Over 11 days, finishing in October, well-known French alpinists Aymeric Clouet and Christophe Dumarest made a more-or-less continuous north to south traverse of the Ecrins linking eight respectable north faces, two or three of which alone would keep most people happy for a season.

Over the years Clouet and Dumarest have formed a strong partnership. Despite their relative youth (Clouet 30; Dumarest 28), they have together and individually notched up many fine ascents throughout the World and are widely regarded in France as some of the strongest alpinists of their generation. In certain quarters comparisons have been made with the legendary partnership formed by Louis Lachenal and Lionel Terray, where the individual climbers did not have a strong social contact away from the mountains but came together with considerable force when climbing.

The two Frenchmen started their odyssey in La Bérarde, reaching the Promentoire Hut below the South Face of the Meije on the first day. Next morning they crossed north over the brèche and climbed the North Face of the 3,982m Meije via the Z Couloir (D). Descending south they spent the night at the Pavé Hut and the following day climbed the North Couloir of the Col du Diable (D/D+), which separates the Roche Méane and Grand Ruine. They didn't continue to either summit but descended directly to the Adèle Planchard Hut for the night.

The next day took them over the divide south of the Glacier de la Plate des Agneaux via the North Couloir (AD) of the Breche de la Somme (3,269m) on the right side of the North Face of Roche d'Alvau. After a bivouac on the Bonnepierre Glacier they climbed one of the great Ecrins classics, the Meyer-Dibona (aka Grand Central) Couloir (D+) on the North West Face of the Dome de Neige des Ecrins (4,015m), descending south west to the comforts of the Temple Ecrins Hut.

After a full day recuperating in the refuge, Clouet and Dumarest continued their journey with an ascent of the North West Face of Ailefroide Occidentale (3,847m). Up till now they had chosen routes that had been found in good condition, rather than being lured onto harder and perhaps more prestigious ascents that were poorly formed. However, for the Ailefroide they opted for the c1,000m Voie des Plaques, an ED1/2 that gave hard mixed climbing. The day was long and the pair only just reached the Pilatte Hut before midnight.

Another day's rest was necessary, after which the two raced up the classic North East Couloir (D) of Les Bans (3,670m) and descended to the Bans Hut. It was there that the only hiccup in their traverse occurred. The guys had travelled relatively light throughout their journey, relying on friends to cache food supplies along the way (being out of season, the huts were ungarded and not provisioned). At the Refuge des Bans the organization failed.

The following morning Clouet and Dumarest were forced to descend east all the way to Vallouise to have a good scoff and collect food supplies. They returned to the Bans Hut that night, next day climbed the North Couloir of the Brèche des Bruyères, descended to the Vallonpierre Hut for the night, and on the final day completed their voyage south by climbing the classic 1,000m British Route (AD) on the North Ridge of 3,441m Le Serac, the most southerly of the major peaks in the Ecrins. They saw no other climber in the Massif during the entire trip.

Despite the French pair's extensive combined experience, Dumarest thought this link-up the most demanding enterprise of their partnership. Clouet remarked that previous long expeditions to the Greater Ranges had made all the difference to success.

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