Mountaineering in the Écrins: Éperon de la Voie Éteinte in Ailefroide, the traverse of Pointe Cézanne and Graine de Cézanne on the Aiguille Pierre Étienne.
In short: three days of mountaineering and rock climbing in the Écrins with Quentin, starting from Ailefroide and the Glacier Blanc hut. Plenty of variety along the way, with a 250-metre, D+, 6a multi-pitch trad route on the Éperon de la Voie Éteinte, a mixed traverse of Pointe Cézanne, and finally Graine de Cézanne, another trad route on the Aiguille Pierre Étienne.
Three accessible mountain routes and three different styles: multi-pitch rock climbing, mixed terrain and ridge climbing, all with a mountain guide.
Éperon de la Voie Éteinte in Ailefroide – Multi-pitch climbing
A few months ago, Quentin and I had been talking about climbing the Aiguille Verte… But we have to face facts: several months of lockdown have taken their toll on our fitness, and conditions at the start of the summer are still a little too wintry for that sort of project.
So instead, I suggest a varied three-day programme.
For day one, we start with some multi-pitch trad climbing on the Éperon de la Voie Éteinte — a chance to get back into the rhythm of climbing longer routes and placing a few nuts before heading up to the Glacier Blanc hut.
It's a beautiful route above Ailefroide, which is still wonderfully quiet at this time of year.
Traverse of Pointe Cézanne
For our second day, I suggest a lovely mixed route above the hut: the traverse of Pointe Cézanne, a climb that's usually best done early in the season while there's still plenty of snow around.
Today, we have the mountains entirely to ourselves for this little adventure along our own local version of the Rochefort ridge!
Graine de Cézanne on the Aiguille Pierre Étienne
The day is going well, and the snow makes the descent back to the hut relatively painless, so I suggest to Quentin that we carry straight on with the route we'd planned for the following day.
To be fair, the forecast for day three doesn't leave us much hope of getting anything done anyway…
One omelette and a nap later, we're off again, this time heading for the Aiguille Pierre Étienne and Graine de Cézanne, a lovely trad route finishing along a sharp ridge.
That evening, we settle back into the Glacier Blanc hut, surrounded by other climbing teams coming up with increasingly elaborate plans to deal with the heavy rain forecast for the following day.
We, on the other hand, can sleep soundly.
Tomorrow, all we have to do is walk down!
Practical Info / Route Topo
Day 1 – Éperon de la Voie Éteinte – 250 m – D+, 6a
- Starting from Ailefroide, we get back into the swing of multi-pitch climbing on Éperon de la Voie Éteinte: 250 m of trad climbing, graded D+, 6a max. A lovely chance to get the nuts and cams out again before heading up to spend the night at the refuge du Glacier Blanc.
Day 2 – Pointe Cézanne Traverse – 3,365 m
- From the refuge du Glacier Blanc, we set off on a lovely mixed alpine traverse of Pointe Cézanne (3,365 m). Snow-filled couloirs and ridge climbing make this a particularly interesting route early in the season.
Day 2 – Graine de Cézanne – Aiguille Pierre Étienne
- Back at the hut, after a well-earned break, we head out again for Graine de Cézanne on Aiguille Pierre Étienne. A lovely trad route, finishing along an elegant, narrow ridge.
Day 3 – Descent from the refuge du Glacier Blanc
- The weather turns as forecast. With all three climbs already in the bag, all that’s left is a leisurely walk back down to the valley.
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