‘Piste L’

Access

This write up is focused on one of the mellowest and most identifiable routes down this face (see photo The Line). In reality the rideable FreeRide area stretches from piste M riders right to the Pylônes piste riders left. This means there are tons of line options, varying in flow, technical difficulty and thrills.

You can access this line from the Suisse or Marmottes chairs but ideally you’d ride up on the Vizelle gondola keeping your eyes peeled on the ungroomed terrain either side of the gondola, so you can scope your line.

From the top of any of these lifts follow the red ‘Chemin Vizelle Combe Saulire’ piste along the ridge, ignore the entrance to to ‘Pylônes’ and instead track around to the right of the large rock feature, ‘Piste M’ will drop away skiers right but you’ll pick up the red cat track, which is a continuation of the piste you are on. As you round the rock and the track steepens, you’ll see the Vizelle Gondola pylon number 12. Drop in here (see photo The Drop In) and cross under the gondola before you reach pylon 11, stay just riders left of the gondola, keeping an eye out for pylon 09 where you’ll cross back riders right. From here follow your nose on the fall-line until you connect with the blue ‘Biollay Verdons’ piste roughly a hundred metres from the Vizelle gondola station.

For a longer descent ride the black ‘Pylônes’ piste or ‘Couloir Des Belges’ from their entry points but then track right as the red cat track or Vizelle Gongola line comes into view. If you don’t cut right early enough you’ll likely miss the line or have an uphill push.

Tech

Given this is piste to piste and for the most part running along the Vizelle pylon line, one could easily take it for granted that this line is fully avalanche mitigated and therefore has zero risk - that’s taking quite a lot for granted - this is FreeRide terrain so Transceiver Shovel & Probe seems like a good choice.

Stoke

On a powder day when access to Saulire opens up this is worth an early look, not only is it super fun but a lot of other riders will be diving into the Suisse bowl so you have a good chance of getting fresh tracks. Once you’ve hit this line once or you have sight of the blue piste below you can really let things run. There are a couple of rollers towards the bottom that’ll help you scrub off speed if needed, or give you the chance to take some air, depending on your preference of course!

Gnar

This line never feels consequential, the worst case is you track too far skiers right and have to cross through a fairly obvious rock band or down one of a couple very short chutes, Alternatively you track too far left and find yourself rolling over a couple of cat tracks and navigating out towards the last few hundred metres of the red ‘Combe Saulire’ piste. The very steepest parts of this line are at max between 35-40 degrees but this will only be for a couple of turns before things mellow out to something more like 30-35 degrees.

Awe

On a clear day there are great views of the Courchevel valley and across to Mont Blanc - not overly breathtaking but always a cool sight.