Dôme de la Girotte

From Albertville, head to Beaufort via the D925, drive past the village andtake the D70 on the left towards Les Curtillets and Hauteluce. At the foot of Hauteluce, turn right towards Les Granges and the Val Joly resort. Stop at Les Granges (1,157 m), where parking spaces are scarce; otherwise, drive a little further up the road to park.

(S/E) From LesGranges, take the path south-east towards La Montaz and La Commanderie, along the Alpettaz. At a water intake, the path veers left into the forest for a very steep, winding climb up to a junction with a footpath a few metres before the edge of the woods, below the Chalet de la Montaz.

(1) Turn left to continue climbing through the forest. The path then veers to the right to skirt the top of the Montaz mountain pasture, before levelling out slightly in the forest to reach a chalet, which it passes alongside.

(2) From there, you can leave the path, which continues along the edge of the forest, and take the gentle snow-covered slopes running parallel to it up to the chalet marked ‘La Montaz 1530 m’.

(3) Return to the path, which winds its way up out of the forest to the edge of the Chalet de la Commanderie le Bas.

(4) Head straight up towards the Commanderie chalets, in the middle of the mountain pasture.

(5) Continue climbing, veering to the right to reach La Commanderie le haut.

(6) Climb either by traversing to the right or straight up the slope towards the clearly visible pass: signposted ‘Vers le Lac’.

(7) Take the gentle ridge on the left to reach the summit of the Dôme.

(8) Return towards the pass

(7) Head right to pass by the various chalets of La Commanderie down to the bottom of the mountain pasture.

(4) Take the path towards La Montaz, with possible variations to stay on the snow-covered grassy slopes for as long as possible. Thus, at the top of the Montaz mountain pasture, it is possible to descend past the mountain chalet before rejoining the path in the forest.

(1) Descend via the steep path, at the bottom of which you can cut across the meadows, just like skiers, to reach Les Granges (S/E).

No particular difficulty, apart from the steep climb through the forest between the Alpettaz water intake and La Montaz.

Depending on the time of year, snowshoes will be put on at the start, or at (2) or at Commanderie le Bas (4).

Crampons may be necessary for the ascent through the forest if the snow is icy.

This panoramic summit is also popular with skiers. There are three possible routes: from Les Granges (map), from Belleville (resort) or from the Sapin car park, via the forest road leading from Saint-Sauveur (but not cleared of snow in winter).

Beautiful views from the pass over the Beaufortain, Mont Blanc, Bauges and Aravis massifs, as well as over Lac de la Girotte when it is full.