Minimum altitude: 1,224 meters
Distance: 11.1 km
Slope Aspect: North-East
Vertical Climbed: 821 meters (2,694 feet)
Vertical Descended: 820 meters
Rating: 2.1
Avalanche Risk: 2
Snowline: 1,250
I parked in the new parking lot. It took me 5 minutes to find snow. Some people parked at the Betta or even higher but in theory it is banned to use the road before the 31 March.
With the cloudy sun forecast I thought the powder card was good to play. The southern slopes below Orionde had transformed by mid-day. As the north combe had plenty of tracks so I didn't fancy that. I skied the NW face from the summit. Either heavy powder or hard snow, but good to ski. Then I took the NE couloir, which had fewer tracks. Here the powder wasn't bad and it was the same all the way to the section with the brushwood, if you hunt a bit.
The brushwoods were easy to ski with a good track. I went back up to the water catchment at Les Venetiers rather than take the path via the Betta bridge - impossible to ski and blocked by trees.
Fine weather, no wind forecast. Heavy powder on the NW face, not bad on the NE bowl. Hardpack in the brushwood section. Pisted on the road. I'll give 3/5 for skiability. Nothing was unskiable and it was very pleasant, but it wasn't perfect snow either. Back to “real” ski touring 1 year after a work accident in January 2024.
