Finally we did get some dry weather. Ailefroide is a bona-fide alpine destination, with stuff like the Meije traverse (next year?) and the Dauphiné classic South Pillar of the Barre des Ecrins. But it also offers some amazing rock climbing less than the 15 minutes from the camp site. Our friend Boris had spied the routes before and had also lent me the small paperback guide (although there is now a much thicker version). Scrawled on the top of one of the pages of the guide was the simple and compelling note; “This slab looks brilliant!”.
So we duly chose that 13 pitch climb – Orage d’Étoiles – with pitches up to V+. Boris was right, it is a brilliant route!