Ecrins Total – Friday 24th July

We didn't discover the climbing area of La Poire d'Ailefroide last year so it was great to find a whole new area of clean, slabby rock to climb on. The great thing about Ailefroide is the accessibility of the climbs as most can be reached from the campsite in under half an hour's walk. One of the classic and most popular routes is Ecrins Total, seven pitches mostly on slabs but with one or two steeper sections with harder moves and a tricky traverse on the third pitch.
Five abseils down a waterworn gully took us back to our sacks. The abseil line is shared with many of the routes that reach the top of the Poire and follows a line mostly well away from the climbs.
Grade D+, 200m, 5c