French Alps walking and mountaineering holiday, summits & peaks
| country: | France |
| location: | French Alps |
| trip type: | Strenuous walking holidays |
| departures: | This trip can be tailor made between May and September and can be adapted to suit your interests, budget and requirements as necessary. Group departure 20 Jun 2009 |
| price: | From €1169 - €1844 (8 days), excluding flights, depending on accommodation choice, all inclusive. |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Get away from the crowds and soak up the charm and ambiance of the high mountains in and around the dramatic Ecrins National Park, with the added bonus of the best sun record in the Alps.
If you are a passionate mountaineer, walker or climber and love the mountains, you will find it difficult to resist the lure of the big alpine peaks and will love this week! A real taste of classic mountaineering and alpinism off the tourist track!
This is a progressive week of mountaineering and alpinism taking in three spectacular peaks of the Southern French Alps including L'Obiou 2789m (Grade: facile / easy), Les Rouies 3589m (Grade: facile / easy) and either the Sirac 3444m (Grade: peu difficile / bit more difficult) or L'Olan 3564m (Grade: peu difficile / bit more difficult).
No previous experience of mountaineering or alpinism is necessary but a good level of walking fitness and some climbing and scrambling experience is required. Two of the summits involve easy glacier crossings where you will be roped up and using ice axes and crampons and some scrambling or easy climbing, which you will usually do in big boots - again roped up.
Although this isn't a 'course' as such, our guides (all UIAGM qualified high mountain guides) are not just there to lead the way and look after your safety. They are enthusiastic and passionate ambassadors of the mountains and are valuable sources of information about technique, mountain safety, the mountain flora and fauna, geology, mountaineering history...
So, naturally over the course of the week you will pick up and learn what you want to. Where possible we will stick to this itinerary as it is progressive and is a great introduction to mountaineering and the summits of the Southern French Alps.
However, it is the mountains and although we do have the best sun record in the Alps, we may have to alter the itinerary during the week to take account of the weather and conditions. We also like to remain flexible and are open to suggestions and ideas from you if you have a particular skill you want to learn or a summit you want to do.
If you are a passionate mountaineer, walker or climber and love the mountains, you will find it difficult to resist the lure of the big alpine peaks and will love this week! A real taste of classic mountaineering and alpinism off the tourist track!
This is a progressive week of mountaineering and alpinism taking in three spectacular peaks of the Southern French Alps including L'Obiou 2789m (Grade: facile / easy), Les Rouies 3589m (Grade: facile / easy) and either the Sirac 3444m (Grade: peu difficile / bit more difficult) or L'Olan 3564m (Grade: peu difficile / bit more difficult).
No previous experience of mountaineering or alpinism is necessary but a good level of walking fitness and some climbing and scrambling experience is required. Two of the summits involve easy glacier crossings where you will be roped up and using ice axes and crampons and some scrambling or easy climbing, which you will usually do in big boots - again roped up.Although this isn't a 'course' as such, our guides (all UIAGM qualified high mountain guides) are not just there to lead the way and look after your safety. They are enthusiastic and passionate ambassadors of the mountains and are valuable sources of information about technique, mountain safety, the mountain flora and fauna, geology, mountaineering history...
So, naturally over the course of the week you will pick up and learn what you want to. Where possible we will stick to this itinerary as it is progressive and is a great introduction to mountaineering and the summits of the Southern French Alps.
However, it is the mountains and although we do have the best sun record in the Alps, we may have to alter the itinerary during the week to take account of the weather and conditions. We also like to remain flexible and are open to suggestions and ideas from you if you have a particular skill you want to learn or a summit you want to do.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Settle in to your accommodation, have a drink and wander around the area. In both the Val Des Sources and Le Casset Refuge, you are surrounded by 3000m plus peaks, including the Olan, Les Rouies and the Sirac, some of which you will be climbing this week! Once everyone has arrived, we'll come and say hello, welcome you to the area and go through the itinerary. You will also meet your guide and get your equipment for the week. Then you can settle down to a hearty evening meal before a good night's sleep in preparation for tomorrow! |
| Day 2: | Ascent of L'Obiou. The Obiou is the highest mountain of the Devoluy massif and is a spectacular and dramatic trekking peak. This is a limestone mountain and where there is limestone there are usually caves!! Here is no exception and it is worth bringing your headtorch as there is an ice cave just under the col de L'Obiou. Inside the cave you can go right underground where you will find a wall of transparent ice - it is magnificent! |
| Day 3: | Walk up to Pigeonnier Refuge. This is a beautiful and easy walk up to the refuge where you will spend the night before attacking the summit of Les Rouies tomorrow. You can walk up directly in about 2 1/2 hours or you can take in the Lac du Lauzon on your way which is a pretty alpine lake with a stunning mountain backdrop. Your guide will be with you and will be up for a bit of rope work practice, wildlife spotting or anything else you fancy doing. |
| Day 4: | Ascent of Les Rouies. Les Rouies is one of the easiest of the big summits of the dramatic Ecrins massif but is not to be underestimated! It is a long day with a traverse over a glacier and a steep little scramble at the end. If you have never walked on a glacier before this is an excellent introduction. |
| Day 5: | Rest / Choice Day. This is your opportunity to relax and refuel after your exertions in the mountains, before tackling your biggest challenge of L'Olan or Sirac tomorrow. If you are based at Les Val des Sources you have the swimming pool, table tennis and some beautiful relaxing walks straight from your door. From le Casset, you have a short walk to get into the village of La Chapelle, where there are a couple of shops and bars to mooch around and of course you have the river of the Severaisse if you fancy a cool dip. |
| Day 6: | Walk up to Refuge. There are two choices of summits for today and tomorrow; the Olan or Sirac, equally spectacular and dramatic. There are then several routes up either with varying grades of climbing. However, we are looking at the classic routes for this trip. They are both 'peu difficile' in grade which means there is some technical climbing and more complicated glaciers so slightly more difficult than Les Rouies. |
| Day 7: | Ascent of L'Olan or Sirac. Sirac: Another early morning alpine start from the refuge Vallonpierre. As you are stumbling over the rocks in the dark on your way towards the start of the route and wondering how on earth the guide knows which way to go, you may experience that 'what on earth am I doing here' feeling but this time you'll know it is going to be worth it. The start of another adventure in the mountains! The Olan: The Olan is one of the most prestigious mountains of the Oisans and the Ecrins thanks to its famous north face, over 1200m of pure cliff face with some of the most difficult climbing routes in the Alps We are taking the south face which is slightly less intimidating but still 6 - 700 metres of climbing and scrambling over excellent gneiss (metamorphic) rock in a real high mountain atmosphere with a very exposed ridge scramble / climb at the end - a joy to climb. |
| Day 8: | Back to civilisation. This is the sad day where we say goodbye. Hopefully you will leave with some fantastic memories of your adventures in the Southern French Alps and will be back to try some more challenges in the future. |
how this holiday makes a difference
|
Environment
Our list of activities only include those which have a minimum impact on the environment, such as walking, rafting, etc. We respect and support local conservation / erosion projects by following guidelines issued by the Ecrins National Park and ensuring our clients are made aware of any specific guidelines that may affect them. E.g. carrying rubbish down from refuges / high mountain walks. All accommodation suppliers are vetted according to their professionalism and their approach to responsible tourism (using local produce, respect for the environment and promoting the culture of the region). Several of the gites have strong environmental criteria with regard to recycling and reducing their environmental impact. We are about to make a deal with Gite de France to use their eco certified gite suppliers. We don’t promote motorised sports. All our guides are fully trained in environmental sustainability as a part of their diplomas and they educate our clients about the mountain habitat during the activities. We don’t print brochures and keep paper use to a minimum in the office preferring electronic distribution as our main means of communication with clients. We provide detailed information on how to behave within the park such as carrying out all litter, no free camping and adhering to the rules of the park. Community The mountain refuges on this trip are all club alpine francais (CAF) refuges so they maintain the buildings but it is the guardians that will make your trip! They live in the refuges for the summer and make their living out of the food and drinks they sell to tourists. It is a hard life and is done out of a passion for the mountains rather than a desire to make any money. It is getting harder and harder for the guardians to make ends meet and to justify their summers in the mountains, especially in the refuges a little off the beaten track. We have chosen our summits to take in some of the lesser known refuges to help maintain them and support the guardians who make their living there. We also use local guides and pay them the proper rate rather than importing ‘part time guides’ from abroad who have alternative means of income and do guiding for fun and not much money. These types of guides are able to reduce their rates significantly making it difficult for full time guides who have dedicated their lives to the mountains to be competitive. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |