Barre des Écrins

The Barre des Écrins is a very tall mountain located in the French Alps. It reaches up to 4,102 metres (13,458 feet) high. This mountain is the tallest point in the Massif des Écrins and the Dauphiné Alps.

It is special because it is the most southern alpine peak in Europe that rises above 4,000 metres.

Before the area known as Savoy became part of France in 1860, Barre des Écrins was considered the highest mountain in the country. It is also unique because it is the only mountain in France that is over 4,000 metres tall but is not part of the famous Mont Blanc Massif. This makes it a notable landmark for people who study mountains and enjoy exploring nature.

Geography

Location

The Barre des Écrins is the tallest mountain in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, which includes all of Occitania and the Southern Alps. It is found in the area of Pelvoux and is close to the Drainage divide between the Durance and the Vénéon. The south side of the mountain has rocks, while the north side has ice because it is where the Glacier Blanc starts.

The mountain is surrounded by four glaciers: the Bonne Pierre glacier to the north-west, the Glacier Blanc to the north-east, the Glacier du Vallon de la Pilatte to the south-west, and the Glacier Noir to the south-east.

Geology

The mountain is made from special kinds of rock called migmatized gneiss, which contain quartz-feldspar. Near the top, there is a layer of amphibolic rock on top of the migmatized gneiss. These rocks sit on a large piece of granite Pluton that makes up the summit of Pelvoux.

History

People found the Écrins mountains in the 1800s. Back then, the area was part of the Kingdom of Sardinia, not France. The highest point is in a place called Briançonnais.

In 1864, three men from England, A. W Moore, Horace Walker, and Edward Whymper, reached the top of Barre des Écrins with guides. They made steps in the ice to climb up. After that, more people found new ways to climb the mountain.

Ascent

The Barre des Écrins is a popular mountain for climbers, with many paths to reach the top.

The most common way up starts from Pré de Madame Carle in the valley of Ailefroide. Climbers usually follow the Glacier Blanc to reach the Dôme des Écrins, then continue to the Barre des Écrins. Some routes have special equipment to help climbers.

There are also harder paths, like the South Face. In spring, some people climb using special gear for ice and snow.

Longest line of sight

The Barre des Écrins has a special record. It is the place with the longest line of sight ever captured in a photograph on Earth. In July 2016, a photographer named Marc Bret took the picture from the Pic de Finestrelles in the Pyrenees. The distance between the two places is about 443 kilometers.