Activities - Mountaineering and Alpinism
The Southern French Alps and Ecrins National Park are well know amongst mountaineers and alpinists for their dramatic and sometimes quite techincal peaks.
The most famous are La Meije, La Barre Des Ecrins and Ailefroide but there are lots of lesser known peaks and summits that are well worth a visit especially if you like the idea of having them all to yourself!
There are in short loads of possibilities and enough variety to please everyone from budding mountaineer to seasoned mountain goats! Just in Valgaudemar there are several weeks worth of summits... Les Rouies, L'Olan, Sirac, Les Bans.... to name a few.
There are usually several different routes to climb a mountain and they are all graded by difficulty ranging from 'Facile' to 'Extrement Difficile'
F: Facile/easy. Rock scrambling or easy snow slopes; some glacier travel; often climbed ropeless except on glaciers.
PD: Peu Difficile/a little difficult. Some technical climbing and complicated glaciers.
AD: Assez Difficile/fairly hard. Steep climbing or long snow/ice slopes above 50%; for experienced alpine climbers only.
D: Difficile/difficult. Sustained hard rock and/or ice or snow; fairly serious stuff.
TD: Tres Difficile/very difficult. Long, serious, remote, and highly technical.
ED: Extremement Difficile/extremely difficult. The most serious climbs with the most continuous difficulties. Increasing levels of difficulty.
We can organise a mountaineering / alpinist course for you over a week to introduce the basic skills you will need to venture in to the mountains.
Similarly we can put together a week of mountaineering with a guide to take in some of the classic and / or not so classic peaks!
Or if you fancy a particular mountain and want to include it as part of a walking or multi activity holiday, we can arrange that for you too.
All our guides are fully qualified high mountain guides from the area who know the Southern French Alps like their back garden. They will make your safety their priority as well as making sure you make the most of the area and enjoy the mountains.
It isn't recommended to go into the high mountains without a high mountain guide unless you are a competent alpinist or mountaineer.
If you would like any more information on mountaineering or alpinism in the Southern French Alps or would like to enquire about a mountaineering holiday, please fill in our
request form and we'll get back to you.
