Tough Rentrée (Part II): Vanoise, Taillefer, Ecrins and Belledonne

As I begin a new vacation (the two week Vacances de Toussaint) I am finally ready to concede that the “rentrée”, or back to school period is over.  Thus, I bring to you at last, my resume of the activities that made the rentrée “tough”. 

1. Quick Turn Around: Vanoise

Arriving back in France after the lovely summer in the Northeast, I was greeted by dear friend Corinne who had come to her motherland (her mother being French) to spend a few weeks. Shortly after touch down, Corinne, Ian and I headed out for a grand adventure in the Vanoise, a National Park a few hours northeast of Grenoble.   None of us had ever been there before, and found it to be a veritable playground for hiking, with gorgeous views in every direction, loud snoring every night, and marmots in every hidey-hole.

 

 Throughout the duration of her stay, I hoped that I would be able to convince Corinne to move to Grenoble and live with us forever.   Alas, despite the beautiful landscape, delicious cheeses and unrivaled mountain access, she eventually had to move on  (I wonder if this decision was at least in part influenced by 3 days in the fog and rain in the Chartreuse...)
For our final adventure, Corinne and I laid siege on the Bastille by way of via feratta, and shared delicious local beers on the top.  After a 7am tiramisu,  she got on the train bound for the coast, and left a giant hole in the hearts of all Grenoblois, but especially mine and Ian's.

2.  Day in the Sun: Plateau des lacs

The next rentrée adventure was short, sweet and incredibly well documented as it was my first outing with my new camera (having finally conceded that my old, faithful SLR is dead and bought a surprisingly satisfying Canon G12).  

Max, Mica, Emilie and I headed into the Taillefer massif for a day of hiking and lounging in the sun near the Lac Fourchu.   Good food was eaten, headstand contests commenced, and many many blueberries were picked. 

We rounded out the evening by devouring delicious homemade pizzas.  Tough.

The north (descent) side of Barre Noire.

3. Barre Noire (3751m) and a Climb-over 

A few weeks later, Brad convinced me that going to school on Monday with a serious “climbover” was a great idea and tempted me to return to our favorite parking lot for a weekend of alpine climbing. 

We drove to Ailefroide on Saturday, hiked for a few hours and bivvied at the base of the Barre Noire.  Waking up before dawn on Sunday morning, Brad had quite a challenge coaxing me out of my sleeping bag, but eventually a pair of lights winding their way up the screefield below us motivated me enough to pack up camp and begin the ascent of the Pilier Sud (TD-/6a, 650m).   What followed was an exceptionally long, and rewarding day, beginning and ending with headlamps.  The climb, dubbed a “test piece” by the guidebook, challenged us in many ways, and neared the limit of what we, as a rope-team, are currently capable of pulling off in a day with big packs.  It began with a short glacier approach, followed by moderate pitches on increasingly good rock, a tricky chimney, spicy traverses, and cruxes thousands of feet off the ground. 

 As is always the case, arriving at the summit of the route was both an achievement and a reminder that a significant portion of the climb involves getting off the mountain, so we paused only momentarily before beginning a down climb followed by rappels in the direction of the Barre des Ecrins.  Touching down on glacier, we quickly began our traverse and descent of the impressive Glacier Blanc with her yawning crevasses and leaning seracs, trudging steadily into the night until arriving at the faithful Chipie who was waiting patiently to take us home.

4. Aiguilles d'Argentières, Belledonne

The final mountain adventure of the ‘tough rentrée’ was a day long trip to the eastern side of the Belledonne for another alpine rock climb, traversing the Aiguilles d’Argentières (AD/4c, 400m).  All told, this fall has left quite a bit to be desired with very few good weather windows.  Several of Brad’s big projects had to be downscaled to accommodate for relatively short periods of sun, and so we jumped at the opportunity to do a climb in our home massif that we’d been eying in the guidebook for a while.

We left our apartment at 5am on Saturday morning, sharing the streets with dedicated club-goers on the way home.  Arriving, still pre-dawn, at the Col de Glandon, we began a long approach hike, watching the first rays of light hit the massif.  A challenging and painful scree field brought us to the underwhelming base of the route on loose, rotten rock.  The tides turned though, as we hit the ridge and began climbing on solid, beautiful rock over one pinnacle after another. We managed to move efficiently through airy terrain, taking in incredible views and basking in the short-lived sun. 

A down-climbing and rappelling descent brought us down onto one of Belledonne’s last surviving glaciers (crampons obligatoires!).  From there we picked our way through scree and glacial morraine onto the hiking trail and headed back down through the autumn colors as the weather moved in.    

 Once again, faithful Chipie brought us back to Grenoble, this time before nightfall, reminding us how amazing it is to live in a place where is it possible to embark on adventures like these even with marginal weather and lots of work.