Anyone Ridden La Grave?

A snowHead

Is it as fearsome as I read? A 2005 trip to Alpe d'Huez is going to include a helicopter trip and a days pass in Les Deux Alpes. One of our group has suggested investigating La Grave. Can intermedietes negotiate it safely (with a guide I assume)???

A snowHead

Philip, you'll probably find some information on www.pistehors.com You can also find out more on www.chalet-meije.com Yes, it is scary and people do die there.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

La Grave and L2A are not directly linked. there is a 20min hike at the top to get from one to the other. At La Grave there is a pisted run at the top, the rest is all unpisted, there is also glacier and possibly many crevasses and all sorts of other danger (in an average year La Grave has at least one skiing fatality). However there is a standard (tourist) run which gets tracked out very quickly but conditions can be variable. Your best and safest route to a day in La Grave is to hire a guide and get some fat skis. make sure your insurance covers off-piste.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Phillip,

this is the report I posted after skiing La Grave for the first time last March. I'm out there again in February.

Fantastic terrain, really demanding skiing, couloirs, steeps, glaciers, (when was the last time you put a climbing harness on to go skiing?) icy bump runs through trees, fresh powder yesterday one week after the last snow (if you know where to go) . Stunning, stunning mountain enviroment. Tiny village, hard core, no night life after 10 - if you're still awake you're not skiing hard enough.

Physically it's massively demanding, there's 2,150M of vertical and to ski it all in one go leaves you absolutely drained. You need to be a strong advanced skier with a fair bit of off piste experience and you must be physically fit.

GET A GUIDE. GET A GUIDE. GET A GUIDE.

It is easy to get confused, there are no pistes, negligble markings, no safety ropes, no ski patrol, it is a pure mountain environment. But they take safety very seriously, everyone carrys avalanche packs and transceivers even when risk is as low as 2. They pride themselves on knowing their limits and abilities and adjusting their routes and skiing to that. If the visibility went while you were up there and you were unguided you would be in real trouble.

We put our own travel and accomodation together and were guuided by Didi and his mates (www.snowlegend.com) and they were fantastic. 70€ per day gives you guiding in groups of 5-6, skis (B2,B3 Scratch BCs in great condition) ava pack, transceiver, harness, helmet. Days pass 30€.

This really is the true essence of skiing. You, the mountain and your ability. Forget the flash bars, nightclubs, fancy ski gear shops get back to how it's really meant to be.

A final word of warning, it will spoil you forever, every where else will feel like a compromise.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

If you're a good intermediate, not easily spooked and hire a local guide you'll be OK. There is some fearsome stuff (stop at the refuge/cafe place to watch people doing some of this) but there's also a couple of quite reasonable routes. One of the best day's skiing I ever had. Do it if you can.

You'll need to Register first of course.

The main runs down, which don't normally require a guide because they are tracked by so many skiers (this is subject to good visibility and not new untracked snow) are tough to ski - because they're totally ungroomed - but not horrendously steep.

You need stamina, good leg strength and confidence to ski La Grave - those are the main things.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

It also gets a bit mogulled towards the P1 bubble.

Jean-Yves Hubaud, a very good guide, is charging 260euros/day on his site

After all it is free

Thanks for the good info.

Yes, Jean-Yves is good, and Philippe Andre is perhaps even better, though he tends to push you a little more, so he is perhaps more suited to good skiers.
The guides seem to be getting more cautious recently about taking people down the couloirs (you could ski a weekend there without skiing any, though for me they are the real point of the place).
Since someone skied off a cliff a couple of years ago and his relatives sued the resort (there was a thread on this) they have had a rope barrier above part of that cliff; but there are so many others.
I nearly skied off one myself when not with a guide. I just got too engrossed in some lovely untracked powder and went too low. I stopped just in time as it got steep before the plunge, and spent a hairy few minutes climbing up a few yards to traverse out. My own stupid fault, I knew the cliff must be down that way. (I hope nobody followed my tracks).
Yes, although there are several quite moderate and usually well-tracked ways down you really do need a guide or you could get in trouble.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

I don't disagree with any of the above.
In response to is it safe, I would say that the risks in La Grave which are increased compare with other resorts are that the glacier has a lot of crevasse danger and there are some particularly steep slopes and couloirs on which a fall may be fatal, with a guide you should be able to avoid both.
Should you ski it as an intermediate? I would say it depends on what you classify as intermediate as the term seems to cover every skier between beginner and expert for some.
A personal view is that the popular routes are of roughly tough red steepness, as there is no pisting the quality of snow you are likely to encounter is highly variable. To make it worthwhile you probably don't want to follow in everone elses tracks, I would say that if the intermediates have some experience of offpiste skiing and are capable of skiing average black runs comfortably they may well enjoy La Grave if they do not ski to this standard they may well find the experience exhauting and possibly disspiriting.
If you want to ski elsewhere and decide La Grave is not for you Serre Che is worth considering. Unlike La Grave it is on your lift pass, it is about1/2 hour further to drive. The off piste is very good with lots of possibilities through the trees. If people become tired the opportunity to go back on piste is there. The snow conditions are often very different on either side of the col du Lautaret and if considering this I would investigate the snow conditions first.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

PS I see you have headlined ridden not skied I am not a boarder but would point out that some boarders find the traverses to get back to the lifts a bit tiring for the inexperienced.

snow reports

Thanks again. I classify myself as an intermediete boarder, but can ride blacks (even mogul fields - though I do not enjoy them) and have ridden 2-3ft of powder, but never done a coulier or the likes. The rest of the group is of similiar standard.

I walked down via the Breche de Paccave (in August) and noted several opportunities for disaster. The terrain is very varied - the same gradient might be slabs of rock, small scree or large boulders. The scenery is magnificent and I would love to visit it in winter. There is quite a walk from the bottom of the slope up to the lower cable car station.

You know it makes sense.

I don't board so treat any advice with a degree of scepticism, but from what you say I would of thought you may enjoy La Grave if there has been recent snow but might not find it worth it if there has been little recent snow and the snow surface therefore harder and moguls where they exist bigger and harder, you have to be able to ride to this standard all day.If you remain doubtful it may be worth taking an offpiste lesson and asking the teacher if you are suitable

I would also suggest as above to find out if the snow is better at La Grave or Serre Che, Serre Che will be a lot more enjoyable in good snow than La Grave in indifferent snow.

Help!!

Anyone Ridden La Grave?

snowHeads Forum Index >>> The Piste