Multipitch Atlas

Orage d'étoiles

Orage d'étoiles sector (Pelvoux foothills) · Ailefroide · France

Read the cautionsEasy to bailBolting confidence: high

One of the best-known slab routes at Ailefroide: eleven pitches up the big inclined plane on the foothills of the Pelvoux, directly above the village. The style never changes, slab from bottom to top, mostly 5b with two pitches of 5c. The approach gully, damaged by a rockfall in 2013, is the serious part of the day.

Hand-drawn sketch topo of Orage d'étoiles, AilefroidePhoto: M4N · CC BY-SA 3.0

Topo

Hand-drawn sketch topo of Orage d'étoiles, AilefroidePhoto: M4N · CC BY-SA 3.0
Hardest pitch
5c
Pitches
11
Length
300 m
Approach
–
Aspect
S
South-facing
Rope
2×50 m
Read before you go

The route itself was rebolted with glue-ins in 2021, but the approach and return go through an unstable gully that has caused an accident.

The route

Overview

Orage d'étoiles takes the main inclined plane of slabs on the Pelvoux foothills, the one that looks straight down on the centre of Ailefroide. It is homogeneous friction climbing on granite for 300 m, with the hardest moves on pitches 2 and 9. A harder right-hand start (6b, then 5c) joins the route at the third belay. The route was rebolted with glue-ins in 2021 and is descended by its own abseil line. Sources agree on the quality of the climbing and on the unpleasantness of the approach gully.

The climbing

Pitch by pitch

PitchGradeNotes
P14bStart under the jammed block and come out onto a terrace covered in stones and blocks. Take great care not to send anything down on parties below. A 2023 party found the pitch sandy.
P25cSlab; one of the two hardest pitches.
P35aSlab to the third belay, where the right-hand variant start (6b, then 5c) joins.
P45bSlab.
P55bSlab.
P65bSlab. Gulliver grades this pitch V+.
P75bSlab.
P84cEasier slab.
P95cThe second 5c pitch.
P104bEasy slab.
P112Very easy ground to the top of the route.

Getting there

Approach

To the parking

Ailefroide (1500 m) is at the head of the Vallouise valley: from Briançon or Gap go to L'Argentière-la-Bessée (railway station), then Vallouise, Pelvoux and Ailefroide. A seasonal bus line runs between Briançon and the Pré de Madame Carle. The road is closed in winter at Pelvoux. Ailefroide has a large campsite and everything is on foot from there.

On foot

From the bridge in the centre of Ailefroide take the road towards the Sélé valley for about 100 m, then a path on the right that also serves the Engilberge sector (which lies to the left). Gulliver gives about ten minutes to the foot of the wall. Go round the practice slab and climb a gully choked with blocks. The first jammed block is passed by a slabby step on its left, protected by two fixed cords, where earth covers the holds. The route starts under the second jammed block, about 70 m higher after a second stony passage; you pass underneath it. No source gives a total approach time.

Finding the route · 2 photos

Approach photo

Map of the walk-in

  • Crag
  • Parking

Loading map

The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.

Coordinates · crag

44.88890, 6.43887

Parking

44.88434, 6.45069

Ailefroide (camptocamp waypoint 106735)

Point from camptocamp waypoint 546826

For your phone or watch

Download GPX

Contains the route point and parking. Opens in most mapping apps and GPS watches.

Points are compiled from published sources, with the precision stated above. They were not surveyed on the ground: check them against a current topo.

Getting down

Descent

Nine abseils down the route's abseil line, re-equipped in 2021; Gulliver gives them as 45 m. One further abseil on the left bank of the gully (two bolts and a sling) avoids the slippery slab step in the approach gully. Parties report about 1 h 30 min for the abseils and gully. The abseils are slightly vegetated.

Retreat

Bailing off the route

Easy to bail

Abseiling the route is the normal descent and the abseil line was re-equipped in 2021, so you can turn round from the belays it uses with two 50 m ropes. Remember that every retreat ends with the descent of the unstable approach gully; an extra abseil on its left bank avoids the worst step.

Retreat from
Any station on the abseil line (nine abseils from the top).
Point of no return
None.
Carry
2×50 m ropes; Gulliver gives 45 m abseils.
Basis
Stated in the sourcesCamptocamp and Gulliver both give nine abseils down the route; ONOS confirms the abseil line was re-equipped in 2021.

Safety

Hazards

  • The approach gully is more dangerous than it looks since the 2013 rockfall: large blocks are unstable and have already caused an accident, and the step at the first jammed block is slippery with earth. You come back down it.
  • The terrace at the top of pitch 1 is covered in loose stones directly above the gully where other parties wait.
  • A 2023 party found the grades stiff and the bolts further apart than expected, and suggests an obligatory grade around 5c+.
  • The Cambon guidebook's photo-topo marks the line wrongly at the bottom according to camptocamp: its first two pitches are those of the right-hand variant.

Sun and weather

Conditions

South-facing granite slabs between about 1700 and 2000 m. In autumn the sun disappears early behind the Pelvoux. Trip reports are from July and August; the Ailefroide road is closed in winter.

Usual season · Jun to Sep

Sun on the wall · S-facing

Working out the sunlit hours for this month.

Sun on the wallDaylight, wall in shade● Usual season

Estimated from the wall's aspect only. Ignores surrounding terrain, gullies and the wall's exact shape. Clock times are local to the wall (Central European time), for the 15th of each month.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Mean daily high °C−015712182122171250
Mean daily low °C−7−7−4−038111173−3−6
Rain days 1 mm or more111011121417151312111212
Sunshine hours a day7.08.49.710.811.712.813.412.210.38.57.06.6

● marks the usual climbing season. Averages for 1991-2020 at about 1496 m. Area climate from Open-Meteo reanalysis (about 10 km grid): the wall and valley can differ. Data: Open-Meteo, CC BY 4.0.

What to carry

Gear

Two 50 m ropes for the abseils. No source states a number of quickdraws. Helmet, for the gully above all.

Checklist

Quickdraws
Number not given in the sources
Rope
2×50 m
Helmet
One each
Abseil device and prusik
The descent or the retreat involves abseiling

Derived from the route data; check it against a current topo

From climbers

Reader reports

Reader reports are not being collected yet. Until they are, check a current topo and the local club or guidebook publisher for recent changes to Orage d'étoiles.

Worth knowing

Tips

  • Parties take 4 h 30 min to 5 h for the climb, plus the abseils.
  • If the route is busy, think twice about queuing in the gully below pitch 1.
  • Rivière Kwaï, on the same slabs, shares the approach.

Open questions

Where sources disagree

  • Grades: camptocamp gives 5c maximum by the normal (left) start; Gulliver grades in UIAA numerals, V+ maximum by the left start (pitches 6 and 9) and VI by the right start, with 6a as the overall maximum. The 6b for the variant's first pitch is camptocamp's.
  • Aspect: south on camptocamp, south-east on Gulliver.
  • Bolt spacing: 'close' on camptocamp; a 2023 report disagrees.
  • Pitch count versus abseils: 11 pitches but 9 abseils, since the abseil line skips stations; a 2023 party was confused by the last pitches.

Provenance

Sources

Same area

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Compiled from published sources and last verified October 2026. Bolts, anchors and access change. Climbing is dangerous and you are responsible for your own decisions: check a current topo and read the disclaimer.