Ski Areas > Northern Alps > Belledonne > Prabert > Rocher de l'Homme north couloir
Climb to the Rocher de l'Homme south summit then traverse across to the north summit (attention corniche). Between the two is the north couloir, you may have to break the corniche to gain access. The top of the couloir is very steep and narrow (> 50°) and you need to wait until their is sufficient snowfall before attempting it. The problem is, if you arrive to late you will find the top of the couloir as a series of steps where people have side-slipped down.
| Mountain Range | Belledonne |
|---|---|
| Summit | Rocher de l'Homme |
| Altitude | 2755m |
| Orientation | North |
| Starting Altitude | 1336m |
| Vertical | 1700m |
| Maps | IGN n°3335 ET Bourg d'Oisans |
| GPS Waypoint | N 45.1883°, E 05.9870° |
| GPS Route | Google-Earth:Betta |
| Grade[1] | Danger: 2, Climb: AD, Ski: 3.3 |
| Comments | The couloirs are around 40° |
| Snowboarders | Yes |
| Road Access | Grenoble > Brignoud > Prabert > D528 to the limit of snow cover |
| Refuges | Jean Collet? |
| Author | davidof |
Marco Siffredi's quote came to mind.
"Si a vingt ans on ne fait pas des trucs un peu fous, c'est pas a cinquante qu'on va s'y mettre"
If you don't do crazy things at 20 years old you are not going to start at 50!. It was Guy's 50th birthday and while we youngsters decided to ski from the south-summit Guy had a crazier plan. The descent of the steep north couloir. A number of skiers had already done the route and the top was a series of steps where they had walked down. Not great skiing. Guy put his skis on and made his first turns in the very steep and narrow top of the couloir.
Unfortunately he lost a ski further down hitting frozen snow under the layer of fresh powder pulling a mucle in the subsequent fall. After skiing to the bottom we found him sunning himself. A couple of Neurofen for the pain then the warm climb up to the Col and the return on hard, icy snow.
Category: Trip Reports << Rocher de l'Homme south summit | Prabert | Grand Replomb by the col du Petit Replomb >>