Rock climbing and bouldering in Ailefroide

Surrounding Ailefroide are numerous granite walls that provide a wide variety of rock routes up to 500m high. The main attraction for rock climbers are these long bolted multi-pitch routes up superb walls. The style of climbing at Ailefroide is generally on slabs with some routes or pitches passing through vertical or slightly overhanging sections of rock. Many of these routes are between 200m and 300m long, and graded between F5a to F6c. The vast majority of the routes are well bolted (usually 2m to 3m apart), with the crux sections so well bolted that you can often aid through these (if required) by stepping in a sling or pulling the quickdraw. All the routes will have a maximum grade and an obligatory grade to reflect this. In total there are over 120 multi-pitch routes between 150m and 500m long across 22 sectors that face all directions so it is always possible to find the sun or the shade.

In addition to the multi-pitch routes, Ailefroide has a further 13 sport climbing areas with over 250 single pitch routes between F3c and F8a.   Ailefroide is also a great bouldering location with many pristine granite boulders.  These are scattered around the village and along the river, making it all very accessible.  There are a diverse range of problems, from technical slabs to crimp fests and some highballs.  In total there are around 800 boulder problems with grades ranging from Fb4+ to Fb8b.  

All the routes and buttresses are easily accessed by walking from the village. The approach times vary from 5 minutes to 20 minutes long, from carparks or laybys around Ailefroide.

Ailefroide is cut off when the first snow arrives, so the best time to go rock climbing at Ailefroide is from late May through to October.

There is a large campsite in the centre of Ailefroide that is popular with climbers. Alternatively the town of Vallouise is only 8km down the valley and has plenty of accommodation options from companies such as AlpBase.

The Briancon Climbs Guidebook covers the single pitch and multi-pitch routes at Ailefroide, as well as the wider Haute Alps region around Briancon.

The Ailefroide Bouldering guidebook covers around 800 problems along the valley from Fb4+ to Fb8b. 

Ailefroide is the main starting point to access many of the classic peaks in the Ecrins Massif. There are two peaks over 4,000m, which are the Barre des Ecrins (4,102m) and the Dome de Neige des Ecrins (4,015m). In addition there are many 3,000m+ peaks such as Mont Pelvoux (3,946m) and Ailefroide Centrale (3,927m) that provide many excellent Alpine routes. There are 4 huts within walking distance of Ailefroide to access these routes that are often more isolated than those in Chamonix. 

There are several mountaineering guidebooks for the Alpine routes around Ailefroide, which are as follows:

• The 4,000m Peaks of the Alps Guidebook, Volume 1 West, details the classic routes up both the Barre des Ecrins (4,102m) and the Dome de Neige des Ecrins (4,015m).  
• Ecrins 4102m Mountaineering Guidebook
  
• Mountaineering in the Ecrins Massif Guidebook
  
• Classic Routes in the Ecrins Guidebook
  
• Ecrins Selected Ice Climbs Guidebook
  
• The 3436 ET - Meije-Pelvoux Walking Map from IGN details the Ecrins and Meije Massifs at a scale of 1:25,000.