Ski-Areas > Northern Alps > Isère (38) > Belledonne > Les Sept Laux > Jas de Lievres South west Ridge
From les 7 Laux (Prapoutel) follow a walking trail to the south to the Bedina bridge. From here it is best to follow the snowshoe trails to the source de Bedina then zig-zag back onto the ridge which leads to the Pre de l'Arc colony des Vacances. This uses a short section of the cross-country ski route so take care as these skiers have priority.
From the colony des Vacances follow the pre de l'Arc road (original this was intended to reach the riviers de Allemont via the pas de la Coche but work was abandonned in the 1930s due to avalanche risk, there are the ruins of an old lorry at point 1575m on the right). Just before the ruins of the habert du Pre de l'Arc you will see an old telephone pole, strike up to the south-west ridge at this point. The slope is a steep but comfortable climb. In the spring it can be icy and ski crampons may be needed. The summit is visible to the north-east above a rock formation.
The route is also possible from Prabert.
| Mountain Range | Belledonne |
|---|---|
| Summit | Jas de Lièvres |
| Altitude | 2325m |
| Orientation | South-West |
| Starting Altitude | 1345m |
| Vertical | 980m |
| Maps | e.g. IGN TOP 25 3334 OT Chartreuse Sud |
| GPS Waypoint | N 45.2320°, E 06.0171° |
| GPS Route | Google-Earth:Jas-Lievres |
| Grade[1] | Danger: 2, Climb: PD, Ski: 2.3 |
| Comments | 30° over 250 meters - source IGN 1:25000 map |
| Snowboarders | The access track is long |
| Equipment | Ski crampons |
| Road Access | les Sept Laux |
| Refuges | habert d'Aiguebelle? |
| Author | davidof |
[http://www.vfd.fr|VFD Bus route]] 6500 serves Prapoutel. The bus takes about an hour from Grenoble (35 minutes from Brignoud). It is possible to catch the early bus and return on the 1pm bus. Think about the environment.
The last fresh snow was a week ago so the plan was to find spring conditions on a south-face not too far from home. Well this was a south-west face so would transform later in the day and I had to be back around 1pm so the descent at 11.15am was probably an hour too early to find the best snow. In the end crusty close to the top with some patches of hard snow and transformed snow from around 1950m. There were still patches of cold powder on the west face in the shade.
The traverse back to the colony des vacances was pretty quick on a narrow track made by snowshoers and the paths in the fores pretty much skiable with some powder snow. A pretty good route despite the long traverse at the start, count on an hour to reach point 1575m.
Contributed by davidof
I climbed the south-west ridge as part of a traverse south-north. The conditions were spring snow at around 12h00... with annoying snow sticking to skins on the way up (a candle rubbed into skins is a good cure for this). There seems to be less snow in the Belledonne compared to the Chartreuse.
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