ICE 2008: L’Argentière la Bessée
09 / 01 / 08International Ice Climbing Festival in the French Ecrins
ICE is the annual ice climbing meeting that attracts climbers from all over the world. They come to explore the ice falls in the Fournel and Freissinières valleys around L’Argentière la Bessée. The area is recognised as one of the top spots in the world for offering some of the best ice climbing at every grade. As usual the organisers will be laying on free shuttle buses to drop you at the foot of the climbs, while in the evening you will have the opportunity to browse products from favourite brands such as Petzl, Black Diamond, Millet and.. Alpkit in the ICEXPO village.
Evening entertainment also includes films from the Banff film festival and dry tooling. The Saturday night feast includes a bivvy out in the snow with a bonfire, films, cauldrons of soup and hot wine! The festival runs from the 9th - 13th January and the full programme can be found on the IceFall website or by contacting the festival organiser Gérard Pailheiret.
Read more about the Ice Climbing in this area in Jerry Gore’s article: AlpBase for French Sport Ice Climbing
