Passage de Savolaire

Last Sunday Natalie and i went our for a "short walk" above Essert la Pierre.  Just like in the Sound of Music, the mountain kept calling us higher and we ended up at the spectacular Passage de Savolaire, which at 1997m leads to a narrow-ish couloir down into the Vallée d'Abondance.

Passage de Savolaire, looking down to Abondance

We're definitely going to be checking this out on rando when Winter gets here.  It will have to be early in the season though as the climb is in full sun.  The couloir down into Abondance should be awesome, as, at 5pm, there was still frost on the ground on the north-facing slopes.

About half-way up we passed Brion, which consists of one farm - apart from the lack of electricity and phone, this would be an awesome place to live - in the Winter you get sun until 17:00 and a perfect view of Mont Blanc over the shoulder of Nantaux.

At Brion, looking towards the huge mass that is Nantaux

Finally, at the top, just above the Passage, there's the tiny peak called Pointe des Lanchettes where Scarlett and Runa figured it was time for a break and some sun-tanning.  We're definitely running into Winter now with it getting really cold in the shade.  We'll absolutely be back here when it's covered in snow, and, incidentally, if you're climbing it and planning to ski into Abondance, i'd say the couloir to the right of Pointe des Lanchettes as you ascend from Brion would be the easier ski in - the route to the left is narrower and looks a lot steeper.

At the top of Pointe des Lanchettes