News - Les Rouies
1 August 2008
swimming in the lake on the way up
Ready to go at 5 in the morning!
Approaching the summit of Les Rouies
welcome pasta meal at refuge!
The mountains on the southern edge of the Ecrins National Park are lesser known to mountaineers and alpinists than the famous Barre Des Ecrins and La Meije, but equally as impressive and beautiful! Plus there is the added advantage of having them to yourself!
After several years of looking at the summit of Les Rouies above Le Pigeonnier refuge we finally managed to climb it - thanks to Sue and her family!
They wanted to do something a bit more than walking and were up for gving it a go!
Les Rouies is a 'facile' easy summit with a slightly steep ascent at the end.
We started off with an easy walk up to the refuge du Pigeonnier, via the lac du Lauzon - where a quick dip, though not compulsory, was highly recommended!
Then we arrived at the refuge and relaxed for the evening - stocked up on carbs, watched Alex the Ibex on his tour of the refuge, laughed with George, the very eccentric guardian and then settled down for a sleep (no-one slept!).
Woken at 4 by George, we fumbled our way through breakfast and set off on our adventure!
The first bit was a traverse along the mountain to the start of the snowfields just under the glacier - in the dark of course!
Then just as the sky started to turn an acceptable shade of blue we put on our crampons and trekked up through the couloir on to the top of the glacier.
We were greeted by the sun as we arrived on the plateau - beautiful.
Philippe and Bernard roped us together to cross the glacier and off we went in two teams.
The last climb was pretty steep and we had a few wobbly moments in both teams but everyone got to the top!
The Barre des Ecrins, La Meije, Les Bans, Jocelme, L'Olan and other peaks framed our views in all directions and we were given a quick summary by Philippe and Bernard.
Then was the descent - easir than coming up hill and finished off with shoe skiing to the bottom!
George had a big plate of pasta waiting for us at La Pigeonnier - perfect!
All in all an excellent experience!
Have a look at a slide show of our
ascent of Les Rouies
