Snow report Belledonne, 01/25/2017

Snow condition

You could start directly from the Rivier d'Allemont parking lot at 1200 m. Even above that, the snow cover was sufficient in all exposures to ascend and descend without stone contact, which surprised us positively. The east of the Belledonne chain has a good snow cover and significantly more snow than the surrounding area. There was about 120 cm of snow on the mountain. Parking lot approx. 20 cm

Snow quality

The snow quality was still extremely good in places. There was still some untracked snow and well-set powder snow as well as slush snow on south-facing slopes. Overall, the snow surface was quite inhomogeneous. In some areas the wind was at work, there was a wind crust and icy patches. However, there was a lot of snow in places, especially at the summit, and a small couloir below the Grand Pic de Belledonne was also skiable. If you had a rough idea of the soft spots from the ascent, you could ski good snow.

No descents could be observed. In the 35-40 degree steep funnel-shaped ascent to the col there was some old drift snow, but it seemed unproblematic. South-facing slopes were well softened by the afternoon and one should watch out for wet snow slides if necessary. Bulletin Avalanche Isere issued a 2 and warned of danger zones close to the crest. We were able to observe this danger the days before in Les Sept Laux. It wasn't a problem on this tour.

Overall impression

Great tour in much better snow conditions than expected. We were the only ones on this route. A change in the weather could arrive next week and bring some snow. 3 single, stray flakes have already been spotted on the summit. More please