal way is to go on the right via the trail to the hut, but in winter it's faster to take the snow covered slope. Except that here we are late in the season, the slope is almost dry with a lot of frozen mud warming up in the sun and lots of stuck rocks getting ready to go. We are also way too late in the day, having woken up at 6am for a 2000m climb. Yes, that's a freshly frozen avalanche and the blocks were so unpractical that we had to remove the skis.

Right: Looking back at the Pelvoux.

Right: The impressive north side of the Ecrins as seen from the Glacier Blanc. The Dome is visible while the true summit itself is hidden in the clouds. At about that time it started getting extremely windy.

Right: North face of the Ecrins, with Agostino right under the serac, if still some safe distance away. It takes only 2 minutes to cross under the serac, but it's a very nervous 2 minutes.

Right: About 40 people going up and a few already coming down the upper part of the north face of the Ecrins. Is the big serac visible enough now ?

Right: Upper part of the north face of the Ecrins, with the ski tracks clearly visible.

Right: Shortly before the final traverse under the main summit. Plenty of people under the Lory breach (pass).

Left: The traverse under the summit. On a warmer day I'd be a bit nervous of the rockfall danger.

Right: The normal way for either summit is to go to the pass in between.

Right: Summit of the Dome des Ecrins. The wind is still blowing strong. We arrived on the summit shortly after about 40 other people, most of them guided parties having started from the Ecrins hut. They didn't wait long on the summit, but the wind calmed down about the time we got there.

Left: Skiing down the wide slope of the Ecrins, way above the Glacier Blanc. Not too much crevasse risk on that day.

Right: Agostino self portrait. After 2000m up the Ecrins, he felt like he hadn't had his fair share of exercise yet, so he went up for an extra 500m up Roche Faurio, which is where I took my pics of the Ecrins last year.

Right: Roche Faurio and the Glacier Blanc. The Meije is in the background.

Montbrison

Left: Going up towards the Tenailles de Montbrison, a trail I've taken many times before, but always in summer with rock-climbing equipment.

Right: Going up Combe Brune, towards the Tete d'Amont (2815m).

Left: Cecile going up the NE couloir of the Tete d'Amont.

Right: Nearing the top of the couloir.

Left: Skiing down the backside of the Tenailles.

Left: Skiing down the crusty snow of Combe brune.

The Chantelouve tour

Above: The Taillefer range, seen from the Grand Renaud: the Grand Armet on the left and the Taillefer itself on the right, with the Ornon pass underneath.

Left: Etendard peak (3464m, left) and Grand Renaud (2776m) seen from the Petit Renaud (2606m).

Above: Ski tracks on an antecima of the Rochail, the 4th summit of my tour. On the left are the three Aiguilles d'Arve, then on the right of the Rochail, the Malhaubert point and the Confolens point.

Above: As seen from the Neyrard: the Ornon peak, the Rochail, Malhaubert and Confolens.

Left: The petit Renaud, first summit of the tour.

Right: Evening light on the Devoluy.

Left: The whole tour visible from the last summit, the Clottous.

Muraillette

Left: Above the Lauvitel lake, after a rather shitty traverse on soft snow and loose rock.

Right: Emanuele eating cold pasta.

Left: We can't be very far from the summit, right ? Wrong, it'll take us 8 hours on the way up: it's far and quite technical, requiring crampons, ski-crampons and lots of changes in technique.

Right: Emanuele reaching the summit of the Muraillette, with the Muzelle in the back.

Left: Just below the summit of the Muraillette is this exposed traverse: a layer of 45° crust with 50cm of powder snow underneath and random rocks sticking out. All this fun with a 50m cliff right underneath...

Above: The impressive Tete de la Muzelle.

Pointe Maximin

Left: The Aiguille de l'Olan and the Maximin couloir on the right edge.

Right: The classic Maximin couloir. I found it in poor conditions: hard snow. The lower part is 50° but not too exposed while the upper part is a sustained 45° with a 100m cliff below, in case you felt like falling off your skis.

Right: The Lavey hut.

Above: Fetoules et Etret on the right.