Yesterday I decided to ski the Practel valley in the Chartreuse. It starts from above St Meme and you can climb to the summits of le Pinet, Croix de l’Alpe and la Rousse. La Rousse has a very steep east couloir which is visible from the A41 motorway when you pass Pontcharra.

Most people start from the hamlet of Varvats but I’d done this in the summer and it is a long traverse More logical, in winter is to park just the other side of the village of St Meme (the road has a toll in the summer although I’m not sure where this operates from). Traverse fields to pick up the path leading north to rejoin the Varvats trail at 1128 meters. You then traverse east for about 10 minutes to the fontaine de la Rigne Baton. Here there was an avalanche that had crossed the path

It had probably fallen on Thursday or Friday during the fresh snowfall. It was on one of the many avalanche paths that traverse the forest, a reminder that winters can still by snowy enough to keep these “couloirs” free of vegetation. The path starts climbing and zig-zagging from 1200 meter and at 1278 you take a left fork into the Practel valley. You climb some steep zig-zags then through a deep gulley to exit onto the flat Pre de Practel. Here you have the choice between the croix de l’Alpe (ahead up the valley), le Pinet via the pas de l’Echelle off to the left at 1500m or la Rousse to the right. On balance the shaded slopes of la Rousse looked best but the route is barred by a number of small cliffs and finding a path between these was not easy.

The descent is via a nice bowl but the top is guarded by 10-20 meter sheer cliffs. A tiny couloir, just big enough to ski, is the only way through and it is found directly under the Pas de la Rousse.

Afterwards you can link turns on a nice 30-35 degree slope. There was about 15cm of fresh powder on a hard base.

Excellent skiing. In the Practel gully there was sufficient snow to ski through the woods, pretty rare the last few years (watch out for small cliffs) then a traverse on the Varvats path (a second avalanche had descended 100m after the first slide) then ski down the open woods back to St Meme - no need to stick to the path you climbed.

Avalanche Risk: 3/5
Ski Grade: 3.2
Exposure: 2 - dangers in Practel and above rock bands
Vertical: 1000m
Start Altitude: 830m
Location: North Chartreuse, French Alpes