In the last decade I have visited the Écrins on multiple occasions. In 2014 I skied couloir Est de breche Cordier in perfect conditions, probably the best run of my life. I have visited la Grave a few times, some trips being more successful than others. When the conditions were far from ideal, I explored Monêtier-les-Bains which turned out to be a very nice alternative. Finally, I have had good times in and around Briançon with several powder days in Montgenèvre and Puy Saint Vincent. As a result, I figured a one month visit to the Ecrins would be the perfect start of my 6-month trip.
The plan
February 2 I left the flatlands by bus in order to arrive the next day in Briançon by train. From previous experience I was aware of everything the Écrins have to offer and, of course, I had a list of objectives in the back of my mind. I would ski a couple of days in Monêtier-les-Bains to get my legs going in the so-called l’Yret chutes in order to gain confidence for steep skiing later on. Given that the Cucumelle is only a short bootpack away, I might as well enjoy some runs there too. During a month one would expect at least a few days with a nice blanket of fresh powder and those days would be reserved to ski some ‘itineraires’ in la Grave.
Itineraires are the famous offpiste routes under the supervision of la Meije, la Voute and la Chirouze being a few examples. Last year I had a blast in the bowls of Col du Bal in Puy Saint Vincent and I was sure I could get a lovely refill during a month. Finally, the Écrins is home to many sensational ski mountaineering objectives of which, with a bit of luck, I could attempt a few. Well, things turned out a bit differently…
Reality
Just before my arrival it had snowed heavily in the Écrins, followed by rain all the way to the peaks. The whole wall underneath the l’Yret chairlift in Monêtier had come down and
in Puy Saint Vincent a huge avalanche cleared the bowls of Col du Bal. In addition, the téléphérique of la Grave needed to be repaired and was closed for almost the entire season. In short, I had to drastically change my plans. The forecast did not show any signs of snowfall in the near future and I decided to focus first on other things than skiing Briançon has to offer.
I stayed in a lovely and very cosy tiny house (by the way, when I say tiny I really mean tiny…) close to the center of Briançon from where I had easy access to three micro bakeries, a gym and the beautiful old town ‘Vauban’. The daily routine quickly consisted of a session in the gym followed by amazing bread for lunch, watching a movie and a nice walk up to Vauban and back down to the supermarket and finally a nicely cooked meal to finish the day. I agree, this is no sensational backcountry skiing by any means but it was a nice way to get fitter for high altitude skiing which is on the agenda later in the trip. Also, exploring Vauban is no punishment either, regardless of whatever snow conditions you might encounter.
Pic Blanc du Galibier, an ultimate classic of the Écrins
After two weeks I needed to disrupt my daily routine and simply had to go skiing. Yes, it was very hot and it hadn’t snowed for weeks but I didn’t care. I researched the area and selected a route of moderate difficulty since I was on my own. The Southeast face of Pic Blanc du Galibier turned out to be my objective for the day, a true classic of the Écrins.
The local bus system would drop me in Monêtier from where I hitchhiked to the so-called Sestrières parking lot, the starting point of the ski tour. I was lucky this day; a friendly couple picked me up and drove to the aforementioned parking lot since, guess what, they also planned to climb and ski Pic Blanc du Galibier. Hitchhiking in this region is easy but this was next level!
The climb was pretty straightforward, it was warm and the snow was completely tracked. Nevertheless, it was great to be out there. I was steadily going up and saw only a few people here and there. The upper section offers some steeper and potentially nice terrain. While I was zigzagging my way up, an older lady skied down and shouted “c’est moyenne” indicating the snow was pretty bad with her cynical undertone. I finished the ascent and enjoyed the views from the summit with the Col du Lautaret and Grand Galibier, known from the Tour de France, being on display under the blue sky.
While getting ready for the descent, I ran into the couple who gave me a ride earlier that day. They rode down just ahead of me and because they made some cheerful sounds, I decided to follow their tracks. In the shade I found some delightful snow on the steeper upper section and understood their sounds of joy. The remainder of the descent was not about skiing good snow but it was nice to be out there, practice some turns and get some exercise.
Back at the parking lot, the same couple was on their way to Grenoble but offered me a ride to the parking of Col du Lautaret a few kilometers down the road from where it would be easier to catch a ride back to Briançon. Soon, a very nice gentleman stopped with his van. During the 40-minutes ride I became close friends with his lovely dog. The end of a nice day in the mountains.
Seigle, épeautre, bûcheron and khorasan kamut
Since I chose to visit the Écrins during one of the worst Februaries in history in terms of snowfall, I decided to focus on another passion of mine: bread. As mentioned earlier, I found three amazing bakeries in the vicinity of my tiny house. During my one-month stay I had just enough days to try all the different breads on offer…
Each morning I had the difficult task to choose which bakery to visit. Au Bon Vieux Levain was a five minute walk away and offered a delicious ‘baguette campagne’ (a medium brown baguette made with wheat, rye flour, and sourdough) and a tempting ‘pro-body’ bread which suggests it’s relatively healthy.
Even closer to ‘home’ I found two other even more interesting bakeries. Le Fournil Brianconnais was the smallest of the three bakeries but with a very dedicated ‘boulanger’. The baker showed up around 7:30 am, when the bakery opened its doors, covered in flower and speaking passionately about his bread of the day in broken English and with the typical French accent . No surprise to mention I was a fan of this guy from the moment I entered the bakery for the very first time. I tried his ‘boule de seigle’ (a tasty rye bread) and the very special ‘khorasan kamut’ a very traditional and more nutricious bread only available on Thursdays.
Finally there is La Craquante, probably the most popular bakery of Briançon. They’re open from 6:30 am to 9 pm every day. Needless to say that this bakery operates like a well-oiled machine. They had delicious ‘baguette aux céréales ‘ (their darkest one with grains) on offer aside from many other beautiful breads. Opposite their main counter though, they had another shelf with homemade bread of varying sizes called ‘bûcheron’, a traditional farmer’s bread. I bought one of around half a kilogram and enjoyed every single bite of it!
To prevent my workouts in the gym from being useless, I decided to stick to the ‘baguette aux céréales’ as part of my daily routine. From the other breads I would simply eat too much…
An outing to Vallouise-Pelvoux
Since my tiny house wasn’t available for the full month, I had to move for a couple of days. I decided to visit Vallouise and Pelvoux. Briançon isn’t your typical metropolitan area but Vallouise and Pelvoux are as quiet as it can be. This is life in the French countryside to the fullest. I had booked my stay here initially with backcountry skiing in Puy Saint Vincent and Pelvoux in mind but got a much more complete experience in the end.
Okay, the snow wasn’t great and the weather was way too hot which made the skiing and ski touring so-so (or moyenne as the French would say…) but I met some amazing families in gîte la Paille, explored the area on foot, discovered beautiful villages and met nice locals who went out of their way to get me back home at varying times of the day. In the end I had a much deeper experience than some yippie ki-yay powder skiing.
It was a bit of a nightmare to reach la Paille by public transportation. The bus would depart from Briançon around noon on Wednesdays but when an hour after schedule there’s still was no bus, I carried my luggage to the train station. There I discovered that the first train would leave at 2 pm and actually was a bus. Time to enjoy my selfmade lunch on a bench just outside the train station…
After arrival in L’Argentière-la-Bessée I needed one more bus to Pelvoux before I could start my ascent to the gîte which was located a few hundred meters above the village. Drenched in sweat, I arrived at la Paille with my 50 kilo’s of luggage. In roughly 5 hours I had covered a distance of 23 kilometers…
The next day I decided to check out the classic ski route to la Blanche, the mountain above the Pelvoux ski station. Despite the desire to ski a nice couloir like la Rouya Nord, I had to play things safe. I was not alone on this sunny and warm day, plenty of tourers took advantage of the lift system and started the 700 meters vertical ascent. A few hours later I found myself on the final section before taking a nice break in the strong sun to enjoy the views from the summit with Pelvoux shining in the distance.
Again, the snow was moyenne but who cares at this point. It hadn’t snowed in weeks so being out there was already a treat. Back in the gîte, a very nice family had arrived. It seemed local custom for French families to mingle with the other guests from the moment they arrive in a gîte. Kids starting playing games while still wearing their jackets and the parents started preparations for the apéro (you know, cheese, baguette and wine etc.) with the other adults. This family was no exception and before I knew I was playing Uno (a popular card game) with the kids.
Matthieu, father of the family, is director of a theater in Béziers in the South of France and Frédérique, mum of the household, works in the movie industry as a writer. Given their artistic nature, it is no surprise their children were into painting, music and had different views to life compared to many other children (you might have seen them, the ones behind the screens…). It was refreshing to say the least. Since sleeping in dormitories is an almost impossible task for me, I was usually awake and in the common room at 6 am. Gabin, their son, took notice of my early rise and soon joined me to have some time together, practice his English and draw some attention from Huishhuish (one of the two cats at la Paille). Together with their daughter Anouk, they formed a lovely family.
They were surprised to witness my love for French bread. When I wasn’t skiing, I used the day to go for a walk to Vallouise to visit the bakery there or hitchhiked even further down the road to les Vigneaux to get a taste of their bakery’s produce. Le fournil des écrins, located in les Vigneaux, had delicious baguettes while le fournil du lapin blanc is renowned among locals for its amazing sourdough bread. So when they returned from their skiing lessons and found me at the gîte waiting with a baguette au levain or pain aux grains, they were slightly surprised that I had spent most of the morning to get a nice piece of bread.
We enjoyed many conversations, had hot chocolates together and, of course, tried some delicious cheese (Saint Nectaire to be more precise) which Mathieu’s brother Jean-Baptiste had brought with him. The icing on the cake was, to no surprise, a raclette evening. I had already bought food for the evening when Gabin asked me “you want to have dinner with ‘nous’?” and this offer was, of course, impossible to reject. The perfect finish of what felt like a true French experience.
Col du Lautaret came to the rescue
Even though the gym in Briançon was brand new and had great facilities and the bread in all the bakeries I visited, was simply outstanding, I came to this part of France for the skiing. And to use an understatement, the skiing hasn’t been amazing so far. While walking around town I had visited the Bureau des Guides many times and had met Yoann, a very nice mountain guide. We started talking about challenging routes and he seemed to be just as excited to make something happen as myself. Couloir Davin, couloir la Rouya Nord and le Lasseron have all been discussed on an almost daily basis…
With fresh snow missing in the forecast, the conditions to ski steep couloirs were getting less and less attractive. Towards the absolute end of my stay there was a sudden surprise though, Col du Lautaret, known for its micro climate, had a bit of fresh snow coming and together with strong winds this could lead, with a bit of luck, to some nice powder. When Yoann also found 2 other clients for a challenging run on Col du Lautaret, the plan was set. February 28 we headed to Combeynot Ouest to ski down a nice variation!
The day before the guided ski trip, I explored Col du Lautaret on my own to get a taste of the conditions. During my ride (hitchhiking is the way to go here…) the driver pointed out a nice line from Col des Clochettes down to the road from where one would have to catch another ride back home. My plan was to ascent to Col des Clochettes and ski down the same way. I thanked the driver for the ride, wished him a pleasant day and started skinning…
When ascending the final section to the col, the slope got steeper and steeper. A local passed me and made some advanced zigzags in a narrow couloir. I followed him to practice my kickturns. The last 50 meters were covered on foot since the going got too tough. The local skied down the other side. Little did I know that this turned out to be the route pointed out earlier by the driver. The snow looked so good, that I put my doubts away and followed him also on the descent (out of sight of course…). The snow was really nice and there was no one else around. Back at the road, I quickly arranged a ride and found myself back in the tiny house in the afternoon. If this was the appetizer, the main course would follow the next day…
The following morning it was quite busy at Col du Lautaret. This did not come as a surprise given the marginal snow conditions in general and the fact that the col had much better conditions because of its elevation and micro climate.
Many ski tours from Col du Lautaret get pretty serious almost directly from the start and our tour to Combeynot Ouest was no exception. The terrain is quite intimidating from the parking lot and it’s actually hard to imagine that there are routes to and from the summit ridge. We followed Yoann and soon found ourselves on seemingly endless zigzags before reaching a plateau where we had a short break.
Next was a steeper section where we had to transition into bootpacking to reach the final part of the ascent. A pretty sketchy and exposed traverse led to the last 100 vertical meters which were covered on foot. To feel safe on this exposed and rocky terrain I used my ice axe. When considering the full ski tour, it was really ambitious of Yoann to make this happen with three clients he hadn’t skied with before. To top it off, he was trying to find a variation to go down. The classic route is nice and steep with snow that looked soft and still untouched in places but he had something special in mind…
On the first exposed section he clearly checked out everyone’s ski level to make sure that what he had in mind was realistic. Instead of following the direct line down, he took a turn skier’s left where a nice couloir was waiting for us. One by one we tackled the short but steep and narrow gully filled with powder. The good thing was that there were no tracks for as far as we could see. True powder skiing was beyond my expectations after weeks without snowfall in Briançon. Let’s say it was a pleasant surprise!
The remainder of the descent was extremely enjoyable with nice fall line skiing. Northing very steep, nothing narrow, simply very nice terrain to ski and we were the first to leave our signatures. Back at the parking, an exchange of high fives and laughs concluded a beautiful day in the mountains. Col du Lautaret has always been on my mind and it will definitely remain there!
The last day before leaving France, the weather was not good for ski touring so I decided to take things easy. Monêtier-Les-Bains is the perfect destination for an easy stroll. Lovely architecture and curly streets that go up and down define this litte village. Without the snow it definitely didn’t feel like the middle of winter but I guess that was in line with the whole time I had been in the Écrins . It would have been strange to finish the trip with half a meter of powder in town…
Back in Briançon it was time to decide where to enjoy my last dinner. France is not the cheapest country and as a result I cooked my meals so far. I figured I had to eat out once to finish in style. I wasn’t in the mood for the ‘montagnard’ cuisine (you know… cheese, cheese and more cheese) so I decided to visit le Kazdal based on the many positive reviews and laidback atmosphere it seemed to have.
I’m not a big fan of burgers. The bread is usually terrible and the meat mediocre at best. Here, most people seemed to go for a burger and the plates looked amazing. When I found a burger with Saint-Nectaire I was sold, the l’Auvergnat burger was my order. The atmosphere in le Kazdal was exactly what I was looking for, very relaxed. People from all walks of life were enjoying a casual meal while discussing the events of the day. Nice music, staff was super friendly and food…, well the food turned out to be amazing! I regret that I visited le Kazdal on the last evening of my stay but at least I have a reason to go back to Briançon.
Final words
After a month in Briançon, it’s time to draw up the balance sheet. It wasn’t easy to handle the worst February in terms of snow in recent history. I thought it wasn’t too much to ask to have a few powder days in a month and rainfall up to 3000 meters is very rare, especially this time of year. Aside from the two days on Col du Lautaret, there wasn’t much interesting to ski (if you respect the avalanche bulletin). That was a real disappointment to say the least. Having a month to ski without having to work, is usually ideal to ski some nice objectives.
Considering the snow and weather conditions, I had to shift my focus to workouts in the gym and exploring bakeries around town. This was no punishment of course, so I still had a very nice time this month. It just wasn’t what I came for. Meeting the French family in Vallouise was an unexpected bonus. They were very nice people and thanks to them I have a slightly better insight in French life.
Briançon isn’t your typical ski town. It has a lot of character and the majority of people life their daily life. You won’t see too many tourists, or at least not the herds of foreigners looking for their daily portion of apres-ski. It has a pleasant feel if you’d ask me. Staying in the tiny house and going to the bakery and supermarket to prepare my own food added to the feel of just living my life instead of being the typical ski tourist. All in all, it has been a good month.
Click here to see more pictures of my trip to the Écrins!
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