Back on the Dôme des Écrins with Clément and his family: awkward snow, a cloudy summit and François’s fifty-year dream becoming a shared adventure.
Back on the Dôme des Écrins with Clément, another university friend drawn into the adventure by his uncle François. For more than fifty years, François had dreamed of climbing that white dome visible from every summit in the Clarée valley! His friend Jacques and son-in-law Gilles are joining us too.
The suspense lasts until the early morning. Will the overnight refreeze be good enough to attempt the Dôme? Will the weather cooperate?
Towards the end of the flat glacier section, doubts begin to creep in. For almost 200 metres, we break through an awful crust that makes progress tiring and unpleasant. Fortunately, yesterday’s outing gives me grounds for optimism: I know conditions will improve higher on the face.
We wade through a little more awkward snow at the start of the climb, then everything settles down: good, supportive snow at last! We find our rhythm and, with the clouds beginning to break, even start hoping we might steal a clear-weather summit.
The rest goes smoothly. As the altitude makes itself felt, our pace slows a little on the final rise before the traverse. No lucky break with the view, though: the summit of the Dôme des Écrins remains in cloud.
Everyone has come for different reasons, but the emotion is shared! We celebrate with a little round of génépi!
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