Col de la Pisse from Chaillol 1600

Park at the start of the ski slopes at the Chaillol 1600 resort.

(S/E) Leave the resort via the hiking trails, passing under the chairlift.

(1) Turn right to pass under the Selette ski lift, then follow it to a fork in the path.

(2) Continue straight ahead until you reach a fork.

(3) Leave the path that climbs to the left, continue along the track for about ten metres and cross the stream on the right^, following the^GR® markings^{. Very} quickly leave the^GR® at a three-way junction to climb up to the left. The climb is well shaded by larch trees. The vegetation is quite dense, but the path is wide. The slope is fairly gentle with numerous hairpin bends. Cross the Font Froide stream and remain in the open mountain environment, with an unobstructed view of the cirque. You will reach a fork in the path.

(4) You will then find a variant of^{the GR®} de Pays Tour du Vieux Chaillol, and turn right towards Col de la Pisse (35 mins). You will come to another fork.

(5) Leave the^GRP® by climbing up to the left. Cross the Torrent de la Pisse and arrive at an alpine pasture with a fairly recent wooden chalet (beware of patous in summer). Reach the Col de la Pisse.

(6) At the pass, continue to the right for about 100 metres towards Vieux Chaillol. 

(7) Here, at an altitude of 2,354 metres, are the remains of the old canal with the exit from the covered section, then the large sandstone slabs that cover it. Turn around, pass the Col de la Pisse, a first fork passed on the way there, and reach the second fork, also passed on the way there.

(4) This time, continue to the right. The path descends very slightly, remaining on a balcony until the fork at an altitude of 2,040 metres.

(8) Continue straight ahead and you will find yourself back in the forest with dense vegetation, but the view remains clear. You will reach another fork.

(9) Continue straight ahead and turn left to descend the path, which continues as a track that ends at a fork with another track.

(10) Take the forest track on the right towards Lac de Barbeyroux. You will reach a fork in the track at an altitude of 1751 metres.
Alternative route: see the "practical information" section.

(11) Descend to the left on a wide track that continues into the forest, eventually arriving at a ski slope. The descent is steeper as you are at the end of a ski slope. Descend to the start of two ski lifts, then take the wide track that descends to the resort.

(12) Continue along the track and, after about 100 metres, look for a path starting on the right.

(13) Take the path on the right and descend to the Abeil distribution basin.

(14) Retrace your steps back to the track.

(13) Follow the track to the left for about a hundred metres.

(14) Turn right onto the path marked with a sign for "Canal de Malcros": this is the same canal whose water used to flow through the Col de la Pisse. Return to the mini golf course above the chairlift departure point and continue to the fork you passed on the way out.

(1) Turn right and return to the starting point (S/E).

Alternative route: from (10), you can turn left to descend more directly and with a more even slope to the centre of the resort (S/E). However, this route does not pass through the distribution basin (14), which has been restored.

Excerpt from the Écrins park information boards at the start of the hike, concerning the forest you will be crossing between (3) and (5), then (8) and (10): a vast national reforestation programme.
From 1860 onwards, following devastating and repeated floods caused by deforestation and overgrazing, the State bought land from the municipalities and entrusted its reforestation to the Water and Forestry Administration. This is how the Chaillol national forest was born. To provide the millions of larch and pine trees needed, numerous nurseries were built on site. The workers lived in wooden huts, but today only the name of the forest road and the presence of terraces bear witness to their existence.

Not to mention Malcros, the mountain irrigation canal:
"By decree of Napoleon III, from 1874 onwards, the Malcros canal carried meltwater from the Malcros glacier (2,800 m) to the Col de la Pisse (2,354 m), where it flowed down towards Chaillol and Saint-Bonnet. On this route, subject to harsh high mountain conditions, maintenance work was incessant, difficult and costly. In 1923, discouraged, the inhabitants finally abandoned the canal. The water gradually stopped flowing through it. Since then, the glacier itself has disappeared...

To find out everything about the Malcros Canal, visit the website of the Malcros 2818 association, which coordinates its preservation and restoration: http://www.canaldemalcros.com
or watch a very interesting video produced by the association: https://youtu.be/LIm_M5oryt4

The Chaillol1600 resort is one of the gateways to the Écrins National Park.