La Meije: Blame it on Skis and a Glossy Magazine

I've been staring at my K2 Coomback Skis for a while.  There are cool graphics showing gondolas, French words, elevations etc. etc.  Sample picture here:

Lovely fat backcountry K2 skis with whippet Dynafit Manaslus clacking along some high CO alpine lake in Winter.

One day riding the lifts solo at Aspen Highlands I hooked up with a French couple who spied my skis.  "Wow, fantastique, have you skied La Grave? or climbed La Meije?"  Uh, no, but tell me about it.  I heard great stories about steep skiing, glaciers, crevasses and so on.  Sounded great, put it on the bucket list.

Fast forward a a bit and I'm reading through my latest copy of Alpinist magazine, Autumn 2017, Vol 59 featuring La Meije.  Wow, what a mountain, what a history.  The start of the Silver Age of mountaineering in the Alps (you'll need to read the excellent articles from Erin Smart, to understand).  This was followed up with Vol. 60 with more history and route info.   I'm hooked, this project got moved way up on the bucket list.

Fast forward a bit more and my Partner and I start talking about a trip to Europa to see her family in Czech and I bring up the idea of doing La Meije before the dumpling, strudel and schnitzel gorging begins.  "Great idea!" was the response.

Now I have climbed many mountains, some of the biggest and coldest in the world, ski CO backcountry probably 50 times a year, and consider myself a savvy mountaineer.  Typically, I do a bunch of research on routes, approaches, exits, weather patterns, trip reports and so on.  With La Meije, there is next to nothing to be found.  In fact my partner was in the American Alpine Club Library in Golden and was told there was only one book in French from 1959 and it was only recently checked out by a women writing an article on the mountain.  The most that could be found online was some fairly well done youtube vids from French TV and a few weekend warrior-type climbing videos, hardly the detailed information needed to plan well.  We made the decision to go with a guide.  Someone who knew the mountain and should the shit hit the fan, could navigate us off the peak down perhaps non-standard routes without getting cliffed-out or worse.  It turns, out, that woman who wrote the Alpinist articles on the peak (Erin Smart) still lives in a La Grave and would be open to guide us.  Cool!  Nice peak and someone with intimate history of the peak and surrounding area.  The basic plan is to climb / traverse the peak from South to North, staying at a Refuge at either end of the traverse.  The Promontoire Refuge on the South side and the Refuge de l'Aigle on the North Side.

The trip is planned for late August and plane tickets are booked. We decided to fly to Prague, CZ and make the two day drive down through Germany, Austria, Lichtenstein, Switzerland and finally France.  Why not? A little road trip to see Europe from street level rather that from 30,000ft up (might think twice about this one, subject of another possible post).

We enjoyed seeing some of the classic Tour de France mountain stage names of the Alps, Alpe d Huez, Col du Galibier, Briancon, but we ready to finally be in La Grave.  Pretty spectacular!

Room with a view! La Meije and the Tabouchet Glacier.

Erin advised us of some last minute mountain dynamics.  Due to a very hot, dry summer in the Alps, a house sized rock had moved on the upper edge of Glacier Carre, exposing all doing the traverse from the South from the base of the route to the Glacier Carre crossing to a very dangerous condition.  Effectively, that portion of the mountain was closed and a traditional Traverse was not possible.  After some discussion, the new plan was to do the Reverse Traverse, effectively starting on the North side, crossing the peaks, then returning back North to Refuge de l'Aigle.  It was farther, a bit harder and actually what the original 1880s mountaineers used to tackle the peak for the first time.  Actually sounded like a better plan!

The first day starts pretty casual at 10am with a gathering at the Eidelweiss Hotel (highly recommend), a little stop at a bakery for sandwiches and a short drive to the trailhead.  The first objective is to get to the Refuge de l'Aigle at 11,300 ft (3,440 m) from the valley floor at ~5,000 ft (1,500m), glad to be going light!  (For those who have done European mountain refuges, they know the beauty of the refuges, carry a day pack, sleep in beds with blankets and eat great local food.)

The grind, about 6,000ft vertical of uphill. Photo - Benj Riberye

Yep, more up!  Photo - Erin Smart

A little via ferrata to mark the end of the rock section prior to stepping onto the Tabouchet Glacier.  Heard it was good skiing come Winter! Photo - Benj Riberye

Panorama from the Refuge de l'Aigle.

As expected the summit day started before sunrise.  The plan was to climb La Meije Centrale or Doigt de Dieu, then drop down and climb Le Meije Oriental then return to Refuge de l'Aigle.

Pre-dawn tie-in, and we're off!

Perspective on the peaks as the nearly full moon sets.

Nearing the top of the Tebouchet Glacier as the sun warms thing up. Photo -Erin Smart

Approaching the Tebouchet Glacier bergschrund and steep snow climb into mixed en route to La Meije Centrale.

The fun above the Tabouchet bergschrund, little snow on top of old black ice.  Make it count!

Times like these provide focus and perspective.  Refuge down below. Photo - Benj Riberye

Super fun Alpine climbing.  Just be mindful of the plethora of loose rock! Photo - Erin Smart

Lei Meije Centrale Summit.  Amazing weather, so far.  Now onto La Meije Oriental. Photo - Erin Smart

Could be more reasons to return, Summer or Winter!

Lot's of Rapping!  Trick is to find the anchors!  Not exactly well documented!

And another Rap bites the dust.  Getting down over the 'schrund to head over to Le Meije Oriental.

Rope games with snow horns.  Just another great shot of the Refuge.

La Meije Oriental summit.  Looking back at Le Meije Central, wow, we were just over there!

And another Rap while the sun continues to warm things up.  Time to head to the refuge! 

Enjoying sunset wisps on Le Meije from the Refuge.  Tomorrow, the stomp down to the valley floor.

What a great send-off the morning of our exit!  Might have to come back and play another day!

 One couldn't ask for a better climbing day.  Great weather, fast conditions and great company.  We were able to accomplish both peaks in a little under six hours.  Frankly, felt like a short day.  Some days your good, some days your lucky.  Don't ask questions, just relish the journey!