Ski-Areas > Northern Alps > Savoie (73) > Maurienne > Valloire > Pic des Trois Evéchés north east face
From Columban Noire (2405 meters - 4km from the col du Galibier) walk down the track to the Ruisseau de la Fontaine Lombarde (2297 meters). You can cross into the vallon du Fond between the Gypsieres and the Plan Nicolas on a summer trail. The Gypsieres is a heavily pot-holed area that can be dangerous and hard to navigate. Climb down the Vallon du Fond (2200 m) leaving the Vallon de l'Anesse which leads to the Pic Blanc on your left. Climb the valley, gentle at first then steepening from 2600 meters to a col on the northern ridge of the summit. Leave your skis at 3070m to climb to the summit on a 45° slope. The rock on the summit is unstable.
Possible to start from the car park at Bonnenuit just above Valloire in the winter. The final climb at the end of the day is hard work!
| Mountain Range | Maurienne |
|---|---|
| Summit | Pic des Trois Evéchés |
| Altitude | 3116m |
| Orientation | North-East for the descents |
| Starting Altitude | 2405m (Columban Noire) |
| Vertical | 1100 m |
| Maps | IGN TOP 25 3535 OT Névache Mont Thabor |
| GPS Waypoint | |
| GPS Route | Google-Earth:Valloire |
| Grade[1] | Danger: 1, Climb: PD, Ski: 2.3 |
| Comments | The slope is only really steep over the final 100 meters |
| Snowboarders | Yes |
| Road Access | Valloire or via the col du Galibier after mid May |
| Author | davidof |
I climbed in low cloud which wasn't too dense and offered some visibility lower down. It was still hard to navigate using a 1:50,000 map and compass. I had lunch around 2300 meters and waited for the weather to clear before climbing to the summit at 4pm. It was still pretty chilly and the powder was light - about 10 to 20cm depending on accumulations. All this was on a hard base but the snow was uncohesive so little avalanche risk in this area.
Excellent plan for my first taste of summer skiing and thanks to free_bine of skipass.com for the idea to come here. I reskied the main slope to add 100 meters to the total. I didn't climb to the summit as the rock looked too unstable and dangerous and there was not sufficient snow to ski from the top.
Category: Trip Reports
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