With Guillaume, the Dibona’s Madier route replaces snowy Granitude: superb granite, a summit to ourselves and a slide back down to the Soreiller hut.
Guillaume picks the fine-weather day for this flying visit to the Écrins! Our original plan was to climb Granitude on the Grande Aiguille de la Bérarde, but the thunderstorms over the previous days have thoroughly plastered the mountain with snow!
It doesn’t take us long to find a plan B: Guillaume hasn’t yet been introduced to Lady Bona, and I always enjoy paying her a visit!
After a good night’s sleep in La Bérarde, we have a 1000-metre ascent ahead of us before we can lay our hands on her collector’s-edition granite! A little coffee on the sunny terrace of the Soreiller hut, watching the day’s few rope teams already working their way up the face… Then it’s our turn!
Today’s climb is the Madier route, also known as the direct south face, following the face’s obvious and only line of weakness… Higher up, we stray from the original route, avoiding the Madier crack via a line of corners to the left before finishing on the Stofer grooves.
We have the summit to ourselves today. After a decent bite to eat, we tackle the normal-route descent and, thanks to the snow, reach the Soreiller hut in just fifteen minutes of sliding!
The local beer is a compulsory stop before we head back down to the valley! The following day, we even find just enough time to squeeze in three pitches above the avalanche barrier before going our separate ways!
Practical Info / Route Topo
J1 — Dibona par la voie Madier
- Après une nuit à la Bérarde, environ 1000 m d’approche jusqu’au secteur du refuge du Soreiller. Ascension de la voie Madier dans la face sud de la Dibona, avec une variante par les dièdres à gauche de la fissure Madier et une sortie par les cannelures Stofer. Descente par la voie normale, retour au refuge puis à la vallée.
J2 — Escalade au-dessus du paravalanche
- Trois longueurs d’escalade au-dessus du paravalanche avant de reprendre chacun notre route.
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