Col Pers: off-piste skiing in Val d’Isère · Field Guide

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These are ideas for professionally guided outings, not route directions. Beyond the marked pistes, avalanches, cliffs and glacier hazards demand specialist judgement. Choose the day’s route with an appropriately qualified local professional; carry a transceiver, shovel and probe and know how to use them.

Icons describe terrain, skiing demands and walking, including route variants. Skiing labels are descriptive, not official grades. Open terrain describes the landscape, not the snow conditions; a missing terrain icon does not mean that feature is absent.

Photographs from Fredrik’s collection. Photo credits.

Pissaillas · Fornet

Open terrain
Skiing: Demanding exit
Walking: Approach + mid-run

Broad valleys and imposing rock walls give Col Pers its grand scale. The scenery changes throughout the outing, and the return is a serious part of the plan: the Malpasset gorge can be impassable, so the exit must be assessed by your guide.

Fredrik’s experience

The bootpack and entry

Col Pers starts with a bootpack of around 5–10 minutes. The entry is steep and often rocky, so take your time. There are variants to the left and right, depending on the conditions. A large wind drift can build up on the left; don’t stand underneath it.

Col Pers · Entry

Photo supplied by Fredrik

Col Pers · Left entry

Video supplied by Fredrik · No sound

A skier in a red jacket moves down a snow-covered passage beside a rock wall, while another skier waits above.

Col Pers · Right entry

Photo supplied by Fredrik

Col Pers · Right line

Video supplied by Fredrik · No sound

A skier makes linked turns down a broad snow-covered slope marked with curved ski tracks.

Far from the lifts

Then the ground becomes gentler and these enormous expanses open up. You see no lifts and often no other people either. The scenery is beautiful. In my experience there is almost always some untracked snow, simply because the area is so vast. But keep the slopes on both sides in mind: the open space around you still has avalanche exposure.

The gorge and Grand Torsaï

This is where local knowledge really matters. On the route I’m describing, you must avoid dropping too far down towards the Gorge de Malpasset and missing the climb towards Grand Torsaï. The river gorge is often impassable. Pay attention to the warning signs at the start. If there is any doubt about whether the gorge is passable, ask the ski patrol or your guide before setting off. Never try to force a passage through a closed gorge, or one whose condition you do not know. Going too far down can leave you facing an uphill return requiring skins and touring equipment, or needing rescue. Neither an easy way back nor a helicopter pickup is something to count on.

There is another walk in the middle of the run, around ten minutes in my experience. Depending on the snow, we make the climb with skis on or carry them on a shoulder, using the established stepped track. Once up at Grand Torsaï, there is another spectacular view across the mountain massif towards the Italian border.

Towards Pont Saint-Charles

The descent continues towards Le Fornet and Pont Saint-Charles. There is more avalanche-exposed terrain here, so local knowledge of the snow and the choice of line remain important. You are a long way from the lifts and the usual piste-patrol infrastructure. This is not a run I would do alone, or in poor visibility.

A little adventure

For me, the most important thing about Col Pers is the experience. The skiing itself is not especially challenging on the outings I’m describing, and the snow on the final section is often worse. What stays with me is the length of the journey, the scenery and the feeling of being far away from everything.

It is a little adventure, really. In good weather and with the right guide, it can feel like a very gentle little adventure.

Fredrik’s personal experience of a guided outing; the entry, wind-loaded slopes, gorge and return still require a local guide’s assessment for the day.

Sources

A skier in a yellow jacket beside curving ski tracks through a snowy mountain valley under a blue sky. — Col Pers

Photo by Fredrik Lennström

Col Pers

Video supplied by Fredrik · No sound

A skier makes turns through open snow below rocky slopes.