Mountaineering diary - Bivouac in the cool on the south face

Vivien, member of the  Lagoped Family , takes us on a bivouac with friends on the south face of the Barre des Ecrins. 

The intense heat of mid-summer encourages us to seek a high-altitude bivouac.

With my friend Lolo (Laurent Thévenot), we plan to visit the huge south face of the Barre des Ecrins with 1300 m of elevation gain. A quick look at the guidebook confirms our choice:

“The highest mountain in Dauphiné and the only one exceeding 4000 m altitude. The south pillar is a long and beautiful major climb with a great atmosphere (despite rock quality varying from compact to very average, even poor in places).

The average rock quality is reported. Otherwise, the plan matches our desire for wild mountain adventure.

After some preparations, we leave Madame Carle meadow around 2 PM heading towards the Glacier Noir.

Under a blazing sun, we reach the final slope. With crampons on our feet, we approach the bergschrund.

A steep wall puzzles us, and we find a way to bypass it on the left and "step over" the bergschrund. 

We return to the rock and decide to unrope to gain efficiency. The rock is pleasantly and surprisingly good. After restocking water supplies and a few dihedrals later, we put the rope back on to finish the ascent of the base.

The last chimneys are easily cleaned without any problem.

And it is at 3300 meters that we come across THE bivouac. A beautiful flat gravel terrace, a snowfield nearby, and an unobstructed panorama to the south as far as the eye can see. 

The evening is gentle and we enjoy the joys of a perched bivouac.

It is 5:00 AM when a little Jazz wakes us up. The sunrise in the distance is magnificent. 

The entire South face of the Barre lights up as we start this promising second day.

Everything flows wonderfully, Red Tower, Gray Tower, and we arrive at the foot of the Bastion. The lines straighten up, some pitons appear reassuring on the chosen route. 

A few more sustained pitches give us a hard time and we must remain delicate so as not to destabilize some stone towers.

The exit from the Bastion is magnificent, we arrive at the Miroir, a kind of light gray granite shield striped by two beautiful cracks. 

Apparently out of the difficulties, we take a short break before the summit ridge. The guidebook warned "the last 300 meters should not be underestimated." This last part is much less steep but without ice, a giant mikado game begins and we need to be very careful not to lose it.

The crossing of the ridge is dry and allows very rapid progress towards the Brèche Lory. The descent of the Glacier Blanc requires a suitable route to best avoid crevasses and snow bridges that seem to be weakening at this late summer period. We decide to make some detours to avoid them, the surrounding heat of this late afternoon pushing us to stray from the track and take a few extra steps. 

The rest of the descent takes place on safe terrain, allowing us to enjoy special moments in the high mountains until the loop closes at the Madame Carle meadow.

(The next day a landslide will sweep the face, the light gray part clearly visible in the following photos, taken during a survey after the landslide). 

We bring a small set of Friends up to size 2, some wired nuts and 2 pitons, quickdraws and slings, and cordelettes.

We each have a lightweight ice screw.

Regarding climbing gear, we each have a lightweight ice axe and a pair of hybrid crampons to save weight.

We decide to bring a 50 m single rope. This allows us to save some weight and improve handling comfort; the likelihood of an escape or rappelling seemed quite low.

We also have a first aid kit, as well as a survival blanket each and a radio for the climbing team.

For this ascent, we decided to camp overnight. Given the "warm" conditions forecasted, we each bring a small sleeping bag and a relatively small sleeping pad that is non-inflatable (no risk of puncture). A small tarp/survival blanket is very useful to limit moisture from the ground.

We have a small stove, selected food supplies, and of course an aperitif worthy of the bivouac.