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Col du Vallon

3 Valleys

Meribel

Vanoise Massif

A mellow trip into the Vallon du Fruit.

Freeride Skiing Moderate

Distance
6.8 km
Ascent
44 m
Descent
1.1 km
Low Point
1.7 km
High Point
2.7 km
Gradient
35˚
Col du Vallon Map

A great trip into the Vallon du Fruit - mellow skiing and stunning views of the Aiguille du Fruit - the busy Mont Vallon pistes are soon a distant memory! This also makes a good extension to K2 couloir or variants if you hang a hard right traverse at the bottom of the couloirs and cut across the piste...

Description

From the Combe du Vallon red piste bear right after the first pitch to ski the slopes skier's right. At about 2650m bear right again into the bowl dropping towards the obvious col. Follow the vague gully line all the way down to the valley floor, with lots of options for jumping off rocks and playing with the terrain.

Be aware that you are skiing through a nature reserve - do not ski past the warning signs either left or right of the main gully line, and resist the temptation to take a high traverse before the valley floor - the park wardens do check up on who is skiing where and will issue stiff fines if you are cutting through the reserve

Once you hit the flat valley floor pole/skate & sidestep to the mouth of the hanging valley then follow the walkers path down a couple of zigzags and onto a gentle open field. When you hit the cross-country track below this a slight left and then right will drop you down to the very end of the Tueda flats - 10 minutes of skating (optional stop at the café...) will get you back to the Mottaret lifts.

Difficulty

Moderate

Slopes become slightly steeper at around 25-30 degrees.

Low Exposure (E1)

1 out of 4

Exposure is limited to that of the slope itself. Getting hurt is still likely if the slope is steep and/or the snow is hard.

Remoteness

2 out of 4

Away from help but easily accessed.

Best time to visit

between January and April

Features

  • Walk Required

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