Ski Touring: Traverse of the Pravouta SE to SW

Tue, 7 January 2014

Technical

Distance: 11.2 km

Slope Aspect: North

Trip Reports

Vertical Climbed: 710 meters (2,330 feet)

Avalanche Risk: 2

Snowline: 1,240

Description

It snowed on Saturday but also rained to high altitude. I was surprised to see how much the snowline had climbed since last week when it was skiable from 1050 meters. Today on the same slopes (South-East) the snow is not skiable below about 1250 meters. As well as the high altitude rain the last few days temperatures, +10C above average, have had their effect. Skiing in the Chartreuse will soon become very limited. There is little skiable snow below 1500 m except on north facing slopes. Just enough on open tracks and fields.

At 1400 m on a NW slope there was 40cm snow depth. Isothermic - just below 0C throughout the snowpack. The top 10cm was fresh snow with loose grains near the ground - looks like facets saturated with meltwater. Not very encouraging given the forecast heatwave over the coming days.

Some small sluffs in the left bank of the NE of the Bec Charvet

Route Taken: I traversed onto the SW ridge which I thought had better snow.

Weather: Windy but very warm. +14C in the valley. Zero iso around 3100 meters.

Access: Clear

Country: France Area: Chartreuse Trailhead: Col Du Coq

Route


Download GPX File