Col de Berard

Route seen from Grand Montets

One of the easier day routes with some skinning and some descent, and seems to be in all the guide books of the area.

The route went up from the Index lift at Flegere, traversed across to the Chrochue valley and then up to the col, down into the valley at the back until it is possible to turn right and up to the head of the Berard valley then down to Le Buet.

We walked from the camp-site to the  ski station and bought a one up ticket for the station, up in the cable car to the mid station then the three seater chair, memorable for its folder over screens.


From the top the route traverses off to the right, and then the skins went on and the traverse continues with a gradual climb. Going over the side of a ridge coming down it direction changes as it heads to the head of the valley.

As the route gets to the head of the valley it gets steeper. Sometimes it is possible to skin all the way up, but more often than not you end up kicking steps up, with the skis on your back.



The top is a narrow notch, but the other side is more open and looks down to the valley at the back. The first turns were on a packed surface as we worked our way down to the traverse line.



 At the traverse line we followed the train tracks made by numerous earlier parties.
As we got further down the sides close in and we stayed as high as we could to save the reascending around the corner.

Putting the skins on again, we headed up to the next col - this was an optical illusion as it looks a long way, but it is not steep and before long you are on the col.

 The descent follows the long valley down to Le Buet ... we had seen the complete route from the track the day before.
The top section is like the open bowls at Grands Montets, then as you go past the hidden hut, the valley narrows and the route goes into the trees. The route follows the right hand side of the stream, and coalesces into a track. this weaves around the side of the stream and at one point we were schussing around a series of boulders, with me in front, when Bryon wobbled off balance and ended up in the stream..  I reacted quickly and stopped, getting out of the skis, ran back up the stream to check if he was ok. Other than counting all of his limbs and getting over the shock of the fall he was none the worse, and had been saved major injury by the sake of his back pack.

The final section was one we had done the previous year and down through the trees to the beginner ski runs, and a welcome beer in the bar. We caught the next train back to Les Praz and walked back to the camp-site.