UKC

Hi,

We are looking to do Dibona in the Ecrin via a relatively easy route. The problem is I only have photo copies of an ancient guidebook which I'm struggling with and don't want to shell out €40 for a guide where we will do potentially one route. My question is what is the easiest route up? What kit would be advised (rope lengths, twin/single and rack)? How early a start would be required from the hut? What is the decent like?

Many thanks in advance,

Cheers,

Alex

In reply to a13x:
Easiest route is roughly HS, although there are some great routes up the front that would be only a little harder. The decent is a couple of abseils down to the col at the back, then a walk, so I'd wear trail shoes to walk into the hut/climb and change back after abbing off. Unless you climb it in boots, or some of the combined trail/climb shoes.

Ropes; single 50m is fine, but abbing off would be 3 in stead of 2. Rack just treat it like any UK mountain route, but don't over do it and have 10kg of ironmongery like you see some in the UK. Treat it like uk mountain classic ...

Starting, no rush, enjoy it in the sun not with a shiver. Chances are the hut staff will tell you what time breakfast is according to the route you want to do. Often an hour after the they feed the guides & clients, unless you lie and tell them you are heading somewhere else and get out before the guides! But don't worry, it's unlikely to be busy later in the season.

Edit; just seen your grades, get on some of the routes on the front, you won't regret it, unless you are picking the easiest line for your second.

In reply to summo:

Hi,

Thanks for your reply full of really useful info! And yes I am picking the route with the 2nd in mind. She is a good climber bouldering well and leading confidently in the F5's but lacks the confidence on bigger routes.

Cheers,

Alex

In reply to a13x:

There's a webpage here on it: http://www.summitpost.org/aiguille-dibona-voie-du-nain-normal-route/224037

In reply to a13x:

Hey Alex,

We were up at the Soreiller climbing on the Dibona a couple of days ago. We only climbed on the front of the peak but descended the Voie Normale which is PD and looked about S/HS for 2 or 3 pitches at the top.

There's a copy of the guidebook up at the hut with good topos though the text is all in French.

Have a good time, it's an awesome peak!

Alex

In reply to a13x:
Whilst I understand your reasons for wanting to choose the easiest route, it'd be a great shame to climb a peak as iconic as the Dibona by anything other than a route on the front of it. I've only done one route on it, The Madier. I remember it being fabulous - looking at my diary from 1983, my comment was 'best VS in the world'. Whilst it would appear that the comment was undergrading the route a bit, reading the camptocamp description it seems the fissure Madier is now a little harder than when I did it as a block has come out of it. The rest of the route remains at between 4c and 5c with most in the 4c/5a so probably my VS wasn't too far out. http://www.camptocamp.org/routes/54508/fr/aiguille-dibona-face-s-directe-vo...

In reply to a13x:

Heaps of topos online for the Dibona. This page for example. http://pionowemysli.pl/alpy/ecrins-aiguille-dibona-voie-madier/

In reply to a13x:

Hi there

We did Dibona via the easiest route a month and a bit ago. Up Voie du Nain then the N ridge. It was brilliant. Depends on your motivations for being in the mountains. Everyone tells you you are missing out on a lot by not going up the front. But the Nain is really nice (great exposed moves on a nice face), and you have the thing to yourselves, while everyone else is battling it out to be front of the queue on the easy front routes. Also, if you stay up and do the Sorrieller behind it (nice mountaineering move-together ridge with slightly harder pitch at the top), you will look down at the insignificant gendarme that is the Dibona and say: Now all that crowd down there REALLY are missing out on this!!!

But as I say, depends on your reasons for being there.

I cobbled together all info from internet.
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=f0jUNUR8Tq4C&pg=PA261&lpg=PA261...

Best topo down a bit here:
http://www.clubalpin-tarbes.org/index.php/alpinisme/23-photos3/1057-dibona

http://lepitonrouille.over-blog.fr/article-aiguille-dibona-voie-du-nain-are...

For Dibona the Nain and N Ridge are all bolts - sport climbing. Need your normal 8-12 quickdraws and no other gear, but always good to have a back-up. Rock in that area is lots of parallel cracks so say two small-med cams (~green camalot size) are more useful that nuts. I might have used a cam once as scaredy extra pro. (I think to protect the 2nd on a bold traverse.) We took two 50m ropes, as good to get off the N ridge route fast before all the crowds get there (2 40m abs off chains). Could do with a single rope, but we did the Sorreiller next, which is a lot easy to descend with 50m ab. Approach shoes and rock shoes, or just good approach shoes if you are good.

Did Squareface back here the last weekend. Quite similar climbing and level to Nain (without bolts of course), but the Nain is about 500 times better!!! Certainly the weather is And everyone thinks Squareface here is a classic...So...

Also, whats to stop you going back and doing a front face route some other day (or the next), once you know the lay of the land.

Have fun!!!

In reply to BruceM:

has the hut/guardienne improved? I stayed there last year and was very unimpressed. many of the french were camping near the hut which says a lot. If you are fit probably best to skip the hut and do it in a day from the valley.

In reply to a13x:

The Madier route is probably HVS if you avoid the "fissure" pitch(which is solid E1). The other classic low grade way up is the Bethert - Boell which starts up the Madier then goes off right before rejoining higher up, this is probably VS. I've done both and they are both excellent routes, route finding is easy, descent is straight-forward.
I would take 60m twin ropes, a light rack of one full set of wires and about 4 small to medium cams, 10 to 12 quickdraws, some spare slings.
The walk-in from the hut takes 5 minutes, don't start too early or it will be cold, the sun comes around early to mid morning.

We found it straightforward to avoid the crack / fissure pitch on Madier by instead going to the left (and temporarily joining the easier route) -- which was an interesting pitch of climbing anyway.

In reply to Martin Haworth:


That's the easiest route up the 'front' to my knowledge. A bit meandering but excellent rock and situations.

In reply to philipjardine:

Hi. We bivvied in some nice spots out right of the hut by a few hundred metres. (But we bivvy everywhere and never use huts.) There was a very nice young chap 18-22 who seemed to be working there (with others). He was a great bloke, and had an enthusiastic chat with us once -- even though we weren't even staying with him.

In reply to a13x:

The top crack on the Madier is quite a bit harder than the rest of the route and rather strenuous. The Salluard route is superb - and a lot easier than the grade suggests. Well protected, too. Lovely, open climbing at VS/HVS. I much preferred this to the Madier.

In reply to Martin Haworth:

"fissure" pitch(which is solid E1)"

Glad I spotted this. Found this pitch quite challenging years back and wondered why all other parties on the face around the same time were avoiding it! Was enjoyable in the end.

In reply to a13x:

What are the dates you are out there?

In reply to a13x:

What are the dates you are out there?

In reply to a13x:






Hi Alex the Dibona is a very beautiful mountain and my buddies and I climbed the classic "Face Sud Classique" aka "Voie Berthet/Boell/Stofer" last summer. We stayed in the superb Soreiller hut and were looked after superbly by Martine and her staff. We were allocated a start time of 7am and even though we were rather held up by slower parties (climbing as a 3!), we were on the summit by early afternoon. The descent is normally pretty easy with 2 abs off the back then a straightforward walk back to the hut.
The entertainment was recorded so if interested in viewing a short HD film of the walk in, the superb route and this beautiful mountain then please use the following link:

youtube.com/watch?v=ygToEMgjMYU&

All the belays are equipped and there is a lot of in-situ gear + I'm pretty sure we climbed on a single rope so hope you get on the route as it is an amazing day out!

Cheers Dave

In reply to a13x:
Madier route is good, then finish up Visite Obligatoire from the Boell Ledge if you don't want to do the fissure pitch (which, incidentally, is nowhere near as hard as some say). The ledge is obvious, so once you get there just choose a route to the top. There are topos at the hut, so study them and take some pics of them to carry on route...?