On this 3 day French Alps mountaineering holiday you'll practice your glacier skills, summit the Pic du Glacier d'Arsine and climb Dôme des Ecrins in a weekend!
Duration
PriceA carefully designed mountaineering and alpinism itinerary to successfully climb Dome des Ecrins 4015m (mountaineering grade: Facile / Easy) in the limited time of a weekend! The trip includes a day of glacier and mountaineering skills and technique and an acclimatisation climb of a 3364m (grade: Facile / Easy) before you climb Dome des Ecrins.
The Ecrins Massif:
The Ecrins massif is part of the largest National Park, The Ecrins National Park, in France. In total there are 170km2 of glaciers suspended from over 100 towering summits over 3000m. It’s also rich in flora and fauna with ibex, chamois, golden eagles, wild boar, marmots and wolves and alpine pastures carpeted with wild flowers.
The Dome des Ecrins 4015m is one of the highest summits in the Ecrins National Park, just under the Barre des Ecrins 4102m. With a ‘facile’ graded route and some of the best views in the Alps, it a must for all alpinists.
Your Guide and Safety:
This summit involves traversing a large glacier with crevasses and seracs and it is at high altitude with real avalanche, rock fall and other natural hazards and risks.
All the guides we use for this trip are fully qualified UIAGM high mountain guides which is the highest qualification possible in alpinism and mountaineering. We also choose local guides to the region as we know that an understanding and knowledge of the recent freeze thaw activity, snowfall, sun exposure, avalanches, rockfall and behaviour of the seracs are extremely important in judging risk. The guide ratio is 1 guide to 3 clients for the summit of the Dome des Ecrins.
Our guides will have the final say on whether they consider the level of risk is low enough to attempt the summits on this trip safely. If there is any doubt we will choose an alternative route in the same or another area.
3 day French Alps mountaineering holiday highlights:
– Carefully prepared itinerary to optimise chance of successful 4000m summit
– Local and experienced UIAGM guides
– Intensive mountaineering weekend
– Avoid Mont Blanc and its stream of tourists for a more authentic mountaineering experience
– Book with a responsible travel company
Who Will Love This Trip?
Amateur mountaineers looking to climb their first 4000m summit will love this 3 day French Alps mountaineering holiday. You need to have a high level of fitness and some experience of alpinism so you are comfortable in a high mountain environment. Ideally you will be familiar with moving together on a rope and have used an ice axe and crampons. These skills will be revisited on your first day and reinforced throughout the trip with your guide but a basic initial knowledge and understanding is important for your own self confidence and safety of the group.
Itinerary for 3 day French Alps mountaineering holiday:
DAY 1: Glacier Skills
On the first day of this trip, you will walk up from Pré du Madame Carle to the Glacier Blanc where you will focus on glacier skills and general mountaineering techniques - an opportunity to learn, practice and fine tune any glacier and alpinism skills that you have used before and learn some new ones!
Starting altitude: 1874m
Summit altitude: 2542m
DAY 2: Pic du Glacier Arsine (3364m)
After a night in the Refuge du Glacier Blanc, you will set off to the Pic du Glacier d’Arsine with an early (4 - 5 am) alpine start. The route is a beautiful mixed route mainly on snow with some rock scrambling (3a). The aim of the climb is to help your body get used to climbing at above 3000m. You will have a magnificent view of the Dome des Ecrins and the Glacier Blanc throughout this climb. You continue on to the refuge des Ecrins ready for the big challenge tomorrow
Starting altitude: 2542m
Summit altitude: 3364m
DAY 3: Climb Dome des Ecrins (4015m)
You can see the dramatic ridge of the Barre des Ecrins and its little sister, the Dome des Écrins(4015m), your objective for the weekend, from the refuge. All there is between you and this majestic mountain is a glacier, some snow and ice, ...and a few hours of physical exertion! Now it’s your turn to conquer it! You will cross the glacier in the early morning. The light at this time is incredible, giving the Dome a beautiful red tinge. You will weave your way up the large snow face of the glacier, avoiding seracs and crevasses all the way to the summit. After your exhilarating climb you have the descent back to Pré de Madame Carle where your adventure ends.
Starting altitude: 3175m
Summit altitude: 4015m
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