Sump To Summit

After a drive to the Écrins, we parked up in La Bérarde, ready to kick off our first day. We decided to start the trip with a proper beasting—an early start saw us hiking up the Torrent des Étançons valley as the sun rose over Barre des Écrins. The views were absolutely stunning—where else would you rather be?

Our target for the day was Tête du Rouget. We gained a good amount of height before joining the ridge and climbing westward. The route was a brilliant mix—mostly straightforward climbing with the occasional harder section. We moved together for much of it, eventually reaching the summit just in time for lunch.

From the summit, we’d planned to descend into the next valley to make this a proper round trip. The descent turned out to be nearly harder than the climb itself, involving loose rock scars and plenty of concentration. Eventually, we made it onto a snowfield and had the absolute best time running down the snow to the Soreiller Refuge. A well-earned slice of cake and some tea awaited us there—perfect recovery fuel!

The final stretch took us down a stunning path through the valley, but we couldn’t resist turning around every few minutes to soak in the incredible views of the Aiguille Dibona behind us.

We made it back to the van after an epic first day—an excellent start to our trip!