HR des Ecrins
Deeper into the rugged alpine
Period
Week 16 | 12 April - 18 April 2025 | Available |
Specifications
Price:
€1390,-
Included:
. 6 days full guiding
. 6 nights accommodation with breakfast and dinner
. safetyequipement (transceiver-shovel-probe)
. organizational costs
Not included:
. avalanche airbag
. transport to location
. lift ticket first day, around 30, - euros
. lunches and drinks
. gear
. travel insurance
Group:
. 4 participants per guide
Level
-
Descend
Level D: You are stable in all conditions and on all types of tracks, including moguls. Off-piste, you can ski safely up to 45 degrees under good conditions. Traversing, couloirs and forests are fine for you as well. You still have trouble in some specific types of snow, such as ‘cardboard snow’.
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Ascend
Level E: You have excellent touring techniques and experience in the use of ice axes and crampons, and also know basic rope techniques
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Physical condition
Level E: You have a very strong condition. Multi-day tours at a steady pace, and with a heavy backpack are not a problem.
For tour skiers with alpine experience, this is the best of all trips. The rope becomes your best friend, as it is used every day during this journey.
Grandiose glaciers, impressive walls, steep couloirs… All the superlatives can be used to describe the national park we will travel through. By the way, this is the biggest and most isolated French mountain range.
The journey never goes under 2000 meters of altitude, and includes the ascent of a four-thousander peak, the Dôme des Ecrins. No less than 5500 meters up and 7000 meters down are planned, without encountering any village or road, as most traces of civilization are prohibited in this national park. So, this trip requires excellent fitness and good experience.
We will make a six-day tour crossing the national park of Ecrins. It is the oldest national park in the Alps and also one of the toughest. It is more than 80 000 hectares big, has no roads, no ski lifts and is very sparsely covered by phone service. The huts are basic but cozy and all beautifully located. Refuge de l'Alpe is the only one that has shower and indoor toilets. From the very first minute of the trip, one feels away from civilization, everything is quiet and we shall all count on eachother.
We will start our tour in La Grave, where we will immediately take the cable car up to the rugged glacial terrain. The trip includes many ascents, among them the Pic du Nord Replat, the Grande Ruine, the Pic Neige Cordier, the Dôme de Neige des Ecrins and the Dôme de Monetier. It ends in Monêtier-les-Bains on Friday, only half an hour away by car from the starting point.
We will stay in several small, cozy mountain huts with fine French cuisine. These places might change, as we want to have the maximum flexibility to adapt to the snow conditions. Of course, before your trip, you will receive an exhaustive email with the accommodation details.
La Haute Route des Écrins is definitely a 5 stars tour for experienced ski-mounaineers.
High quality
Our maximum group size is 6 people per guide and in rougher, more exposed alpine terrain, this number will be decrease even more. This allows us to make no concessions on quality or safety, and to give every guest enough personal space and attention to improve.
Experience
PowderGuides consists a team of international certified mountain guides with each 1000plus hours of expertise in the immense terrain. With no lost of enthusiasm they will improve your skills of freeriding and touring very fast, but they are also involved in professional training. And this last point makes them up to date on every latest trick in the profession.
Languages
All the guides speak several languages as French, German and English. If you have any question about your trip you can contact us by phone in the office or send us an email in English, French or Dutch.
FAQ
What can we do for you? Although you’ll find many explanations on our Frequently Asked Questions page below. Please use the inquiry form via the contact page for customer support and service, general and specific inquires for any help.