Brevent & Flegere Off Piste Skiing

The ski area of Le Brevent and La Flegere is one of the quieter areas on powder days and makes it a favourite of ours for that very reason. Often we can find fresh tracks all day, long after the snow has been tracked out at Grand Montets!

One area, which requires a little bit of hiking, is the ridge at Brevent, which gives us the option of dropping into various steep chutes above the Charles Bozon piste. The steepness of these chutes makes them avalanche prone so we take care as slipping here could result in falls over cliffs and avalanches that could take out skiers below. We get to this area by talking the top Brevent cable car up and then follow the Bozon run down until it turns sharply to the right. Here we take a left under the avalanche warning rope, passing this means you need to be responsible for yourself and others, be equipped, and know what you’re doing. Following the ridge, there are a few sections where we have to go uphill and so have to walk a little bit. Depending how far we go there are various narrow couloirs that drop down to the right. After a 10-15 minute hike along the back of the ridge we reach the Col de Brevent, an open col with views on the right down to the Bozon piste and Chamonix Village immediately below. Another one of our favourite runs with plenty of steep and deep stuff to amuse us. The snow is usually good here for a few days after a fresh dump but will get unstable if the sun gets to work on it and the temperature rises, so we don’t do this run late in the afternoon on warm days. In the spring you’ll see the pisteurs setting controlled avalanches off on these slopes.

The terrain of Flegere is also superb for off piste skiing. There are so many route variations here there just isn’t space to explain them all! It can be said that the main Flegere bowl offers some of the best free ride terrain that Chamonix has on offer. The natural ‘lumpy’ terrain at Flegere makes it great for natural table tops, quarter pipes and half pipes and in fact, the whole bowl is pretty much rideable with only a few exceptions. The snow often remains very good at this altitude however it is good to remain alert as this section has hidden rollovers, some of which lead onto very large cliff drops so we recommend that you don’t go skiing over things before you’ve checked where they go!! Only enter this off piste area in good visibility and once you already have a good idea of where you are going.

Flegere Ski Area	Fresh Tracks	More fresh tracks !!	Rollovers & cliffs above Chavanne chair	Combe Lachenal bowl

On a fresh powder day, we try and catch the first cable car up from Les Praz to get those all important first tracks!! The Index chairlift that was opened during the 2005/06 winter season has made getting into the Combe Lachenal even easier now as it drops you right at the top of the bowl. Take a left (skier’s right) from the chairlift into the bowl, pay attention to any warning barriers as this bowl is avalanche prone. Make sure you are fully equipped, trained and avalanche aware.

The bowl is vast with only one piste running down the middle. You can select to traverse out either left or right to get fresh tracks, and generally it takes a long time before this bowl is truly tracked out. If you traverse out skiers’ right be sure not to go so far that you can’t get back to the piste at the bottom that will take you back to the Evettes chairlift. (You may find yourself heading down to Les Praz via the main avalanche chute if you stray too far off the beaten track!!).

If you traverse left about halfway down you’ll find a small hidden bowl that keeps the ‘freshies’ longer than the main bowl. The terrain is great for free-riding with open sections at the top. Lower down there are small chutes and drops to the right, rollers and trees to the left for you to get further adrenaline rushes from!

The area to the right (skier’s left) of the Index chairlift also has some superb off piste with longer runs possible. Head out below the old index lift building and work your way down the mountain. Along here you’ll find cornices where you can drop in, and wide open slopes where you can ‘let rip’ before heading down towards the Trappe chairlift that takes you back to the Index lift. The area between the Floria piste and the Pylones piste is a massive unpisted area that has enough excitement to keep us coming back run after run, each time discovering another hidden stash of fresh snow. You can also access some of the great off piste conditions to the right of the index chair by using access from the bottom of the Floria lift. We would reiterate that we are extremely careful in this sector above the Chavanne chairlift as this area has many rollovers as we discussed above, some of which lead to large cliff drops. Make sure you can see your route down the mountain before you take of a top speed!

If you’re trying off piste for the first time, the area under the Trappe chair has some fun terrain. Trees and good snow will give you a good taste of the off piste without straying too far from the green runs.

Above the Trappe green run, there are a couple of steep, narrow couloirs visible to the right as you get to the top on the ride up the Trappe chairlift. They start out wide and flat but quickly become steep and narrow so probably best not attempted if the snow is hard and icy but in good snow they offer a real buzz and are a true technical test of your ability. We get to these from the Pylones piste, by heading skier's left just before you get to the flat section near the bottom of the run.

The section below the Evettes chair offers some steeper but still reasonably pitched tree skiing with plenty of drops and bumps ideal if the visibility isn’t great or if the higher lifts are closed. You can spot your lines as you ride up the chair, so route finding isn’t complicated. Traversing skiers left under the Chavanne chair leads you out to the slope above the Trappe green run. This area has a few gullies that form natural half pipes often with cornices and some great rocks to drop with small trees to slalom lower down.

If you are interested in hearing more about our off piste and skiing adventures we can offer you some indication of which months (historically, at least!) have enjoyed bumper snowfall as we have our entire archive of Snow reports available for you to read online. Why not spend 5-10 minutes before you come out browsing through the reports to see what conditions were like in seasons gone by. Although we can't guarantee the same weather or conditions, at least you'll be able get a feel for what to expect and if nothing else, it’ll give you plenty reading in the interim until our snow reports kick off when the season starts!!