150 m away
Col du Tour Noir
One of the lowest angle ski tours in the Argentiere basin, to a fabulous viewpoint.
Moderate Ski Touring
- Distance
- 7.1 km
- Ascent
- 826 m
- Descent
- 826 m
A mythical line down the true north face of Les Courtes, it has still seen hardly more than a handful of descents.
Ski Touring Extreme
First skied by Chauchefoin in 1977, it wasn't until 1995 that Tardivel, Ballot and Cottignies repeated the line. Roch Malnuit claimed the first and only snowboard descent in 2006. April 2016 brought about exceptional conditions in the Argentiere Basin and the line saw a series of descents in good style by 4-5 team including without an abseil by uber athlete Kilian Jornet. Tardivel asserts that the Austrian route is similar in difficulty to the Nant Blanc face and subsequent skiers have attested to the extremely steep nature of the line agreeing with it's 5.5 grade. With an average angle of 52 degrees for 800 meters, it is sustained and exposed without any letup. There is normally one mandatory abseil near the bottom. With the Grand Montets lift system now closing at the very start of May this line is becoming harder to repeat in the shrinking window for steep skiing before the lift closure. It takes a motivated team to walk up the 4 hours to the Argentiere Basin without having the luxury to scope conditions ahead of time.
From the top of the Grand Montets cable car, ski down the very start of the Point du Vue piste before quickly ducking the rope and heading skier's right. Take the high traverse across the Glacier des Rognons. You can either ski down to the Argentiere Glacier or continue the high traverse all the way across, through very crevassed glacier, to the foot of the N Face of les Droites, before skinning to the foot of the face. Climb the route and ski down the same way.
Extreme
Extreme skiing terrain above 45 degrees. These routes are reserved for experienced experts.
150 m away
One of the lowest angle ski tours in the Argentiere basin, to a fabulous viewpoint.
Moderate Ski Touring
330 m away
An inspiring couloir past a bulging tongue of ice.
Extreme Ski Touring
468 m away
Yet another big 5.4 in the Argentiere Basin
Extreme Ski Touring
516 m away
A great introduction to the steep north faces of the Argentière Basin.
Extreme Ski Touring
602 m away
A beautiful wide and open steep ski face, one of the most popular of the Argentière Basin's celebrated North Faces. Shorter than the rest but steep and exposed in the upper half.
Extreme Ski Touring
857 m away
A spectacular hanging couloir, this line is a 1000m TD alpine route that has seen only three known descents
Extreme Ski Touring
1.1 km away
A truly inconic ski face, THE line of the Argentière Basin
Extreme Ski Touring
1.6 km away
A fantastic route which is surely on every steep skier's tick list
Extreme Ski Touring
1.9 km away
Often overlooked, but a fantasic steep line beneath the Aiguille Chenavier
Extreme Ski Touring
2 km away
One of the Alps most elegantly exposed steep lines, yet very skiable.
Extreme Ski Touring
10 routes · Freeride Skiing · Ski Touring