Pas De La Rousse

Hiking -> Routes -> Chartreuse -> Pas de la Rousse

Description

Red rock pass

The pas de la Rousse causes some confusion for those that have climbed via the Croix de l’Alpe. Do not confuse it with the nearby Burned Pine Loop. It is marked by a blue arrow on a rock and has blue, but not always obvious, markings on the path.

You can drive as far as the Pre Orcel at 1405 meters. From here take the forest path that traverses the mountain to the left of the fountain. After a fairly flat traverse the path exits under the orange coloured east Piller of the Rousse (Rousse – red). It is possible to follow the contour line and the track joins the Passage du Fourneau route. The right fork crosses up a scree slope to the south-west then turns towards the west and a grassy slope to the base of a steep and rocky couloir. There is a 2 meter rock step to climb in the couloir and the exit is also a steep climb best tackled by climbing the bank to the left. At the summit the walker can return by the passage du Fourneau or the col de l’Alpe. The latter is probably the most obvious choice.

Trip Reports

14th July 2007

Last year, for Bastille day, we climbed to La Tour Percée. This year I wanted to explore the col de Belles Ombres which I'd looked at a bit on skis late in January. I then had a choice between a descent by the col de l'Alpe or the Rousse. I decided to traverse across to the the Rousse. The descent is steep and there is a lot of loose rock, you have to be careful not to dislodge this onto people's heads. The route is marked with blue spots and some arrows but is not always easy to follow from above. It is quite steep and better climbed than descended with a challenging section at the end.

<< Passage du Fourneau | Chartreuse | Draille du Charmille >>