Cabane de Bovinette and Pointe Ronde

March 6, 2025

A friend’s birthday was the perfect excuse for a group getaway to the Cabane de Bovinette. The summer car park beside Champex-Lac was completely free of snow, and driving a very urban Skoda Octavia up the forestry road turned out to be the most adventurous part of the weekend.

By the time we arrived, the cabin was warm and welcoming, putting to rest any worries about the cold. The evening was clear and still, and the sight of multiple planets aligning across the night sky was spectacular. It was a special night—made even more so by our friend’s six-month-old daughter, a reminder that parenthood doesn’t have to mean missing out on mountain adventures.

We were a diverse group, and the ascent of Pointe Ronde presented no real obstacles. The day remained calm and clear, and from the summit, we admired the Aiguille du Tour and the Grand Combin in the foreground, with the Dent Blanche, Weisshorn, and Matterhorn standing proud to the east. One of our group, a trainee opera singer, treated us to a few Catalan mountain ballads at the top, accompanied by slices of chocolate cake.

The first 600 meters of descent were glorious—fresh snow over a firm base on the north side. The final 400 meters, down a frozen track, weren’t quite as enjoyable but still made for a fun ride.

Back in Chamonix, we capped off the day with a well-earned celebratory beer.

Stats:

Depart 09h19, Summit:13h00, parking 15h45

11.46 km 1104m+

Crêta de Velle

December 13, 2023

10.12.2023

As always, we spent a magical night in the hospice. Time spent with a group of friends, a unique atmosphere and the stillness that comes with staying in the hospice always make for an enjoyable weekend. I look forward already to next year’s weekend.

The night was extremely windy on the Col du Grand Saint Bernard. According to the Meteo Suisse weather station, there had been gusts of up to 150km/h. This was promptly verified when I popped my head out the door before breakfast. This was forecast, and a plan to adapt to this situation had been formed the night before. The decision to descend down to Bourg Saint Pierre was made, and we would hope that the worst of the wind would not have affected the lower altitudes. I said my goodbyes to Brother Rafael until next year, and we made the easy descent back to the car. 500m- of descent was not bad to warm up the quads.

Starting at the school at Bourg Saint Pierre, it was a rare short descent down to the river. The snow was abundant, but wet. We knew it had rained during the night but hoped it wouldn’t be too bad for the snow pack.

The climb up through the forest was pleasant, and the snow-covered trees had an air of stillness. We set a good pace, which was fast but manageable, and we quickly met the treeline. A short traverse was required to navigate an old landslide before meeting the cross that could be seen from below and rejoining the plateau.

The snow felt awful, a thick crust had formed and the underlying layer was wet. We hoped it would improve as we went up. The original plan was just to stop at the cross at Champ Long (2132m), thinking that the snow would be wind beaten higher up. We decided to continue on a bit and see how the snow developed.

Fortunately, as we continued up it seemed the snow had been sheltered from the wind and was on the limit of snow/rain. It improved as we approached the summit and we even encountered limited patches of semi-fresh powder. The descent would at least have some metres of fun.

A pause was taken at the summit to enjoy a view of the Massif du Mont Blanc to the west and le Grand Combin and Mont Velan to the east. Cups of tea and a sandwich later and skins were off ready to descend.

Descending afforded us about 50m of good snow and 950m of not-so-good snow, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. Arriving back to the end river at the bottom of the valley, my legs were shot. 1000m+ of descent in heavy snow on untrained legs was tough so early in the season and only went to reinforce why I need to go the gym before the new year.

Stats:

Depart 10h45, Summit:13h45, parking 15h

13.2km 1081m+

Les Monts Telliers

December 12, 2023

09.12.2023

A visit to the hospice at the Col du Grand Saint Bernard has become a permanent fixture in my diary at the weekend closest to Saint Lucy's Day. Mentally, it marks the first proper days of skiing for the season and is probably one of my most anticipated weekends of the year. Not necessarily for the skiing; in fact, I am still to really experience the slopes of the Western Valais in good condition. I like it more for the atmosphere in the hospice and the time spent with friends after the actual skiing takes place.

Nonetheless, there was some skiing to do, and given mixed conditions and a group of seven, we decided to repeat last year's outing. Les Monts Telliers provides a relatively simple route from the start point at the tunnel at Bourg Saint Bernard, and with the light being extremely flat and snow predicted in the early afternoon, it was a sensible choice.

We arrived at 10 am, and many groups had already set off for the day, with the car park being almost full. Keen also was the majority of our group arriving at 9h15; they also decided to head off before we arrived, giving us 45 minutes to make up.

The route was quite self-explanatory, and we set off towards the valley that spurs off from the road that heads up to the col. The weather was already looking grim by the time we started the main climb, and by the time we turned off towards the la combe de Drône, the snow had started to come down. We had about 500m+ left to do, and it didn’t look great. I was pretty set on making the call and turning around but decided to continue on until cresting the main slope before fully committing to this decision.

Fortunately, we didn’t turn around, as the snow stopped as soon as it had started, and we even managed to punch through the patch of thick clouds. A glimpse of almost blue skies popped out, and then we caught sight of our group ahead of us. This made the idea of turning around seem obsolete and we shuffled on to catch up with guys ahead.

Views over towards Mont Velan looking moody

I remembered the last section of the route being a bit exposed and as we reached the last ridgeline, we decided to take the skis off and bootpack the last 50m+. We were all one big group of seven now and the steps kicked out were gladly borrowed as the top of the mountain had taken a fair amount of wind over the last days. I was slightly concerned at the risk of windslab, but we spaced out and passed the steeper headwall without any issues gladly.

The weather window we had miraculously found did not look like it was hanging around so after a quick visit to les Monts Telliers summit (2977m), we whipped the skins off and set upon skiing off the top section which was the most tricky section of the route.

View south towards la Pointe de la Drone (2949m) and la Pointe des Trois Lacs (2796m)

Any fears of the summit descent were quickly avoided as the group successfully navigated the tricky traverse on the windy face. All that was left now was the gentle descent back down to the road. The snow was good, light and untracked, but the flat light took away from what would have been excellent on a better day.

All that was left was the last hour climb up to the hospice. There were no complications, but the weather did turn for the worse and required the completely foul weather set of clothes with goggles. In the end, the hospice was a pleasant site.

Depart: 10h10, Summit: 13h20, Back to the Road: 14h30, Hospice: 15h50

14.1km 1,443m+: