Minimum altitude: 1,663 meters
Distance: 7.8 km
Slope Aspect: West
Vertical Climbed: 718 meters (2,356 feet)
Vertical Descended: 1,061 meters
Rating: 3.2
Avalanche Risk: -
Snowline: 2,000
The ski resort of Chamrousse had decided to open the main gondola lift for the May bank holidays. Why not profit to ski from the summit of the Croix de Chamrousse? I didn't have much information about the conditions. There was the webcam and the Vans looked to have snow cover but what about the Lacs Roberts ski piste? In any case it wasn't possible to ski much below 2000m.
The ticket cost 10 euros but you need to keep the ticket for the return trip so I had to store it somewhere dry. The ski down to the Lacs Roberts was on orange snow - the fault of the recent Saharan sand event but it wasn't sticky. I skied all the way down but by the time of my return there were at least two spots where it would be necessary to take skis off for a few meters.
From the Roberts I climbed on skis then on foot all the way to the Vans valley. Although there was snow above the Col de Lessines the slope was very steep and narrow for kick turns. From the entrance of the valley all the way to the Petit Van summit I was on skis although I kept ski crampons on. At the summit I found I'd lost a ski crampon and had to double back to find it lying in the snow, partially hidden. I skied straight down the west face. The soft snow was not unpleasant to ski although this was only my 3rd tour since an accident (broken femur) in Jan 2024 so I lacked a bit of confidence on what is quite a steep slope. After skiing down to the Lessines I traversed on foot to pick up the snow on a wide, north facing slope under the Sorbier. The only fly in the ointment was hitting a rock with one ski on a turn. A final reskin up to the gondola and home.
A big change from pre-covid when it would have been possible to tour from the ski resort itself at 1650 meters with good snow cover. The last three years have been pretty bad for spring skiing except above 2000m.
A few cms of fresh above 2100 meters on a firm, firn snow base. Not too bad to ski. The col de Lessins was dry, it was possible to descend from the Vans valley via the goulot on the left as far as the small Escombailes lake then cross the col on foot to descend to the Lacs Roberts.
Some purges of recent snow and lots of death cookies.
