Peak of the Snowy Rope Maker

4:30am alarm call - I sat up to see a trail of headtorches snaking their way up the snowfield in front of the Barre des Écrins.

By 5:30am we were on our way. We made the steep climb up to the Brèche Cordier. This was accidental - we had gone to the wrong col, due to the lack of snow!

After some debate over the best route, we climbed the ESE ridge of the Pic de Neige Cordier and summited at 8:30am. We sat on the summit taking in the views and lots of photos :) We then descended the ridge, the glacier and then the tourist path to arrive back at our car by 2:30pm.

A Room with a View

After an early morning food shop, we packed our rucksacks and made the picturesque drive to Pré de Madame Carle.

From here we hiked up to the Glacier Blanc and bivvied about 1km before the Refuge des Écrins (at approx 3000m).

The view of the Barre des Écrins was stunning. The night sky was so clear - I've never seen so many stars! After we ate our gnocchi, we climbed in to our bivvy bags and tried to get some sleep before tomorrow's adventure...

Col du Clot des Cavales

4:30am - out of the house by 5am - start walking by 6am. At this time of the morning everything seems a little blurred.

At first we hiked along the valley bottom, which looked like something out of the Lord of the Rings.

We then took the steep right hand fork up to the Glacier du Clot des Cavales. Crossing the small glacier took us to our final destination - Col du Clot des Cavales (3158m).

The views through the col were stunning. The ground just fell away from us down to the valley bottom.

We fueled up on mackerel sandwiches and then headed back to Le Pied du Col to find the car.

Later that evening Tom and I completed the "Italian Job" :)