Beautiful Briançonaise

Autumn in Ailefroide

We moved a couple of hours over the mountains from the Maurienne to the Briançon area. We have stopped around here quite a few times in recent years, out of season the area is exceptionally quiet and the altitude (around 4500') means it is often pleasantly cool, especially when compared to the lowlands further west and south.

Mi-Nöel (5c+) Rocher Baron -
this one is quartzite!

There is an amazing variety of rock on offer in this Alpine orogeny collision zone with granite, gneiss, quartzite, limestone, conglomerate and probably some sandstone. There is also a very good spread of grades, from easy stuff for old guys to some seriously impressive crags and routes of every length from tiny up to major multi-pitch.
Then there are the passes, that allow you to get even higher, when it does warm up and a serious set of Via Ferrata to go at. Ailefoide has long been popular but the rest of the area much less so, which seems a bit odd.
Anyway it is onward now, Ariege next and next month a trip to exploring the Greek mainland with Colin.

Back to the Peace of the Maurienne

Above Saas Fee - 11,000+ feet

 A few days in France then a week in Switzerland gave a bit of time for the crowds to head for home and everywhere to start to quieten down. The time in Saas-Grund was great, it isn't the best climbing destination - but a small 'tourist tax' allows free access to the cable-cars, so we spent quite a bit of time high up, hiking the various high level trails.

Climbing in the Maurienne

The plan had been to head to Ponte Brolla and the Italian Lakes for some climbing, but the forecast was hot (28C) and prices seemed very expensive - still high season down there. After a bit of thought we decided to head back to the Maurienne, the deep valley running up to the Italian border north west of Turin.
We were here last year and were impressed with the peace, quiet and variety of climbing available. The face that we managed to get a six bed ski chalet for £18 a night was a major bonus - the beauty of being here out of season.

Col de Mont Cenis at the French/Italian border

A week into September and I have already done 36 routes - compared to 20 for the whole of July in the UK. For many years now I have found it much more motivating to explore new crags and poke around areas I don't know very well - I guess this a not very subtle way of hiding the 'decline into decrepitude'.