The North Face of Bellecôte La Plagne
At the top of the “Live 3000” gondola, departing from the summit of Bellecôte in La Plagne, you reach Peisey Nancroy and then Peisey Vallandry, with over 1,500 meters of vertical drop in powder snow. A north-facing face, as its name suggests.
Once you reach the bottom, take a well-deserved break at the “Fer à Cheval” or the “Petit Hiboux” to recharge your batteries!
There are so many different entrances to this vast cirque of powder snow, overlooked by several kilometers of ridges. From west to east, you can see the Friolin, the Rodzins, the Petite Face, the Canadiens Couloir, the Cairn, the Moyenne Face, Valençant, the Grand Nant, the Gros Glacier, Ruggeri, the Pianiste Couloir, and the Pépin Couloir.
Throughout the descent, you may have the chance to come across chamois, black grouse, ptarmigan, hares, foxes and even the bearded vulture, which nests not far from there, near the entrance to the Vanoise National Park.
Like any off-piste area, the North Face is a constantly changing place, a natural environment that should not be ventured into without great caution and guidance from an experienced professional.
Here, southerly and westerly winds deposit sometimes impressive snow accumulations, and conditions can change drastically from one day to the next, or even from one hour to the next.
Beyond the classic DVA, shovel, and probe, which should always be kept in your bag, we highly recommend going with a professional instructor, who will know how to read the terrain and ensure safety.
Avalanche risk management
Ski touring, freeriding, and backcountry skiing offer a captivating adventure, but it’s crucial to consider the inherent risks.
To fully enjoy the powder while staying safe, responsible risk management is essential for backcountry skiing and freeride enthusiasts.
Don’t let potentially fatal avalanches spoil your fun—prepare, equip yourself, and learn to assess the hazards. With a conscious and thoughtful approach, you’ll be able to explore unsafe terrain with confidence. Be an informed backcountry skier and safely pursue your passion for mountain sports.
Avalanche risk is a complex challenge in mountain sports.
While we’re often aware of other hazards, the risk of an avalanche often goes unnoticed.
It’s not uncommon for the pleasure of a great powder session to push us to take risks with a potentially fatal avalanche. That’s why it’s essential to master the basics of avalanche prevention and risk management.
To assess danger, it’s crucial to be aware of the risks. And by understanding the context, we can make informed decisions despite uncertain information. Don’t be afraid of the challenge posed by avalanches; learn how to manage risks so you can fully enjoy your mountain adventures.
Avalanches are divided into three distinct types based on their triggering mechanisms: loose snow avalanches, slab avalanches, and glide avalanches.
Each type has its own characteristics and poses unique safety challenges. Loose snow slides occur when loose snow breaks loose and cascades down a slope, often triggered by a skier’s weight or natural factors such as wind or temperature changes. Slab avalanches, on the other hand, involve the rupture of a cohesive layer of snow, which fractures and slides downward, posing a significant risk to backcountry skiers.
Glide avalanches, characterized by slow and continuous movement, differ from the previous types because they generally occur on both gentle and steep slopes, making them difficult to predict and mitigate.
Raising awareness of these different types is crucial to promoting safe enjoyment of snowy landscapes.
“DRY” LOOSE SNOW AVALANCHE
A loose snow avalanche, often referred to as a “loose snow slide,” can be dry or wet. It is characterized by a point break and a flow cone that widens into a pear shape. Most of the time, these avalanches are rather small and have little potential to bury a person. Dry loose snow avalanches are often observed after fresh snowfall and on extremely steep terrain over 40°.
“WET” LOOSE SNOW AVALANCHE
Loose wet snow avalanches are observed in cases of strong warming, often on steep rock slabs from around 35°. Once released, these avalanches can also progress into flatter sections.
POWDER SNOW AVALANCHE
Powder avalanches are dry snow avalanches. The masses of snow mix with the air and accelerate very quickly, creating aerosols. Depending on the volume of snow mobilized following the break, powder avalanches can be superficial or generate a huge shock wave with great destructive potential. They often produce a very characteristic aerosol.
SLAB AVALANCHE
The slab avalanche is the deadliest type of avalanche for winter sports enthusiasts – approximately 99% of avalanche victims die in slab avalanches. It is characterized by a slip along a marked rupture line from twenty to several hundred meters wide. Slab avalanches require a slope of at least 30° to slide, are usually dry, and slide on a weak snow layer. They occur when a “bonded snow layer” (the slab) rests on a weak layer (usually a very soft snow layer with angular crystals). If the weak layer is disturbed (for example, by a person passing by or an explosion), the rupture propagates within seconds, causing the entire slab to begin sliding and accelerate.
GLIDING AVALANCHE
A gliding avalanche is a special type of avalanche that is typically observed on steep grass slopes (from 27°). In a gliding avalanche, a slab of snow slides over a film of water. This is formed, for example, when moisture seeps from the snow to the ground and accumulates on lying grass (warm gliding avalanche). Moisture sometimes also comes from the ground (wet meadows) or forms when the first snow falls on very wet grass slopes. Typically, cracks or incipient cracks called “fish mouths” form above the slab before it slides. Glide avalanches cannot be triggered by people or explosions. They are spontaneous, and it is hardly possible to predict if and when they will be triggered.
HOW TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN TYPES OF AVALANCHES?
GLIDING AVALANCHE
Although glide avalanches often resemble slab avalanches, they very rarely cause casualties. This is because they cannot be triggered by the passage of a skier or mountaineer. The basic rule is not to stay unnecessarily under glide avalanches or cracks in the snowpack. The risk of glide avalanches is easily identifiable by the typical “fish mouth” formation.
- Typical initiation crack (“fish mouth”)
- Cannot be triggered artificially
- Slope > 27°, often at low and medium altitude
- Slides on a film of water – usually on steep grassy slopes
- Very rarely causes casualties
THE PLAQUE AVALANCHE
Slab avalanches are the main risk and the most deadly type of avalanche for winter sports enthusiasts. In 95% of cases, the victim triggers the slab avalanche themselves.
In a slab avalanche, the entire slab of snow detaches and suddenly begins to slide. Once carried away, escape is virtually impossible. In the Alps, around 115 people die in avalanches each year, the vast majority of them in slab avalanches. The avalanche risk is not a constant. There are so-called “avalanche periods,” i.e., times when weather conditions and the snowpack are particularly dangerous—this is usually the case for a few days each year. Before and after, conditions can often be quite safe from an avalanche perspective. It is therefore important to recognize these specific danger phases. Avalanche risk often varies across space, and generally only affects certain exposures, altitudes or terrain types. It is therefore logically possible to avoid dangerous areas.
LES « INGRÉDIENTS » D’UNE AVALANCHE DE PLAQUE
A snow slab is a “rare occurrence.” For a slab avalanche to occur, very specific conditions must be met. Only when the following four “ingredients” are present in the snowpack and on the terrain can a slab avalanche occur.
- UNSTABLE STRUCTURE: A cohesive snow slab lies above a weak layer with very low cohesion.
- RUPTURE INITIATION: The passage of a skier, whether ascending or descending, exerts a force on a weak layer.
- RUPTURE SLIDING: If the weak layer extends over a large area and the slab’s characteristics are unfavorable over a large area, the rupture propagates into the weak layer and the slab slides: this is an avalanche.
- SLOPE STIFFNESS: The slab only slides if the slope gradient is greater than 30°.
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STIFFNESS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE INCLINATION OF THE SLOPE
Skier-triggered avalanches occur on average on slopes of 38°. In some cases, slab avalanches are observed as low as 30°. Below this, the triggered slabs remain in place due to friction. On gentler slopes, only a squelching noise (woom) is heard: an alarm signal indicating that the snow slab has been triggered and propagated. The fact that the slab does not slide is solely due to the lack of slope.