Col De Belles Ombres

Hiking -> Routes -> Chartreuse -> col de Belles Ombres

Description

Pass of the beautiful shadows

From le Pres follow a steep path that climbs to the north-west opposite the reservoir. This has yellow markings. You cross the Pre Orcel track at around 1100 meters then another well made trail at 1380 meters. Turn right and follow the trail for 100 meters to pick up the path on a right hand bend. This is not clear on the IGN map. At the Pre Orcel parking continue ahead to take the path directly to the Cabane d'Allier. All this is quite steep but on good tracks. At the cabane the track is much more gentle, after a couple of hairpins you follow a level path under cliffs. You will see a couple of goat tracks leading off to the left but none of these is an obvious path, ingnore both of these. Just before the track you are on turns a bit rocky you will see a wide couloir to the right and a clear path. There is a blue arrow on a rock. Follow this path which turns to the south briefly before traversing back across the bowl and climbing through some rocks. You exit into a tree lines area of pot-holes (care) and eroded rock at around 1700 meters. Follow the path to the left to the Croix de l'alpe. Decend by the same route or the col de l'Alpe.

Trip Reports

14th July 2007

I wanted to explore the Belles Ombres a bit more. I'd looked at the track in the winter but was on skis and there was not enough snow to descend the route. It is a nice well made up trail and a pleasant change from the col de l'Alpe. There were a lot of people at the car park of Pre Orcel and at the Croix de l'Alpe. I descend by the pas de la Rousse. It was one of the hottest days this year and I appreciated the 7am start.

<< Col de l'Alpe | Chartreuse | Sangle de Belles-Ombres >>