I'm skiing at Risoul (France) over the Christmas hols. I'm aware this is near 'Ceillac' and maybe other ice climbing venues?
I'm after roadside venues that might be easy enough to top rope if required. I'm going with the missus, so will need to be back on the slopes at some point in the day!
In reply to ERU:
Alpine Ice. The 600 best ice falls in the Alps. covers 5 countries but had the best routes in.
or:
The Alpine Club Ecrins Massif - has everything - mixed, alpine, summer etc
or:
Cascades Oisans aux 6 vallees - tome II - in french but available in the uk (got mine at needlesports online) has all the climbs in!
In reply to ERU: There was a good article in the March issue of Climber about this area - might be worth trying to get hold of a back issue or seeing if the article is online...
Cheers all. I already own the Ecrin Alpine Club one, so just ordered the Europe ice one too. I've seen it in the shops but resisted spending the money on it till now.
If anyone has the March issue of Climber I would be grateful for a scanned copy or something
In reply to ERU: There's Fournel and Fressiniere as well. I'm not sure whether you could get a rope long enough to toprope Forme de Chaos but it's got to be worth a try
> (In reply to ERU)I'm not sure whether you could get a rope long enough to toprope Forme de Chaos but it's got to be worth a try
You won't need that long a rope. When I did it the locals just walked round to the top and monopolised the last curtain pitch on top rope which spoiled it a bit for those who'd done the preceding 5 pitches
In reply to iksander: I particularly enjoyed the way 2 or 3 groups who couldn't be arsed to finish the route abed down on out heads as we were climbing up...
You can normally buy it in Guillestre; either in LouTou sports http://www.loutousport.com/ opposite the Carrefour supermarket or either of the two 'maison de la presse' on the main street. Several shops in Ceillac as well.
Ceillac is a tiny but nice ski area as well. The parking is the same for both the skiing and ice falls, so both of you can enjoy the area http://www.ceillac.com/
There's a lot of essentially roadside ice climbing in the upper Ubaye valley as well as near Orcières (both reasonably close to Risoul) but whether either area will have routes that are in condition by Christmas is entirely another matter. Les Orres has also been mentioned but conditions there can be quite variable and I'd have some doubt as to whether the routes there would be 'in' by this Christmas, all things considered. Also, Les Orres is not exactly what I'd call 'roadside'.