On consecutive days French alpinists Yann Borgnet and Robin Revest linked three great north faces above the Glacier Noir in the Ecrins, the theme being to celebrate the achievements of one of the massif's most famous partnerships.
The Glacier Noir has a wild ambience: there are no huts, few people, no mobile phone reception, the routes are hard and committing, and the descents long and far from straightforward.
The south side of the glacier is dominated by the great north faces of the Pelvoux, Pic Sans Nom and Ailefroide. On each of these, legendary Ecrins activists Jean-Michel Cambon and Bernard Francou established direct routes.
In 1976 they climbed what is now referred to as the Cambon-Francou Direct on 3,943m Mt Pelvoux. This sombre 1,000m wall is TD+, 6a and mixed, and had possibly only one subsequent ascent before this year.
From their bivouac on the moraine, Borgnet and Revest climbed the Cambon-Francou, with sections needing rock shoes alternating with those requiring mountain boots, tools and crampons. In common with many of the great faces of the Ecrins, the rock was often poor, difficult to protect and sometimes verglaced.
They descended the Coolidge Couloir (PD), climbed back up the Sialouze Glacier to the Col Est du Pelvoux (3,609m), and then down-climbed and rappelled the North Couloir (700m: D) to regain their bivouac site at 10:00pm.
All in all a great experience but in their opinion too dangerous to recommend to other parties.
After a short night's rest they set off for their second objective, the 1975 Cambon-Francou Directe de Droite on the 3,914m Pic Sans Nom, (1,000m: ED1: 6b, A1 and mixed), which climbs the great slabs to the right of the famous Jean-Marc Boivin ice route, Raie des Fesses.
Starting up the face at 6:00am, they discovered sections of very fine climbing on wonderful rock, and reached the summit at 5:30pm. Descending the North West Couloir (AD) to the Coup de Sabre Glacier, they again reached their bivouac site late; this time at 10:30pm
As the following day involved a longer approach and more snow on the route, they set off at 5:00am and by 8:00am were at grips with the 1981 Cambon-Francou Direct, aka Pilier des Seracs, on 3,927m Ailefroide Centrale (900m: TD+: 5+, 60° and mixed). This is the easiest (and by far the most frequented) of the three chosen north face routes, with sunny climbing on good rock in the lower section leading to a large hanging glacier
Once on the hanging glacier, they abandoned the original line, which climbs direct to the subsidiary summit of Pointe Forastier (3,907m), and instead slanted up right to finish up the Costa Rouge Arête (D) to the central summit.
At 4:30pm they were enjoying the afternoon sun on top. This time they followed the long but relatively straightforward descent of the South Face (PD), reaching the Ailefroide Campsite at 10:00pm.
After that it was time to celebrate, with plenty of R and R, before summoning up the motivation to return to Pre de Madame Carlé and slog back up the Glacier Noir to collect their bivi gear.
Jean-Michel Cambon, now in his late 50s, is perhaps the most prolific first ascensionist in the Ecrins, and authored a series of guidebooks, notably L'Oisans Nouveau est Arrivé, which documented the arrival of "modern" rock climbing in the range.
Francou, who is in his early 60s, is a glaciologist by profession and now based in Quito, Ecuador. He has been studying Andean glaciers for more than 20 years - particularly in Bolivia, where he also authored rock climbing guides.
The photo shows the North Face of the Pelvoux, the 1976 Cambon-Francou taking a direct line up the steep mixed rocky wall below Pointe Piuseux, the main summit. It is taken from Sebastien Constant's new guide, Snow and Mixed Climbs Volume I. See www. sebastien-constant.com
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