Ski Touring to the ‘Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme’
/Our Ski Tour to the ‘Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme’
Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme
The Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme is located in the commune of Beaufort-sur-Doron in the Beaufortain massif and on the boundary of the Savoie and Haute-Savoie departments. At a height of 2,443m it is at the crossroads of the Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB), Grand Randonnée 5 (GR5) and the Tour du Beaufortain.
Our Itinerary - Day One
After picking up some lunch from our local boulangerie we left Châtillon-sur-Cluses just after 09:15. It was a bit of a late start, I know, but the rest of the group had to do the school drop off (I had forgotten what that’s like!) and make arrangements for their children over the next 36hours. Our destination was ‘Les Contamines’ just over an hours drive away. Once there we headed to the end of the valley and the parking at ‘Notre Dame de la Gorge’, 1,200m, and the start of our adventure!
Our plan was an overnight stop at the refuge, about 11km up the valley.
Conditions enabled us to put our skis/splitboards on at the parking and around 11:00 we started by following the summer walking route of the TMB & GR5. This heads south up an old Roman road which climbs steadily up through trees and passes over a couple of bridges to ‘Nant Borrant’ where it begins to flatten off and the trees are left behind.
The climb from here was very gradual. We worked our way up the valley, past the refuge at ‘Le Balm’, 1,706m, towards a traverse over some old avalache debris from a steep easterly face to our right. Here the valley opened out into a wide flat plain which we followed southwesterly towards the ‘Col du Bonhomme’ in the distance.
At about 13:00 we stopped for a bite to eat, we were sat at 2,150m, the sun was blazing and we are down to baselayers or T-shirts! While here we picked out some possible lines for the way back tomorrow.
After our break it was time to crack on and head up towards the col. We were keen to get to the refuge as early as possible as there are a limited number of beds available and they’re on a first come first served basis! From the ‘Col du Bonhomme’, 2,329m we headed along a 1.5km traverse on a steep southerly face to the ‘Col de la Croix du Bonhomme’ and the refuge.
At around 15:45 we finally reached the refuge, 2,443m, after an 11km tour in hot spring conditions. Just our luck, there were already others at the refuge and they had bagged the beds in the main hall leaving us the cold dorm at the back!
After dropping off any unnecessary weight and our overnight kit we decided to get in a little ski/board before we made ourselves at home. We headed down towards a small chalet at about 2,000m over mellow undulating terrain. We were all very surprised by the snow quality and it felt good carving up the spring snow after the long hike up.
At one point on our descent we arrived at a small but steep rollover, something didn’t feel right and as I skied around it I released a small slab avalanche. Whilst this wasn’t life threatening it did highlight the potential dangers that are always present. We continued down to the ‘Chalet de Plan Varrarg’ then transitioned for the climb back to the refuge.
On the climb back we were again reminded of the potential dangers by “Whumpfing” sounds every 10mins, this is where a weak layer in the snow pack collapses and the snow pack drops. It’s a little unnerving and on steep slopes, normally above 30˚, this would be a big concern. Taking a closer look we identified the problem, a weak faceted layer of snow 15/20cm below the surface, this information would now play a part in the planning of our route for the following morning.
Back at the refuge we had to organise and dry our kit, with the stove already lit this didn’t take long! The others were a friendly lot and we all shared in collecting snow and boiling it for water, as there’s no mains supply here! People chilled outside on the terrace and watched the sun go down, as it disappeared over one horizon the moon rose from the other. At this altitude the night sky was absolutely stunning, it was a clear night with amazing views of the stars and we were blessed with a full moon.
Dinner comprised of saussison and ‘Adventure Food’, dehydrated meals where you add boiling water, not quite restaurant quality but it was very much appreciated after a long day! This was all washed down with a nice glass of red (well we are in France after all).
The rest of the evening was spent studying the map and planning our route for the following day, a short 200m climb then an 840m run down to ‘La Ville des Glaciers’. From there a long climb northwest over the ‘Col d”Enclave’ leaving a couple of options for the run back to the parking.
Our itinerary - Day Two
After a good nights sleep for most, a restless night for me as I never sleep well at any kind of altitude, we had some breakfast. ‘Adventure Food’ porridge yum yum, I’m not sure I’d have it again! With water replenished and bags packed we were ready to leave, it was 08:40 and not a cloud in sight, it was going to be another hot one!
We headed west towards a small rock band with a steep icy approach, with our couteaux (ski/board crampons) fitted we traversed over the ridge, or should I say I traversed over the ridge! The rest of the group, who were on splitboards, found this section difficult to ascend with most opting to boot pack the final 15/20m.
From here it was a short 100m to the first col at 2,639m. The snow looked great and we were all keen to make our first turns of the day down the 40˚north face. The snow was great and after the first 100m of cold soft snow we were back into the sun and on firm spring snow.
The run down to ‘La Ville des Glaciers’ was mellow and playful and seemed to go on forever. Arriving at the bottom we located the bridge which we needed, to cross the river, and transitioned there. We all shed our winter clothing and opted for light baselayers or T-shirts and applied plenty of sun screen. It was now 10:30 and already very warm!
Heading north up the open valley past ‘La Ville des Glaciers’, 1,810m, we made our way up towards ‘Combe de Bellaval’ and heard the same “Whumpfing” as yesterday afternoon, this might have posed a problem for later!
By the time we reached the the Combe the “Whumpfing” had stopped but there was large avalanche debris on the valley floor which had come down from the southwesterly face to our right and some smaller slides directly in front from previous days.
However, the easterly aspect looked good and spacing out we made our way up a small northeasterly facing gully to a flat plateau with a 150m ascent to the col. Regrouped we made our way up to the ‘Col d’Enclave’, 2,672m, and admired the amazing views.
After a short break we spotted our line, there were some rocks to negotiate with what looked like hard pack snow before some great looking powder. I side slipped into the first section and the hardpack was in fact ice, I locked off my bindings as I didn’t want a pre-release here! Once past this I made my first turn and it was all worth it, 200m of lovely soft cold snow. As the slope started to mellow and receive some sun it became more and more sun affected until it was spring again and we were back in the valley seeking out somewhere for lunch.
Our picnic spot just after the ‘Lacs Jovet’, 2170m, had views south down the valley and up towards ‘Col du Bonhomme’ and yesterday’s route up from ‘Les Contamines’. With lunch over we made our way back over to the skin track we took the day before, traversed the old avalanche debris and made our way back down to the parking at ‘Notre Dame de la Gorge’.
The bottom section had lost a lot of snow cover from the previous day and it was nessesary to walk small sections before finally skiing back to the van for a celebratory beer or two.
Accommodation
Le Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme is an ungarded refuge in the winter months, it had a gas hob, a wood burning stove and a composting toilet.
Equipment
In addition to our normal touring kit we also took food for the two days, sleeping bag, wash kit, toilet paper, extra water (and wine!) and a head torch.
Ski/Splitboard Tour buddies
Arno AlpAdventures
Jack, Lynda and Rob
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