La Meije - Arête du promontoire & traversée des arêtes
The ascent of the Grand Pic of La Meije (3982m) by the arete du Promontoire and descent via the traversée des aretes is one of the classic alpine tours. it is long, committing and very exposed; although the climbing is never excessively hard, experience and an all round alpine competence is necessary. Being at nearly 4000m, it is wise to do some acclimatisation before attempting it. The logistics of where to start and finish the tour are not simple, which ever way you go up, there is no easy way down from the Grand Pic, and so deciding on the starting and finishing points is not easy. Although it is possible to reach the Arete du Promontoire by a 5h walk from La Berade in the south, the route that is described here starts and finishes in La Gare in the North. It is probably the most practical. Note: In August 2018 a huge rock fall fell in the corner of the Glacier Carré making the normal route up the Promontoire unsafe for the rest of the season. Check with the hut for the latest information.
Refuge du Promontoire and Refuge de l'Aigle
Take the cable car from La Gare to Gare de Peyrou and descend to the foot of Les Entfetchores at 2400m. From here, follow the ridge steeply at first (II) past some fixed ropes at the start, to reach some cairns and follow these almost to the summit of Les Entfetchores. Do not go completely to the top, or you will have to make a 50m+ abseil, but traverse round to the right of the summit to reach the Meije glacier, and follow this to the breche de la Meije. The descent from here to the hut depends on the conditions. With snow, descend the right hand side of the gap (some slings), and follow the glacier. Without snow, use the fixed protection on the slabs that lead diagonally from the cairn.
Route finding to the summit of the Grand Pic is not easy. To start, climb up to the gap between the hut and the toilets, and go left where the supporting cables go right. Generally follow the promontory to the long Couloir Duhamel, climb this, and continue up the wall until you reach the Glacier Carré. Traverse right along the upper part of this, to reach the gap at its upper end then continue up the promontory to the summit of the Grand Pic (3983m). The traverse of the aretes is very exposed and involves 4 summits. Descend to the bréche Zsigmondy, reached by 3x40m abseil (the first is 5m below a load of old slings), and then traverse round to the North. From here follow some fixed cables and continue traversing past the 2nd and 3rd "teeth" mostly on the north side until the final ascent (II) to the Doigt du Dieu (3891m) . Now descend 30m and traverse E to a 35m abseil, traverse E again to two further abseils, the 2nd of which requires a full 50m to reach the glacier. Descend the glacier to the rocky point above the refuge de l'Aigle, and then the hut itself. Well done! From the hut descend the right hand side of the Glacier du Trebuchet, passing vire Amieux (cable) then over the col du Bec and following a vague path that leads all the way to Pont des Brebis. From here walk or hitch back to La Gare.
