Massif des Écrins
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The Barre des Ecrins on the Glacier Blanc
The Pelvoux also Ecrin, is a mountain range in the Dauphiné in France. In Pelvoux are the highest mountains of the Dauphiné Alps. The principal summits of the highest massifs are Barre des Ecrins ( 4102 m ), Grand Pic de la Meije ( 3983 m) and l' Ailefroide Occidentale ( 3954 m). The Pelvoux includes the National Park Ecrins. The mountain range extends between Grenoble in the northwest, to the east of Briançon and Gap in the south. Your natural boundaries are the valleys of the Romanche ( l' Oisans ), the Guisane ( Briançon ), the Durance and the Drac ( Champsaur ). Of these some side valleys penetrate partly deep into the heart of the mountain. These are the valley of Vénéon with the mountain village of La Bérarde, the Valjouffrey, the Valsenestre, the Valgaudemar, the Vallouise, the Vallée de Freissinières and Champoléon.
The name was inspired by Pelvoux the fourth highest mountain range in the region, the 3,946 meter high Mont Pelvoux, formerly as the highest peak of the area ( and the highest mountain in France before the connection of Savoy ) was. Today, the mountain range towards the actual highest peak is often referred to as the Ecrins Massif or des Ecrins.
The region around the Barre des Ecrins has a significant glaciation. The deeply incised, often north-facing high ridges lying valleys, steep Couloire ( gutters ) and completed Cragpool favor the formation of glaciers. The National Park Authority is one of 292 mostly small glaciers with an average size of 40 ha on the 15 glacier systems reach a size of more than 200 ha The best known among them are the Glacier Blanc and the scree-covered Glacier Noir, two valley glaciers, the ins with long tongues rearmost Vallouise drain. The glaciers of the Ecrins Massif, cover a total area of approximately 100 km ². The total ice volume is estimated at 5 km ³.
Many climbers applies the Pelvoux as the " wildest " mountain range of the Alps. Due to its rugged peaks, steep walls and torn glacier it is also referred to as " the Karakoram in the Alps ."