With Nico and Tom, I climb the south couloir of the Grande Sagne: a thousand metres of snow, a glacier crossing and a break at the Refuge des Écrins.
More adventures with Nico and Tom. After yesterday’s climb up the Tête de Gaulent, another great day is on the agenda today: the Couloir de la Sagne. With such a beautiful, clear night, maybe we can finally count on the snow refreezing a bit.
We set off at 5 a.m. from Le Pré... we’re making good time on the climb. We put on our crampons at 2,400 meters. Bingo—the snow’s refrozen! Ahead of us lies a 1,000-meter couloir that gets steeper and steeper—let’s do this!
On this beautiful snow, we move quickly and confidently. The last 400 meters of the couloir are steeper. Nico and Tom are equipped with two ice axes. The sun is gradually reaching the couloir, but we stay in the shade almost the entire time. Perfect timing! Halfway up, we have fun taking a short, dry detour that lets us avoid the gully in the couloir, which occasionally channels small rocks...
Around 10 a.m., we emerge at the pass, and the view opens up to the north. A magical stretch between the Black Glacier and the White Glacier. All that’s left is to descend the steep slope on the glacier side. Both crevasses are completely filled in… just a little more effort to cross the glacier and climb back up to the refuge, and then we can collapse onto the terrace with a beer in hand while waiting for a hearty omelet to recharge our mountaineer’s energy!!!
A lazy afternoon in the Ecrins... an intimate atmosphere—there are 15 of us at the shelter... tomorrow, the caretakers are expecting 140!
Client Testimonials (0)
No testimonials yet. Did you join this outing? Leave your review!
Write a review
Share your experience of this adventure. Access restricted to participants.
Want to experience this type of adventure?
Contact me to plan your custom high-mountain project.
Contact me