Aiguille Dibona
A beautiful day on the fabulous granite of this slender spire at the gates of the Écrins National Park.
With Jacques
Brittany comes to the mountains! Jacques, Audrey and their little Télio are in La Bérarde for a fortnight, a good opportunity to pay them a visit.
The initial idea was to kidnap Audrey from her role as a mum for a weekend to introduce her to the beautiful Aiguille de la Dibona and the Tête du Rouget in the Soreiller cirque. Unfortunately, a nasty horsefly cast a spell on her: here she is with an ankle so swollen she can't even slip on a flip-flop!
Jacques, a true gentleman, offers to replace his beloved in the difficult role of climber of beautiful granite. This sunny Saturday will not be wasted for everyone...
An early start from Les Etages with Jacques, then, to discover the Aiguille de la Dibona. We choose a combination of routes: start via the Madier, then the Berthet variant, Sept d'un Coup, the Boell ledge and the Stofer grooves.
Given the announced difficulties, we stay in mountain boots, with our rock shoes in the pack just in case.
The whole first part goes smoothly and, arriving at the foot of the Stofer grooves, we decide to try the last pitches of Visite Obligatoire.
Jacques climbs the first 6a smoothly, where the mountain boots turn out to be a weapon for jamming in the cracks. Feeling playful, we carry on into the next pitch, whose profile hints at some improbable friction moves. This time the boots reach their limits and it is very delicate to link all the slab moves. Jacques gives it everything and does very well. A pair of rock shoes would have changed everything, but that's the game!
Summit of the Dibona! Jacques glances right, then left: there's a void everywhere, the spire really is sharp! One long abseil and here we are with our feet back on Earth for a descent made pleasant by the snow still lying around.
Bravo à toi Jacques, et Audrey ce n'est que partie remise !
Photo gallery...