Ski-Areas > Jura > Jura (39) > Haut-Jura > Les Rousses > Pointe de Poêle Chaud east couloir
From La Chenalette take the footpath that leads directly up the slope to the south. This path tracks up through the forest to le Vuarne (1301 meters) and then under the east side of the Pointe de Poêle Chaud via a series of rolling valleys. Climb to the south-east ridge of the Poêle Chaud via a steepish slope, you will see the couloir complex on your right. To reach the summit follow a dry stone wall up the wide south-east ridge then traverse as if heading for the col that leads to La Dôle.to climb immediately up the south face. You may need ski crampons as the snow can be hard in the morning.
From the summit (radio relay station) ski down a short slope to a plateau to the south-east. The couloir leads off the middle of this plateau. The entrance is around 45 degrees on the right hand side where the snow can better (shaded). Watch out for a cornice and ice. The slope is a bit exposed due to the risk of hitting trees if there is a fall. Ski down keeping to the right to reach a relatively clear section through the trees. You reach a forest track, you can follow this to the right for 150m to find the path you climbed by and clearer skiing.
Unit the 1980s a single chair lift linked St Cergue with la Barilette. There was a beginners area on the summit with a piste descending back to the village.
Too much flat to be interesting to snowboarders.
| Mountain Range | Jura |
|---|---|
| Summit | Pointe de Poêle Chaud |
| Altitude | 1628 meters |
| Orientation | East / North-East |
| Starting Altitude | 1100m |
| Vertical | 528 meters |
| Map | IGN 3327 OT |
| GPS Waypoint | |
| GPS Route | Google-Earth: |
| Grade[1] | Danger: 2, Climb: PD-, Ski: 3.2 |
| Equipment | ski crampons, the ridges are frequently icy |
| Road Access | Motorway to Nyon -> St Cergue -> first left 800 meters from the round-about then park 500 meters up the road by a footpath sign |
| Train | Geneva St Cergue. Possible to ski from St Cergue via the old ski pistes and la Barillette. About 1hr with first train at 5am |
| Author | davidof |
This was going to be another early bird day. I wanted to climb to La Dôle but there was too much traversing to get to the summit in good time. I also took some time due to coming off the highway at Divonne rather than Nyon then a police checkpoint at St Cergue.
There was about 1 cm of fresh snow on the ground with a base of 20cm at the start. The fresh rapidly increased to 5 cm, the result of a storm that passed through a couple of days back. The base was hard, icy in places. Saw a bouquetin on the climb up but he was too elusive to get a photo. The start of the couloir was soft snow that didnt stick well to the base and started some micro-sluffs. Generally good skiing given the altitude pretty stable snow conditions. -1C at 1100 meters.
* Weather : Sunny, -1C at 1100m at 9.30am
* Avalanche Risk: 1
* Participants: Alone, saw too ski competitors (collants-pipettes) on the way down
Category: Trip Reports
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