Three days ski touring in the Vanoise with friends: unexpected powder, a night at Péclet-Polset, a welcome at Dent Parrachée and turns towards l’Orgère.
What a blast—and so many unexpected powder turns—on this three-day trip to the Vanoise!
When I suggest to Antoine, Frank, Josh, and Thomas that we head to the Vanoise, I’m obviously hoping to find slightly better skiing than in the Hautes-Alpes... In any case, the perfect weather forecast is a wonderful invitation to head for the mountains, and if we look around a bit, we’re sure to find a few gentle turns to carve out. I never would have bet a kopek on runs as legendary as the ones we ended up having!!
Right off the bat, our trip gets off to the kind of unexpected turn we love… The night before we were set to leave, just before going to bed, I found out that the Orelle cable car had just been hit by a rockfall and would be closed for fifteen days… Oops! Time to spring into action—I pull out the maps and start figuring out a new plan... we’ll set off like pros from the valley.
Even though it’s always unsettling, I know from experience that these last-minute changes—which lead us down paths we wouldn’t have imagined at first—are sometimes a blessing and offer a different perspective on the mountains... I also like, in a way, when things just happen on their own, when not everything is under control, when our senses are on high alert to pick up on cues and adapt on the fly to whatever comes our way. It’s a subtle balance between preparation and improvisation, between making decisions and letting go...
I know Frank and Antoine very well now. I know they trust me completely when it comes to this approach... and that the further we stray from the beaten path, the richer and more authentic our adventure will be!
Antoine is bringing along two of his friends for these three days—Josh and Tom—who were handpicked after undergoing a whole series of physical and mental tests... We're not here to ski for just two hours a day—the message is clear!!
Before the story, here's a great video put together by Tom. It speaks for itself!
Day 1: From Modane to Péclet-Polset
So it’s a few turns above Modane that we leave our car... I’ve always had a negative preconception about that area, which I’ve consistently ruled out as a possible starting point. I admit that, if it hadn’t been for that last-minute change of plans, I never would have imagined setting out from there… We park at about 1,400 m, at the winter end of the Orgère Road.
First surprise: we strap on our skis right there on the road. After a few minutes of climbing, we leave the Maurienne/highway atmosphere behind and find ourselves in beautiful larch forests where about ten mysterious centimeters of powder glisten... Antoine, starving, is already imagining himself skiing down every slope!!
We turn off into the Polset valley. It feels truly wild out here. No signs of anyone having gone up, and just two tracks leading down in this massive valley... It’s quite warm, but we’re climbing through beautiful powder snow... Near Grand Planay, not far from Source du Vin, Antoine can’t resist: he takes off his skins and carves a few turns in the powder… The rest of the team continues climbing cautiously, saving some energy for what’s ahead. Anyone who knows Antoine knows it’s not necessarily a good idea to keep up with his pace!
Higher up in the valley, I can feel my excitement building as I see the beautiful western valley that leads up to the Col du Ravin Noir. The plan has everyone fired up. So we lighten our packs and climb the 500 meters to the pass.
That's when the trip starts to take a pleasant turn... As we climb, it's clear that the snow is excellent! Is it just a hunch, a stroke of luck, or the last spot in the entire Alps that's been spared? Will we find snow like this in other places?
Not knowing how to answer all these questions, we decided to just go for it, making two runs down this legendary run in 20 cm of packed powder, basking in the sunshine. Perfect moments, with La Meije and the Écrins as a backdrop...
All that’s left for us to do is cross the Col de Chavière and head down to the Péclet-Polset shelter… The descent is actually a downhill traverse with not much skiing involved, but we still have time to notice that there’s a bit of powder on this slope too… It’s hard, however, to get a real sense of the conditions at this hour: night is fast approaching.
Tonight, we won't be sitting down to dinner: the shelter's winter lounge awaits us. In no time at all, we're settled into our cozy spot, the stove is purring, the snow is melting, and the beers are open!
After our big pasta meal, I take a peek outside. The full moon lights up our entire valley: a quick trip outside is a must! Of course, it doesn’t take long for Antoine to get motivated, and off we go for our last run of the day: 200 meters—on one ski for me, thanks to my slip-up.
Day 2: From Péclet Polset to the Dent Parrachée Mountain Hut
It’s 8 a.m. when we pull our skis out of our den… our first plan for the day is to check out the valley that runs down beneath the Masse Glacier. And why not head back up the glacier a bit if the skiing conditions look good there? What a great choice! We climb the glacier almost all the way to the top and enjoy a perfect first run of 600 meters. That’s enough to put us in a relaxed mood for the rest of the day.
Without fully admitting it to myself, at this point in the run, a sneaky pressure to succeed begins to build inside me. When you start to realize that you’ve been dealt a pretty good hand but that you could also ruin everything by playing the wrong cards... We all realize when we’re on a magical run, but we also know full well how easily things can go to hell!
We continue on our way, putting our skins back on to cross beneath the Pointe de l’Observatoire and the Pointe de Rosoire. The view is magnificent. Mont Blanc looms before us. The mountain is serene. We descend 200 meters to the Rosoire chalet. We encounter, for the first time, the snow we expected on this slope, which has weathered a storm and a rainy thaw: crusty, glazed, undulating snow... The nasty stretch lasts about a hundred meters—more than enough for me to lose a ski… When we look up, we can make out the undulations in the snow all around us, which almost completely dampen our desire to ski in this area. That works out well—we’d planned to cross the Col d’Aussois today to head over to the Dent Parrachée area. As we climb toward the pass, I find myself poring over the map of alternative descent routes to avoid the numerous tracks I imagine are on the other side.
Once we reached the pass, we had to face the facts: another untouched descent awaited us! After our picnic break, we treat ourselves to an exceptional post-lunch run on the upper section—and it’s still fantastic further down… so good, in fact, that after dropping off our packs, we go back for another run!! This time, we glide through the powdery valleys all the way to Fond d’Aussois… The rest of the day is spent making our way back up to the Refuge de la Dent Parrachée, where we arrive as night falls, just in time for aperitifs. Franck, the legendary caretaker of the refuge, is serving aperitifs to about 40 cheerful guests. We set down our poles to grab the glasses handed to us. Tonight, the atmosphere is festive! Day 2: From Péclet-Polset to the Dent Parrachée refuge
It’s 8 a.m. when we pull our skis out of our den… Our first plan for the day is to check out the valley that runs down beneath the Masse Glacier. And why not head back up the glacier a bit if the skiing conditions look good? What a great choice! We climb almost to the top of the glacier and tackle a perfect first run of 600 meters. That’s enough to put us in a relaxed mood for the rest of the day.
Without fully admitting it to myself, at this point in the run, a sneaky pressure to succeed begins to build inside me. When you start to realize that you’ve been dealt a pretty good hand, but that you could also ruin everything by playing the wrong cards... We all realize when we’re on a magical run, but we also see the high potential for total crap!
We continue on our way, putting our skins back on to cross beneath the Pointe de l'Observatoire and the Pointe de Rosoire. The view is magnificent. Mont Blanc looms before us. The mountain is serene.
We descend 200 meters to the Rosoire chalet. For the first time, we encounter the snow we expected on this slope, which has been hit by a storm and a rainy thaw: crusty, glazed, undulating snow... The nasty stretch lasts about a hundred meters—more than enough for me to lose a ski... All around us, when we look up, we can make out the undulations in the snow everywhere, which make us lose almost all desire to ski in this area.
That works out well—we’ve planned to cross the Aussois Pass today to head over to the Dent Parrachée area. As we climb toward the pass, my nose glued to the map, I’m picturing different descent routes to avoid the many tracks I imagine are on the other side.
Once we reached the pass, we had to face the facts: another untouched descent awaited us! After our picnic break, we treat ourselves to an exceptional run to help digest our meal on the upper section—and it’s still great further down... So good, in fact, that after dropping off our bags, we go back for another run!!
This time, we’ll glide down the powder-covered valleys all the way to Fond d’Aussois… We’ll spend the rest of the day making our way up to the Dent Parrachée mountain hut, where we’ll arrive at dusk, just in time for an aperitif.
Franck, the legendary caretaker, is serving drinks to about forty cheerful guests. We set down our sticks to take the glasses handed to us. Tonight, the atmosphere is festive!
Day 3: Completing the loop over hill and dale
We leave the cozy Dent Parrachée refuge early in the morning! The plan for the day is to head back to the car via the Col de la Masse... But first, we head back up a bit on the Plan de la Gorma to ski down the valleys leading back to the Fond d’Aussois (rather than the small, icy couloir), which gives us a chance to spot a ptarmigan or two. The descent is much more enjoyable than we’d imagined.
We begin the climb up to the Col de la Masse. Inevitably, my gaze is drawn to the vast fields of untouched powder snow to the left of our route, accessible via a 100-meter slope with a 40° incline... No decision has been made yet; we’re just climbing.
Even though we only skied slopes with a slope angle of around 30°, these last 48 hours in the mountains have still given us some good indications about the stability of the snowpack... and about the team’s morale and physical condition! All set—let’s go!
A small rocky barrier leads to the wide-open fields, which live up to all expectations... What was bound to happen happened: after a run like that, tempers flare and the urge to do another run quickly surfaces... First we’ll head back up, then we’ll see! Antoine, afraid of missing out on that second run, sets off ahead of us at his own pace and treats himself to an extra 150 meters, just in case!!
In the end, the group split into two: the weather is mild in the mountains today, and waiting an hour in the sun while gazing at the blue sky and the mountains is perfectly doable... Here we go again with Josh and Antoine for a second run down the right-hand valley… So as not to keep Franck and Tom waiting too long, we tackle the descent in one go, without a break. Mind-blowing! 1 minute and 30 seconds, shower included.
We’re making good time on our way up to the Col de la Masse, where we’re finishing off our last of the provisions… Below us, there’s still a 1,500-meter descent to the car… From the top of the pass, we make predictions about the snow conditions. Everyone is confident—it has to be said that luck has been on our side so far!
The first ten turns below the pass, which were a bit uneven, gave way to perfect, packed powder that we wouldn’t leave until we were just a few dozen meters from the bottom of the Orgère Valley. There, too, not a single skier’s track…
I can tell we're starting to get used to these dream runs—not that we think they're ordinary, but at least we see them as normal... That's the problem when you don't run into enough jerks!
From the Orgère shelter, after ten minutes of skating, we let ourselves glide peacefully back to the car...
These three days came to an end—the kind I’d love to lead every day: playful conditions, perfect weather, and a cheerful, cohesive, and strong group! Thanks, guys—and thanks to the mountains!
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