SAMAYA x BRAD VALETTE
THE UNATTAINABLE ECRINS BAR
Fellow climbers Brad Valette and Salomé Auberger set out to conquer the Barre des Écrins, the highest peak in the Massif des Écrins, culminating at 4100 meters. In October 2023, terrain conditions made the ascent more arduous than expected. Brad gives us the details of their attempt.
"We had originally planned an expedition to the Matterhorn in Switzerland. Bad weather conditions forced us to change our program and turn to the Ecrins.
Our first stop was Madame Karl's mountain hut, from which we set off on the ascent, once we'd packed our bags.
We then climbed 800 metres, with an approach time of almost 2 hours, to reach the next hut. We set up our bivouac a hundred meters higher up, facing the glacier.
On the advice of a guide we met along the way, we decided not to take the classic route, which was impassable due to a landslide a week earlier. Our alternative route had us setting foot on the glacier quite early on, and continuing up a scree slope to reach the Ecrins refuge and a bivouac area a few hundred metres away.
The next morning, we set off early in the direction of the glacier. Gradually, we realized that this part of the moraine was very unstable. 200 metres ahead of us, we saw a rock weighing around 100 kilos come loose.
From where we stood, we could see that the left side was crevassed, the right too, but that the center seemed accessible. We roped up and crossed the first wide snow bridge, then zigzagged for almost 2 hours to get out of this crevasse field.
The next part was full of stones and windmills. We unclimbed, removed the rope and arrived at our first objective at midday.
As we continued along this glacier, we realized that it had snowed heavily under the Barre des Écrins, masking the crevasses. We changed our itinerary and headed for Rochefort, which also turned out to be snow-covered. Too dangerous. We tried to return to the refuge, but the previous week's landslide caused us to miss a cairn and we found ourselves zigzagging through the moulins for another hour. It was already 5.30pm. A little stressed, we decided to pitch our tent on the glacier.
In the distance, almost 300 metres above us, we spotted some mountaineers. They informed us of a passage there. We cut across the scree ahead and rejoined the path that took us back down to the refuge, after 11h30 of walking.
The next day, we came back down, repacked our bags and pitched the tent along the river, near Madame Karl.
Unfortunately, it was a summit that eluded us this time. That can be frustrating, but responsibility and risk management take precedence. One thing's for sure: we'll be back!"
