An obvious and fun line near the lifts.

Statistics

1

m

476

m

39

max°

Difficulty

FATMAP difficulty grade

Moderate

Description

A classic ‘close in’ off piste run with high North-facing slopes (and so often holding cold snow),the Côte Brûlée does see a lot of traffic but with very rare sections at 30º or above it is accessible to most off piste skiers.

Once a good base is down there are some fun small rocks to drop off (though in the early season it can be a bit ‘sharky’) and with 500m of vertical drop this gives a good long off piste run back on to the bottom of Venturon piste just above the chairlift. The route is accessed from the Côte Brune chairlift above Mottaret or from the Bruyères or Mont de la Chambre lifts above Les Menuires with a traverse in from the top of the Venturon red run.

For full value start from the top of Côte Brune and double back on yourself hard left as you come off the lift.

The descent starts down a gentle gully which soon gives way to a succession of slightly steeper pitches.

You can stray as far skier’s right as you like as long as the chairlift stays in sight - be aware that if you start dropping down the steeper slopes to the right towards the Lac de la Chambre piste the exits need to be scoped in advance as there are rock bands and icefalls lower down this slope.

If the conditions aren’t great you can pull back left at almost any point to reach the Venturon piste, but otherwise keep heading down until you start to run out of angle then work your way back to the piste and head back up for another lap!