 Fournel
Valley
The entrance to this valley is just 10 mins drive from
our apartments
in Les Vigneaux village.
About 30 minutes walk in from the parking area of "Salce"
you will find around 50 ice routes from single pitch 25m
up 700m in length. Beginners single pitch routes are available
such as the grade I "Cascade du bois" and all
the way up to 500m grade 5's, 6's and beyond.
A list of popular routes and conditions for this valley
can be found here
courtesy of ice-fall.com
Freissinières Valley
20 minutes drive from Les
Vigneaux gets you to the winter parking area
in this massive valley.
From here after approx. a 45 minute walk
you will find masses of routes in the harder grades. Typical
routes here are around 200-300m in length and in the grade
4-6 categories. There are a few single pitch routes too
as low as grade I. A truely spectacular valley. In the
later stages of winter it is quite feasible to ice-climb
in the North facing side of the valley and then rock climb
in shorts and T-shirt on the south facing side!
A list of popular routes and conditions
for this valley can be found here
courtesy of ice-fall.com
Ceillac
The Ceillac area is relatively small
compared to Fournel and Freissinières, but again
it packs some great gully routes a good variety of grades
from I's and II's up to M7+ and beyond. Routes are in
the 50-300 m range.
A list of popular routes and conditions
for this valley can be found here
courtesy of ice-fall.com
La Grave / Romanche Valley
Following the river Romanche as it descends
from La Grave to lake Chambon you will find about 70 ice
routes from grade II upwards in the 200 - 300m length
categories. The starts of these routes are typically about
a 40 minute walk up from the road in the base of the valley.
Ice Climbing Ecrins Festival at L’Argentière
la Bessée
Ice Climbing Ecrins known here as the
I.C.E. will be holding its event this coming year
from the 9th - 13th January 2008.
ICE is aimed to bring ice climbers of
all levels together to discover new climbing areas, try
the latest equipment for free and to see and try the latest
techniques for climbing ice at all levels.
Over recent years the event has attracted
up to 1000 people which is testament to its fantastic
organisation, facilities and of course the amazing ice
on offer.
So what will you get to do at
I.C.E.:
-
Go ice climbing with a guide for free
-
Try the latest kit for free
-
Free transport to the ice climbing sites
-
Free advice about what is in condition and more
importantly, what is not
-
Free access to film and slide based lectures
-
Free access to the Banff Mountain film festival
that visits the event
-
Many other demonstrations and competitions on real
ice and an artifical wall in the town
What do I need to do to take
part in I.C.E:
-
Get to L’Argentière la Bessée (See our travel page for options and ideas
here)
-
Find somewhere to stay during the event (See our
apartments
pages)
-
Register free with ICE-Fall.com
(ideally before you come, but this can also be done
at the event)
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