Ecrins 2

Two weeks ago I climbed some really nice routes with Andreas in the western part of the Ecrins. Now we went to the eastern part, to Ailefroide. The eastern part is mostly better protected against the bad weather which usually comes from the west. The weather forecast was not brilliant but it should be ok for a few days. After a few days we hoped that It would be possibly to climb some real stuff.

Trip 1: First we went to the Sagnette. The Sagnette is one of the rocky tops on the north side of the glacier noir. 2 really nice routes in excellent granite are located there. Both routes start at the bottom, and the first four pitches bring you to the base of the pyramide. The pyramide starts with the real climbing, 6a+, 6b, 6a+,… 12 pitches in the pyramide. Really nice and sustained climbing.

We really enjoyed this route. It took us 5,5 hours to get to the top, we were so happy that I unfortunately sent my ATC into depth… the following rappel action was quite interesting because I had to descent on a belay knot (HMS). As a consequence the rope twisted every rappel. It was quite a hazel to reorganize the ropes, but it keeps you busy outdoors, so we enjoyed the climbing and even the descent.


The Sagnette - seen from the parking...


Bernd in the fourt hpitch just below the pyramide


Bernd at the start of the crux pitch 6b+

Trip 2: The next day should be good weather, and we thought well it’s time to try a serious route: Aurore Nucleaire, a Michel Cambon route from 1986. The route is located on the famous north face of the Pic Sans Nom. A long approach along the glacier noir and a wild route up to 6b in 14 pitches without bolts, rated ED.

We started at 5.45h on the parking lot at Pre, walked in 3,5 hours. It was very windy, which made it very cold… we went up to the bergschrund and it was very scary, the snow was quite unstable and after crossing the bergschrund we would have to traverse polished slabs which were not protectable. In combination with the cool temperatures we were very unsure if we could climb a 6b in this conditions. In the original topo this tricky traverse does not exist, but because of the glacier melting in the last 20 years one or two pitches have to be climbed nowadays… it was a hard decision but the combination of factors made us to decide to go back.


long but beautiful walk in, the Pic Sans Nom is to the left with the first light on top




checking out the possibilities crossing the bergschrund

Trip 3: The next morning we checked the weather forecast again, and we got some really terrible news. In the Ecrins, Chamonix, but also the south part of Switzerland it would be rainy until the mid of next week.

So we decided to cancel our trip and give our favourite routes another try in a week or so. Leaving Ailefroide we made a short stop in Ponteil. We climbed L’Araignee, a really cool steep/overhanging multi pitch route up to 6b (trust me, it felt more like a 6c/7a, I redpointed the route the difficult pitch anyway). 


Bernd seconding the third steep pitch just below the nice roof