Off-piste at La Clusaz
Off-piste skiing around La Clusaz, discovering secret couloirs and powdery combes. A balanced trip between off-piste and ski touring.
With toute la famille, Fred, Aude, JC, Jérome, Misha & Bernadette.
2013 begins under the sign of the sun! Radiant sunshine and exceptional snow conditions. Based in La Clusaz, we make the most of these beautiful cold days to roam the Aravis.
We start with Fred, Marie, Adrien and Aude with a day of off-piste skiing in La Clusaz. After the Borderan combe to warm up, a short climb of about a hundred metres with skis on our packs lets us drop into the beautiful north-west couloir of the Aiguille de Borderan. With very few tracks, this route seems spared from the crowds.
A descent packed with powder down to the bottom of the La Balme cable car puts a smile on everyone's face despite already burning thighs.
We carry on with the Bella Cha combe which, despite being busy, still offers us some good sections. There is just enough time left for a last run on the Etale massif (Merdassier, in fact). We rush to catch the Transval then the chairlift up to the top of the slopes. A boot-pack in strong wind along a fairly steep ridge finally takes us to the top of our descent: the west combe of the Pointe de Merdassier. At this late hour, the light is sublime. Back to La Clusaz in extremis via the Crêt du Loup. A great day and great skiing!
The next day, JC, Mischa and her mum Bernadette, as well as Djé, join us for a friendly day on the Sulens. It has snowed and once again the skiing promises to be excellent.
And indeed this small summit, with its panorama over the Tournette and the Aravis range, did not disappoint. The descent through the fields is loaded with such light snow that we easily climb back up for another run. Well done to Misha, who made a brilliant start in ski touring: well done miss!
While the others take a quieter day, Aude and I head into the Aravis combes for a link-up as beautiful as it is logical. We start by skinning up the Bella Cha combe to the summit of Tête Pelouse, then ski down the Grand Crêt combe to the foot of a couloir north of Paré de Joux. From the top of it (2309m), we drop through an elegant couloir into the Paccaly combe. In the same way, we cross it to reach another couloir opposite (!) that leads to the Tchadar couloir (2142m). This magnificent couloir is not that steep and the atmosphere is crazy, with a slightly overhanging left bank like a limestone wave. We finally come out in the Tardevant combe and end the day by climbing Tardevant and skiing its south face. A full day visiting four combes along a clever, flowing route.
To end this stay in the Aravis, we choose to discover the south side of the range. Starting from Les Confins, we set off on the tour of Mont Fleuri via Mont Charvin. This tour should only be undertaken in stable conditions and keeping to the timing, as the east couloir of Mont Charvet warms up quickly. The south face of this summit completes the descent nicely but is rather exposed if you start right below the summit. The change of world is quite radical when, alone in the world, we land at Les Fours. The wildness of this side contrasts with the busy combes of the north side. Even the rock is darker here than the bright limestone of the north side.
After a peaceful climb back up to the Passage de la Grande Forclaz, we let ourselves glide on changing snow down the Grande Forclaz combe. Deeply enclosed, this combe is overlooked on each side by steep slopes where beautiful lines have already been skied.
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