Adrien and Manu finish our Écrins trip on the normal route up Barre des Écrins. From Brèche Lory to the summit cross, a long-held dream takes shape.
One last outing to round off our stay in the Écrins, and a big one for Adrien and Manu: Barre des Écrins by the normal route. On the walk to the Écrins hut the day before, we passed the wreckage of a plane.
Summit day — From Brèche Lory to the cross
We’re among the first teams to leave. It’s warm this morning, 12°C on the thermometer at the Écrins hut. This could be interesting!
Despite the heatwave, still air and a completely clear sky have let the snow refreeze from 3,000 metres. We find a steady rhythm on the way up. I’m careful to keep some energy in reserve for my companions. They’ll need it on the ridge!
At Brèche Lory an Italian climber is busy on the first steep step. He’s gone for a much harder, poorly protected variation, with his crampons still on. Possibly grade V.
Manu, Adrien and I take the usual line, traversing diagonally around the step. From the belay I can see beads of sweat on the Italian’s forehead. He’s letting out a few choice words for anyone who understands them, between shouts that make it sound as if he’s about to come off. I offer a tentative ‘Come on, you’ve got this!’ With one last groan he gets himself out of trouble and reaches the belay he was aiming for, which is actually used on the descent! To our surprise, a second Italian team, friends of the first, takes the same variation. They have a fair bit of hard work and fright of their own, even though they saw how easily we went round the step. Well, there’s no figuring it out!
Once past the first step, we put down our metal gear and set off along this fine ridge to the highest point in the southern French Alps.
For their second alpine ridge, Manu and Adrien are doing really well, especially on the steep sections. We’re a little slower on the easier ground, where sure-footedness makes all the difference. No matter. The weather’s wonderful and we’re in no rush. No stress!
We reach the cross a little ahead of the Italians, who, to our great surprise, have done the whole thing in crampons! Manu and Adrien are rightly proud of a summit they’ve earned. A dream come true!
Practical Info / Route Topo
J1 — Walk to the Écrins hut
- On the way to the hut the day before the climb, we pass the wreckage of a plane.
J2 — Barre des Écrins by the normal route
- We reach Brèche Lory on snow that has refrozen despite the heat, take the usual line around the first steep step and follow the ridge to the summit cross.
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