Grimentz – col de Torrent
6th April 2007
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I’ve wanted to ski this line for ages but either conditions weren’t right on the day or I had other plans so with some great spring conditions and some fairly ideal touring conditions I grabbed the chance today. It’s a PD+ route from the CAS guide (number 469) and basically leaves the top of the lift system in Grimentz skirting Becs de Bosson heading via the lac de Lona to the Col de Torrent before heading down to the barrage de Moiry. There’s a trade route from Zinal that drops into the same location in fact.
The col de Torrent is visible in the centre of the right photograph which was taken near Lac Lona.
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Here in Zinal the lifts are running from 0800 but apparently not in Grimentz, I’d arrived at 0830 and was surprised the Bendolla wasn’t already running. By the time I’d got to the top of the Lona drag lifts there were half a dozen more people fixing skins and starting ascents round the Becs de Bosson.
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The first descent proved there was still some nice snow around, skiing down from the col des Becs de Bosson down towards lac Lona was excellent, nice skiing on great spring snow before starting the next ascent to the col de Torrent (above left).
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It’s a 30′ slope straight off the col and had been taking a little sun so the best line looked to be a quick traverse to under the visible rocks before dropping into the main valley and heading towards the barrage. The skiing was fantastic, classic spring skiing in a deserted valley with straightforward navigation.
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Skirting round the Alpage de Torrent (left photo’ centre) I dropped into the barrage from the slightly steeper slopes directly above it.
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After enjoying a quick drink and a snack at the barrage I set of initially relaxed towards Grimentz.
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After a few metres it became apparent that the slopes here were amongst the most potentially hazardous I’d skied all day, I spent the next part of the route picking my through the debris of earlier avalanches with some slight concern about the state of the slopes.
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June 8th, 2007 at Fri, 08 Jun 2007 17:53:20 +0200
[...] is from a tour a took back in April (Grimentz – col de Torrent) round the local area. The blue line is my planned route and the red is the actual track recorded by [...]
July 14th, 2007 at Sat, 14 Jul 2007 22:09:00 +0200
[...] taken in more or less the same position as one I took back in April as I skied down to the barrage, that’s here. Fortunately it’s the summer now and you can drive up to the barrage and park, in fact while [...]