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And on the first day we rose up and set forth into the hills and there was much rejoicing at the wondrously early nature of the hour of our departure. As the path passed away beneath us we moved up in the world until at last we came to a stream which was shortened, or at least abridged, so we crossed over and went our merry way. We went round the bend and with much zigging and zagging we mounted the moraine in front of us until at last it was behind us (until we turned round of course). One group then engaged in the tremendously enjoyable activity of sliding down snowslopes in order to fill all their clothes with snow and then sitting in the sun until it melted (otherwise known as ice-axe braking practise), whilst the other group went further up the valley to find some pristine snow (a kind of glacier mint) on which to indulge in setting up snow anchors and trying to pull people over in the snow. Then the second group ice-axe braked whilst the first group answered the call of their stomachs and returned to camp. We found a snow slope shaped like a funnel. Lying at the top we pushed off and stopped ourselves using the ice-axes. After we had mastered this we returned to the camp after a useful morning.
Simon Pargeter
For the benefit of those of us who arrived late and those who hadn't practised snow belays on the first training day, a group of us went to find a snow field close to the camp site. Beforehand however, we began by practising some rope work in the comfort of the camp - ably taught by Stephen Yeates. The agenda included learning how to tie and use Klemheist prussik knots.
The snowfield turned out to be very steep and strewn with rocks, and so was unsuitable for practising ice axe braking, but we all learnt how to make an ice axe belay with two ice axes, something which I am glad to have had the opportunity to learn. Lastly we did a full scale dress rehearsal of a crevasse rescue, involving throwing Matt down the slope, building a belay, transfering his weight onto it, and then hoisting him up the slope (an experience Matt did not, judging by the noises he was making, seem to enjoy). It was pleasing and confidence inspiring to find how easy it was to hoist someone up.
After a late lunch we decided on a short walk up to the Carrelet hut, a walk which we were to become almost too familiar with in the following eight weeks.
Ann Glithero
As the Tete de la Maye starting from La Berarde (1713m) is only supposed to be two hours up, one hour down, we decided an early start was not essential. We arrived at the start of the path at 8:40am.
The first hour or so was a fairly steep climb on steep paths up to about 2100m. We then began to experience steep scrambles on bare rockfaces. On these there had been provided metal chains, cords and steps cut into the rock. There was one section - a virtual rock climb of 10 metres (more if you failed to notice the path coming off halfway up) where the chain was useful - particularly on the way down when you could have abseiled happily - but the general usefulness of it was debatable. Although they possibly made you feel more secure, they tended to give each section with artificial aids an air of being more demanding and dangerous than they actually were.
The scrambling sections slowed the group down somewhat - not all members were happy here. By around 10:30am we reached a false summit at 2458m, which actually gave some good views. After a short rest to allow the trailing members to catch up, we continued up to the top. There was not much extra height to be gained, but there was the odd minor scramble. The summit was reached by 11am. Wide panoramas were now visible.
Also at the top was a "table d'orientation" which indicated all the visible peaks as well as famous mountains world-wide.
As mentioned previously, down again was advertised as taking one hour, and indeed the faster members of the group managed it in 52 minutes, although this required a fair speed. The rest of us were delayed by performing the climbs in reverse and increasing heat as the weather dramatically improved and so got back a while later.
Giles Chanot
After a cloudy start to the day, the low lying cloud was burnt away as we made a late start going through La Berarde and along the western side of the valley. All the streams were full due to the heavy rain the previous night, but this was not a problem as the plank bridges went over them all. The river itself was greyish with silt, compared with it's usual copper blue.
The path was clear and good going through stony slopes, pinewoods and alpine meadows with many different flowers to be seen. The Refuge du Carrelet was well placed to look up both the Chardon and Veneon valleys.
The Veneon valley ended with an impressive glacier snout at the Glacier de la Pilatte. Near this the path crossed the river. Here we found an area of unstable snow bridging the small river, and so bombarded it with stones - initially with dramatic success causing a large berg to float off down the river.
We returned by the other side of the valley, arriving back at around 4pm after a scenic and thoroughly enjoyable walk.
Stephen Fowler
A short walk started in the afternoon. Most of the group were going on two day walks but had to find out what they were, what kit they needed and how long they could delay making a decision for.
We (Matt, Ann, Gareth, Giles and myself) eventually set off, remaining on the same side of the river as the campsite taking a previously unwalked path up the southern side of the Vénéon valley. The path climbed steadily, going along the side of the valley rather than the bottom. In places the rockfalls made some clambering over boulders necessary, but otherwise the path was good.
We caught up with a couple of French girls who were pointing and staring up the hillside at something. Matt, by virtue of speaking the language better than the rest of us, got taken on one side by one of them to look through her binoculars. He returned to inform us that there was a Chamois up ahead. A bit further on we came to an apron of snow which had been funnelled down a gully from higher up. Plenty of stones had come down the same way and there were clear footprints to follow so we had no problems crossing it.
Entering the Chardon Valley we had good views over the Carrelet plain as well as up the valley towards the snow- covered peaks. A short way up the valley we found another stream-gully with snow in it. Here the stream flowed out from under the snow and had melted itself into a large tunnel; large enough for us to walk up - so we did (well Matt and I did anyway). The ceiling varied in thickness from about two feet thick to nothing at all. Trickles of water flowed from the snow and there was plenty of water rushing down the stream so we didn't stay long in order to remain dry. We did stay long enough for the obligatory few photographs though. A few days later we could see from another walk that parts of the roof had melted through or collapsed.
At the head of the valley (so far as the path was concerned) Matt stopped to sunbathe whilst the rest of us walked upstream for about half a mile to where the river flowed out from beneath the snout of the valley glacier. The glacier was impressive - the main valley stream had carved out a massive tunnel at least twenty feet high and thirty feet wide. Added to this there had been a cave-in of the roof a short way up leaving a glacial archway. The ice was covered with rocks of all sizes and periodically one would fall into the river as the ice which had supported it melted.
Our path back was good, soon joining familiar paths along the floor of the Vénéon alley and returning through La Bérade.
Stephen Fowler
As the others had gone off the previous evening on two day walks our group was much the same as for the Chardon Valley walk. Today though Giles stayed behind to sunbathe and Simon G came with us. After another lazy morning and lunch we set off westward, down the Vénéon valley for about three kilometres and then up the small Vallon des Étages to the south.
The path was a good one after the initial rocky stage, going down through woodland for most of the way following the river. It was nice to be walking downhill with just a daysack for a change. We turned south at Les Étages and took the path up the hillside through the trees. The path climbed quite steeply, so it took over half an hour to reach the upper valley mouth. (The Vallon des Étages is a good example of a hanging valley, formed by a small glacier meeting with a much larger glacier which flows at right angles to it. The small glacier is cut off by the larger one leaving an upland valley which drops abruptly into the larger valley once the ice has melted.) So once we had climbed up to the valley, our path became much less steep.
Some distance up the valley we came to a large deposit of boulders. At some time these must have blocked the stream in, as behind them we came to a large very flat area where the soils would have been laid behind a lake. However it got there, this was the only upland meadow of the type which I saw on the trip. It was very pleasant to walk over flat ground, turf and soil (not rock) underfoot with many flowers around small clear streams crossing the path in many places.
At the top of the meadow the terrain changed back to rock underneath and the path petered out. We didn't see the path which was marked as running down the other side of the stream, nor anywhere to cross, so after stopping for a while beside the stream we returned the way we had come, down out of the valley and then back up to La Bérade.
Stephen Fowler
We got up at 5 and at 6 started up the northward valley from La Berarde. We followed the path along the valley floor until we headed off right along a cairn marked path which the map said ran along an "unidentified linear feature". We then met up with another path which took a number of zig-zags across a river and around a lot of rocks, before disappearing at the edge of a snow patch.
On the side of the snow patch we saw a steep snow filled gully which showed signs of someone having been up or down it. So we climbed the gully. At this point we broke into the sunlight for the first time during the day, and saw that there was a lot more snow and glacier between us and the col. Then it became necessary to leave the rock and cross the snow. The snow was quite soft, and not knowing whether it was just a snow patch or the snout of the Glacier des Cavales we roped up and headed up and across towards some other rocks following some tracks that had already been made in the snow. After unroping we climbed a steep scree slope, at the top of which we had a good view of the glacier and the col.
An estimate of one and a half hours to the col was made due to the amount of snow and the slope up to the col. On the basis of the snow being safe and being back for dinner we decided to turn back. After crossing the soft snow we stopped for a late lunch. We managed to descend the gully on the rock at the edge of the snow, then followed the path back to La Berarde stopping part way down for a break in the only shade we found.
Stephen Yeates
We got up at 5am, and set off an hour later by car to St. Christophe, intending to do the three and a half hour walk up the Vallon de La Selle to the refuge: a 1200m climb. We started the ascent at 8:40am. Described in the guide book as monotonous, it surely was. The only vaguely interesting bits were the wooden plank bridges across fast-flowing streams and the several snowfields to cross. On the second of these we met some people coming down, and to our amazement, they started to glissade down towards the river; three with just trainers on their feet. Matt might have considered doing this, but decided against it after the six hours of sun on the snow. We imagined Mark would have given it a try.
The first two hours up (500m up), were spent gradually climbing alongside the river through green grass and bushes; the mountains on either side of the valley becoming more snow covered. Then we entered the national park. It had become very hot, but the cold wind from the top of the valley, from the glaciers, kept it cool. The last several hundred metres were incredibly steep, and here we split up: Matt charged off ahead, followed by Giles, with myself and Simon Gotch bringing up the rear.
The worst thing was reaching a large rock outcrop, imagining it to be the top, and seeing another 250m to go. Matt reached the refuge (run by two young women) about thirty five minutes ahead of us and fifteen minutes ahead of Giles.
We stopped at the refuge for three hours, waiting for the sun to cool a little before descending. One could either lay in the sun out of the freezing wind, or sit huddled in the shade.
The descent took two and a half hours, and was even more boring than going up. The snowfields had become slushy and the wind stopped us from overheating. We arrived back in St. Christophe as the clock struck five. Then it struck five as we were getting into the car, as if to make sure we had heard.
Simon Hubbard
After a bread stop in La Bérarde we set off up the Etançons valley to the Châtelleret hut - reached in the rather speedy time of one hour. After a short rest, we continued towards the Promontoire hut, crossing scree, snowslope and then, roped up, the lower slopes to the Etançons glacier to reach the Promontoire hut at about 1pm. A quick lunch of bread and pâte preceded the fast descent - in two and a half hours back via the same route - an enjoyable day of 1300m ascent and descent which rounded off the holiday well.
John Condliffe
Route: La Berarde - Col du clot des Cavales (3159m) - Refuge Pave - Col des Chamois (3202m) - La Berarde (F+)
Rising at 3:30am-ish, we were ready to leave by 4:30am. Starting therefore in the darkness, we found that soon after leaving the lights of town our eyes soon adjusted to the twilight and we were able to proceed without Petzls.
Along the Etançons valley, the going is fairly easy with a decent path and lowish gradient: the first three kilometres gained us 515m. We then left the footpath and followed the ski track up to the Glacier des Cavales. Here a high gradient is met, slowing down the tailing end of our group significantly. Wide zig-zags exist however, and before long the scree slope leading up to the glacier was reached. Other members of the group had been here the week before and remembered much more snow present then. The path up the scree was described by Collomb as poor, but we experienced no problems.
Next came the glacier and gully ascent. Using crampons and ice axes this was fairly straightforward although steep and laborious, kicking steps as we went. Still some way from the pass, the last 50m or so had to be gained by rock, the scramble made tricky by crampons. Col du Clot des Cavales was reached by us at about 10:30am.
On the descent to the Refuge du Pavé we roped up to begin with; from this side a whole ring of highly crevassed glaciers were visible. Arcing round, the going was fine until we reached a remarkably steep snow gully. With hindsight, we would have unroped at this stage. Unfortunately we didn't, and this meant one member of the group slipping slightly or even just tugging too hard on the next person's rope could lead to that person glissading uncontrollably. At one point, Steve Y began to slide, and due to the softness of the snow took twenty of more metres to effectively ice axe brake. By this stage I had been taken down also as the rope had become taut. The two of us carried on for some distance and rather worryingly were then veering towards the rock wall of the gully - eventually stopping ourselves mere metres from it. Similar problems were being experienced by the other two at the leading end of the rope - we therefore decided not a moment too soon to unrope.
The quickest way down (once safely past the rocky outcrops) was to glissade or rather to perform a controlled ice axe brake as the slope failed to level out for a natural stop. By now the weather had deteriorated badly, ie. it was snowing.
The rest of the descent was a bit of a slog, the last half being achieved on loose scree. With the storm well and truly with us, we hurriedly chose a site to pitch the tent. A reasonably flat area was found, roughly one hundred metres from the refuge. We reasoned that in the current weather conditions we were unlikely to get moved on. We were safely inside the tent and warming up by 2pm.
After lunch and a short nap by anyone who could get comfortable enough (four in a Hurricane Beta is a bit cosy), dinner was prepared - there was not a lot else to do as the weather was so bad. Cooking in the porch of the tent to avoid the snow, we stretched the meal out for two hours. Around 6pm the weather cleared dramatically and we prepared to go to sleep. Before we could get much however, the next thunderstorm arrived. This shook and flexed the tent alarmingly and thunder and lightening did their best to keep us awake. Both us and the tent however survived the night unscathed, if a little damp.
As we had been led to believe the second days walk would not take very long, we elected to rise at a more reasonable hour. I think we finally left at 9:30am.
According to Collomb, from where we were (by the hut) to the pass was one and a quarter hours. This involved circling "round the south side of the lake on snow and banks of slab to a fairly steep snowslope at back". The problem was, the spectacular frozen Lac du Pavé joined up with glaciers on two side, snow around it the other sides and a band of water around the southern edge. This would have made following the guidebook route extremely dangerous as there was no way of telling where it was safe to tread. The glacier on the side leading up to the col was also extremely crevassed.
The alternative was following the rock outcrop that runs south-west of the lake, and joining the snow gully to the col above the glacier thus bypassing the perceived danger. Unfortunately this was very steep with many awkward corners. It was a virtual cliff down to the glacier - one false step and you would have ended up 100m below in the lake - to be avoided.
Consequently this took several hours. We then had a steep snow gully to tackle - the snow was none too firm underfoot and again progress was slow. About half way up we veered off to the left to perch on a rocky bit to rest. The last 100m were progressively more painful and slow and reaching the pass was a great relief. By now (around 2pm) the weather had cleared sufficiently to see back the way we had come (east, along the Torrent du Clot des Cavales valley - for what seemed like hundreds of miles of range upon range of mountains appearing into view. This was a just reward for our efforts.
This far had taken us much, much longer than we'd expected, and our challenges were not over yet. To descend the snow gully on the other side of the Col des Chamois required laborious snow step digging. Glissading at this point was out of the question due to the immediate danger on either side of jagged rocks as the gully narrowed to metres in places.
The guidebook suggested staying on the rock as much as possible and this we tried to do with difficulty. Then as we reached the end of the gully and the start of the snow funnel just as steep, we encountered a channel in the snow, clearly formed by a lot of people flinging themselves down the slope. This struck us as an interesting prospect to say the least, but it was clearly the quickest way forward. The number of rocks was relatively small and it was deemed safe to attempt.
Important things to remember : i) Wear gloves (snow is surprisingly abrasive at 15mph); ii) Keep a firm grip on your ice axe; and iii) Keep it in the correct braking position - otherwise your speed builds up and your ice axe rises above your head in a useless position. It is possible to lose your ice axe completely - Ian who went first, collided with an ice axe someone else had left behind. We learnt these lessons the hard way, but got down in one piece, respectively.
Here onwards was considerably more straightforward - contouring round the snowfields as far as the Etançons glacier, here roping up and alternately crossing safe snowfields and moraine areas. A couple of awkward but not impossible streams later and we were safely on the scree slope which marked the path down for the Refuge du Châtelleret one way and the Refuge du Promontoire the other. Here we stopped for a late lunch (8pm). Eager to be back to base by dark we followed the path down briskly with few stops and were back in La Bérarde by 10:30pm.
Giles Chanot
Having decided that we could not wait any longer for the weather to improve, we set out for our first overnight backpacking walk. However, on arrival at Les Etages, where Matt had left the rucsacs (having used the car for its transportation purposes) the sky darkened, thunder clapped, lightening flashed and we decided against climbing up 1100m to the refuge. Instead we chose to wild camp in the Vallon des Etages up on the opposite side from Les Etages.
Having climbed steeply through a wooded area we reached a flat valley with an impressive glacier at the end. Finding somewhere to camp away from the path proved difficult and we ended up pitched on bushes and undergrowth on rather lumpy ground.
Morning dawned clear and we soon made it back to Les Etages to start the climb to the Soreiller hut, standing impressively in front of the Aiguille Dibona. we completed the climb in guidebook time and ate lunch by the refuge, before continuing across the snow. This trudging was very tiring and we did not get to the foot of the gully as we had hoped, but ended up camping on the middle of a snowfield, having dug out a flat site. Several thing combined to thwart us. Firstly the appearance of some highly threatening storm clouds caused us to retreat to our tents, and then the snowstorm that followed forced us to cook inside. One of our two stoves had stopped working, so we were reduced to cooking for five on one stove in conditions such that nothing could be kept warm. The lack of gas in the cartridge also began to cause problems. The ultimate consequence of this was sweet 'n' sour chicken followed by chocolate custard mixed with rice - an unusual and rather unappetizing combination. It was at this point that the Hurricane groundsheet also began to leak - since Ann's sleeping bag was completely soaked. Her having to spend most of the night in a bivvy bag, combined with the lack of water and gas to cook the breakfast with, and also the layer of fresh snow with its associated avalanche potential caused us to rule out an ascent that morning, choosing instead to make a rapid descent to La Berarde to be back for lunch.
Matt Wait
A group of six optimistically set out on this walk which we hoped would reach the summit of two peaks without the use of crampons or ropes. After our 3pm departure we were soon down the valley at Les Étages (1579m) from where we began our long ascent to the Refuge du Soreiller. At first it was quite pleasant to ascend the valley side looking down on the Vallée du Vénéon, seeing the bright blue river get further and further away. This soon gave way to less positive feelings as we slogged up the steep zig-zags of the path in the afternoon heat. It was much cooler as we turned a corner into a beautiful gorge with waterfalls, but the path soon came back into the open valley. The refuge came into sight but was a deceptively long distance away and it seemed to take years to reach it.
We arrived at the refuge (2719m) at 7pm with aching legs, aching backs, sore feet, sore knees and feeling generally exhausted. We decided to use a bivouac site slightly further from the refuge but even so waited until the mist came between us and the hut before pitching the tents. After our dinner of spag bol and Captain Choc cake & custard, we retired to bed at 10pm.
We rose at 3:30am hoping to get across the snow before it got too soft. However we were so early that we had to cut every step individually (having no crampons). This laborious process took so long that it was 8am before we reached the rocky gully up which we were supposed to scramble to the two summits. Due to the large amounts of snow this year, the gully was full of snow and we had to attempt to scramble up the gully side on very loose rock. We eventually reached a point where coming down looked incredibly dangerous (having no rope), and so had to admit defeat.
We came back down much faster than going up as the sun had melted the snow surface substantially. After lunch at the bivvi site of crackers and pâté, we began our descent at 1pm. We were home at the campsite by 3:30pm.
Helen Ardron
We started late in the morning (around 10) as the route was mostly on rock. We reached the ridge between the two "gendarmes" in good time after crossing some steep snow.
The rock started at the bottom of the ridge. The early section was a mixture of scrambling and short pitches. Later the rock steepened and we pitched continuously - finding the occasional bolt or piton which confirmed we were still on route. Some of the pitches were scantily protected and a couple of hanging sling belays were necessary. It was on one of these that I had a bit of a shock when an in-place piton slipped. After this scare, everything seemed much more serious, and the inordinate length of time it was taking us made us wonder whether we had wandered off the route.
A further scare when a hold broke off in my hand and hit Stephen's rucksack (who was belaying below) did nothing to add to the lightness of the climb!
Eventually we reached the last long scramble to the summit, which we finally reached at 8pm. The route had taken 8 hours rather than the 2 the guidebook suggested, and we now had to get down. Conscious of the fact that we did not have our Petzls with us, we quickly changed out of our rock boots and began to head down the North ridge towards the Breche du Rouget. Following a route description in reverse in fading light produced several detours as we dropped down the wrong gullies, but fortunately we were down to the snow line by dark - perhaps narrowly avoiding a bivvy out. From the snow it was a fast trip back to the tent by the hut, arriving back by midnight.
We all had the feeling that this was a day we would come to appreciate in hindsight - it was still too close at hand for enjoyment then!
Mark French
Like everyone who visits the Soreiller hut, we had been impressed by the sharp needle of the Aiguille Dibona rising behind the hut and so had agreed to return to climb it later in the trip.
We had intended to climb Le Plaret in the morning and finish the afternoon off on the Dibona, but the late return from the Tete du Rouget the previous night meant that we were satisfied by a single route.
Leaving late in the morning, we scrambled up towards the Gunneng Gap under the SW side of the Dibona. We then had a long lunch, before climbing two short pitches to the sharp summit. Led by Stephen, the climbing was good with solid placements and the occasional bolt. The climb was marred by a number of groups abseiling down our route having completed direct routes on the NE side, but this could easily have been avoided by an earlier start.
From the top we had excellent views of the Tete du Rouget route we had done the previous day.
Two quick abseils and a run down the snow took us nearly back to the hut.
Mark French
After our unsuccessful attempt on Tête du Rouget I was unsure as to whether we would reach the top of Mt. Gioberney, but in the event it could hardly have gone more smoothly. We set off to walk to the Pilatte hut on the 6th just walking along the valley bottom and then climbing steeply across snow patches up into a hanging valley. Here the scene was dominated by snow and glacier, in contrast to the green valley below. We camped on the Pilatte terrace, looking almost vertically down onto the surface of the glacier. We had been apprehensive about finding anywhere discreet to camp, but we needn't have worried it seems. Although camping is officially prohibited in the Parc National des Écrins there were several sites marked out in front of the hut, and no one seemed to mind us camping there in the least (they probably just thought us mad).
We made a 3am start in the morning, left our tents in the porch of the hut and were walking by 4am. Unfortunately we were walking in the wrong direction. The previous night we had found a path corresponding to the guidebook's description of the start of the route. However this turned out to take us down to the glacier. We turned around and retraced our steps and after Matt had asked someone where the path began, we set off up an indistinct track. Five minutes later we were wondering if this was some kind of French joke, as our track petered out and we became unsure whether what we were following was a path or the course of the water supply for the hut. However as dawn broke we were able to spot a line of cairns leading across the rocks, and everything went well from then onwards. We crossed several snowfields using crampons and reached the col at about 8am, the first group there that morning. From there it was a short climb up loose rock and scree to the summit - only my second peak over 10,000 feet.
Ann Glithero
We quit La Bérade at 3:30pm, passed the Carrelet hut went along to the end of the valley, following a day route from the previous week, then up to the snow at the Pilatte hut. We found a nice sheltered bivvi site just out of sight of the refuge, and managed (just) to put up the Hurricane and my Trisar. We cooked dinner, and went to sleep after a hot drink in our tents at about 9:30pm, with alarms set for 3:30am (again).
A slow start next morning, with two cups of tea, meant we started at 5:30am just as it was getting light. We set off towards the glacier route to the top, and had to retrace our steps and ask a pair of passing tourers where the easier path started.
Having been set on the right track, we climbed up, following the water pipe to the top of a low ridge, and started across several small snowfields, in crampons, to the main glacier leading up to the col. It was fairly steep, and went on for a lot further than we imagined, but we still made it up in guide book time. We stopped to admire the view from the col for about twenty minutes, then started up to the peak. The group who had been up a few days ago had told us that it was a rocky scramble, but we found quite a deal of snow, and made it to the summit in crampons, by 8:30am. We stayed there for a while, and got another climber to take some photographs of us with Les Bans in the background - and most of us photographed Stephen "Rock Hard" Yeates posing in his Gore-Tex jacket and balaclava.
Back down at the col, we had a snowball fight, and then slid back down to the refuge on slides created by me, and followed by Steve, Stephen, Giles and Helen. From the hut where we had lunch and collected our tents and excess kit, I slid down the snow slope but ended up in the footprints of others, and had to stop to get out of the way of people coming up. I then attempted a few standing glissades, and failed miserably.
We got back to the camp site around 3:45pm after walking back on the other side of the valley to our ascent
Simon Hubbard
Arriving back from Tête Sud du Replat we found that the soothsayers at the weather station had looked at their seaweed and had come to the conclusion that snow would fall on us by the bucketful, this thought made us quite pail (pale? [No!]). Thus it came to pass that Mark and Nicola stayed at La Bérarde while after much faffing, deliberations and filling our rucksacks with food, lots of Ians (well two) and a Simon set forth at 5pm to reach the Pilatte hut as soon as possible. The call of the stomach meant that we made great haste, but luckily this is non-polluting, and in a few short hours we had arrived (well sixty minutes is not short for an hour, especially when it is in a hurry).
On arrival at the Pilatte refuge, we pitched our tent and set about cooking huge quantities of food, however we had to make do with quite a lot. The next morning we had a long lie in and got up at 4:30am to find the weather was phenomenally good (well at least it hadn't snowed) so we consumed breakfast. When we were replete, or had at least finished all available food, we set off. We made good time as we stormed up Mt. Gioberney, passing various groups slowly zig-zagging their way across the snowfield. Before long (although after short) we reached the Col du Gioberney where we rested for at least a minute before continuing on our way, after all some other people were nearing the col by then and we couldn't let them reach the top first. Scrambling over rock and snow we soon lost the path, but decided to look for it on the way down and very soon we realised that we could not go any further, as we had reached the top. Pausing only briefly to take photographs (who had left them there I don't know) we began our descent and soon found the path (it had taken shelter behind a rock). It was all down hill from there and assisted by gravity, apples and Mars bars we were soon losing height (very careless of us) and before long we had reached the bottom (I shall say nothing at all). As we neared the site at which we had spent the night (perhaps our extra hour had been due to the changes in the exchange rate) we realised that for once we could not see the orange bivvi bag from miles away. We had soon repacked and with great speed (it is nice to have company on the way back) we returned to La Bérarde. After a hard morning alpineering we were back at the camp having a beer before some had even had their breakfast. We had mounted Gioberney while others were lying down; I'm sure there is a innuendo to be found in that but I can't be bothered to look for it.
Simon Pargeter
The original idea had been to climb Les Bans as the final route of the trip, but on the ascent to the hut I realised that we had not brought enough gear up with us, so we settled for the NE ridge of Gioberney - a short mixed PD. We arrived at the Pilatte hut the night before, somewhat late, after having left the three and a half hour ascent from La Berarde until after a large dinner!
The following morning we managed a 5:20 start and soon left the bivvi site far below. On reaching the glacier hollow, we had caught up with two other groups whom we followed across the glacier and up a steep snow gully which was in perfect condition.
From here an easy scramble over scree and blocks led to a snow slope, followed by a sharp snow ridge. We remained roped up over the easy sections, which was an interesting exercise.
A short steep scramble in crampons led us to the final ridge, and the crowded summit (the F route up Gioberney has the reputation of being the easiest route up any Dauphine peak over 3000m). Despite the fact it was only 9am, we ate lunch and admired our last summit views of the trip.
We descended the S ridge and then the Gioberney Glacier towards the hut, where we lazed around for a couple of hours soaking up the mountain scenery before the plod back down to La Berarde.
Overall, a superb day on an excellent route to round of an enjoyable trip.
Mark French
John, Simon P, Mark, Stephen Y and Ian S walked up the Veneon valley past the Carrelet hut and up the side to the refuge Temple Ecrins. The bivvi shelter 20m above the hut provided rather cramped campsite, especially as we crammed five people into two two-man tents. We cooked the meal in worsening weather to general complaints of "not enough" from the Gannets society.
An early 3:30am start had us crossing the SW Coolidge ridge into the Temple Glacier valley. Crossing a few snowfields and a rough but cairn marked path up scree slopes brought us to the glacier. We roped up and reached the col at 8:30am and enjoyed our first glimpse of sunlight. This was shortlived as clouds started ballooning out from the north.
We followed a well marked but difficult scramble across Pic Coolidge's S ridge. We spent half an hour filling two and a half litres of water bottles from the only water source we could find - a tiny rivulet.
Upon reaching a snow roof, John took the lead. Unfortunately for Mark, who was second, this position was still very strenuous as the steps between John's seven league footprints had to be filled.
The crossing between the fore peak and the main peak was a sharp snow ridge covered in snow. After some cautious treading we finally reached the top and had lunch - once again not enough. It was only now that I realised that, from the col, I had been following the wrong route in the guide book. The similarities in the routes were such that I had completely ignored words such as down, descend and below.
The steep snow field that levelled out on to the snow roof was great fun descending at high speeds. On the way down from the ridge, the crossing of the loose snow gullies produced several occasions of adrenaline surges, as people were clinging on to rocks with one hand as the loose snow slipped beneath them.
After reaching the col we roped up again for the glacier descent. Descending to the previous night's campsite to collect stored equipment, we walked down parts of the path I couldn't remember from the sleep walk up.
An incredibly fast descent to La Berarde had tired people tripping up over everything. An evening out for a pizza and crepe provided a relaxing end to a tiring trip. The peak bagging bug had bitten!
Ian Scott
The heat of the afternoon forced the late start of 4:30pm, but once underway, we soon made rapid progress along the valley bottom which provided the first stage of the walk up to the Temple Ecrins hut. After a good hour or so following the river upstream, we made a sharp turn off the valley floor in order that we could climb the valley side to the refuge. The Temple Ecrins hut came as a bit of a surprise - albeit a pleasant surprise as it represented our goal for the evening, through being hidden away in a hollow not visible until a few metres away.
We pitched our tents 100m above the hut, dined on a gourmet meal of McDougall's dehydrated curry "with chicken", chocolate cake and the inevitable custard before settling down at about 9:30pm ready for an early start the following morning.
Our early start comprised a 3:30am get up - which we achieved without too much difficulty. An improvement on our previous overnight trip meant that we had breakfasted and struck camp in a little over an hour and so we were walking by 4:30am.
A ninety minute scramble in the gradually increasing light brought us onto the edge of the glacier that extended up to the Col de la Temple. It was here that we were required to rope up, putting all we had learnt in theory into practice. The glacier was extremely steep and represented a slow steady plod - but the hard, firm snow meant that reasonable progress was achieved. And was it worth it on reaching the Col de la Temple. Four metres below the ridge, the sun hit us, having left us previously in the shadow, and on finally reaching the col, a mass of clouds below us reflected the sunlight back on to the snow covered peaks that reached above them.
The view was sufficient to demand a long rest, but we eventually set off again in our attempt to reach the summit. But it was here that we began to founder. The hard snow and icy conditions made progress extremely slow, with the only safe way to cross many gullies involving roping up and being belayed across. Continual unroping and roping set us severely behind schedule and having been going two hours without significant progress, we made the decision to turn back. This also bore in mind the storms that were forecast for the afternoon.
Our decent back down to the col was again slower than we had anticipated with the rope being used frequently. But eventually it was reached and once again we donned crampons and sped up in order to descend the glacier. The condition of the snow, having had a few hours sunshine, was much softer so that going down was more of a controlled slide than a gradual trudge - but it provided plenty of opportunity for practising ice-braking techniques.
Once off the snow, our progress was fairly rapid and non- eventful, although with only a short break to retrieve our gear from above the refuge, we still did not return to base at La Bérarde until early evening. A long day, which although without achieving our goal was not without considerable value. We all felt we had gained experience in the techniques we had previously learnt. And we had also seen one of the most spectacular views of my career.
Nicola Stanbury
Most of the group had been up Pic Coolidge two days previously, and so this accounted for the remarkably speedy time of two ad a half hours from La Bérarde to the Temple Ecrins hut. Matt had not walked at this speed on the trip so far, and wasn't sure what had hit him. A kilogram of spaghetti was eaten for dinner (by two of the most dedicated gannets, and Simon P who defies description), before an early night.
The early start brought its usual lack of light, but also an unusually ferocious pace for 4am in the morning. This was probably to blame for missing a turning off the path and led to half an hour of scree scrambling to get us back on route.
From here the route was rather uninspiring - over 400m of a snow plod with increasing steepness. John's repeated assurances that "it" was only "twenty feet more" goaded everyone to the top of the slope. Here we stood on a wide snow roof admiring a view which soon disappeared as the weather worsened with occasional flurries of snow. We pushed on to the top, two along the mixed ridge, the other two along a quicker and more intelligent snow route.
The final pitch of 10m to the summit looked a bit dodgy, especially with no rope and with wind and snow - so we gave it a miss. Simon and Matt had decided to call it a day further down after Matt had disappeared up to his neck in a snowdrift. We turned back, sliding and sinking up to our waists in snow. A rapid descent saw us back at the hut before too long, and then followed the remarkably speedy descent to La Bérarde in one hour and five minutes, characterised by falling over only on the flat and easy sections.
Mark French
We left La Bérarde at 4pm to walk up to camp in the Chardon Valley above the Carrelet hut. After the usual delicious meal of dried chilli and rice, we retired to bed at about 9:30pm. Arising at 3:30am, we were walking by 4:30am. Unfortunately there was little trace of a path up the valley, and it took us a long time to reach the Chardon glacier and up a zig-zag path to the Glacier de L'Ane, on which we followed tracks to the point of descent onto the Rouies glacier, which should have been the route. However the glacier looked crevassed, so we tried to work our way up the parallel Ane glacier, hoping to be able to cross onto the Rouies glacier higher up and then on to the summit of Les Rouies. This proved unfeasible so we diverted our route to the good viewpoint of the Col de la Lavey (3309m). From here we descended via the same route to our camp, and then back to base, arriving back just after lunch.
John Condliffe
Our first attempt to climb this peak had been abandoned at the Chatelleret hut after a breathing attack had led to a trip to Bourg d'Oisans to visit a doctor. So now, a few days later, we had climbed to the Chatelleret hut and bivvied out in a superb bivvi site under a huge boulder just above the refuge.
A slightly late start meant we spent the first hour overtaking parties heading towards the Col des Cavales. We made good time to the col, crossing the glacier and ascending a wide gully before reaching the cables that led to the Col itself. No view was to be seen, as the cloud had not lifted, and the rest of the route was shrouded in mist with the occasional flurry of snow.
We crossed the snow to the foot of the climb where we joined the end of a queue. Quite why everyone else had chosen to climb this peak (with its superb views) in the mist, I really do not know.
It took three hours to the top instead of the guidebook's one hour, but this was partly due to the number of other parties on the route. The bolting on this route was bizarre - the easier pitches had bolts every 5m, whereas the harder (but still straightforward) pitches had none. I very much enjoyed this climb; it was my first multi-pitch lead and the climbing was easy with bits of scrambling in between - altogether a superb introduction.
The summit was surrounded in mist, and it was typical that two abseils down from the summit, the misty suddenly lifted!
Mark French
The mistake was leaving straight after dinner. Carrying a full rucksack, and a full stomach, is obviously not a good idea. This did not however, stop John and Matt forging ahead, up the Vallon des Etançons.
We camped outside the Chatelleret hut, where the soil was easier to pitch on than the campsite back at La Bérarde. We crammed six people into two Quasars, (this is ok if you are not in the tent with John, and luckily I wasn't in the tent with John).
An early rise had us packed and off by 4:20am. It was however 4:30am before we found the path which was only ten metres away from where we camped. A long climb along the zig- zagged path up the side of the valley, was best attempted when still half asleep. This is all I can remember of this part of the climb as I was still half asleep. Upon reaching the end of the path we trudged across the first few snow patches before reaching the main snowfield which was in a sort of hanging valley. Unfortunately the only way further up the valley was at the far side.
Upon reaching an outcrop of rocks at the far side, John tried to refill his water bottle. Unfortunately the rocks were a bit icy, and John decided to sacrifice his water bottle, in the name of saving himself. Such devoted sacrifice by the Sigg flask is hereby recorded and remembered.
At the top of the rocks we saw the col. We didn't believe how close it was. And we were right, it wasn't that close. It wasn't even that col. We roped up for the long snow plod to the correct col. Just as we reached the bottom of the steep slope up to the col's gully, the sun rose across the far side of the Etançons valley. The cloud layers above and beneath most the whole scene were very picturesque. Unfortunately my camera didn't agree.
At the col, we decided to attempt the South peak. We climbed the huge snow apron on the far side of the col, we could see parties of climbers coming up both sides. After putting on our crampons, we got ten metres when Nic's popped off. So she walked up the ridge without any. The peak itself was only large enough to accommodate three people, so we took it three at a time. As the second group was about to leave, the next pair of climbers who hadn't noticed us were rather disappointed to find they were not the first up. They also failed to notice the top only had room for three people.
On the way back it was noticed that two of the three snow ridges were actually corniced, but the people who noticed thankfully didn't tell the rest of us until we had reached the col again.
On the way down, the path we had made in the snow had become a highway. It was good fun to glissade down the slopes while watching others trudge up them. We waited for lunch until we reached La Bérarde again. Some of us enjoyed it so much that we decided to leave that afternoon for another peak bagging, but that's another story. . .
Ian Scott
We would like to thank the trustees of the A.C. Irvine fund for their generous support for this trip.
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