Aiguille Dibona 3131m

Greetings and salutations from a very wet and grey Bristol in the UK! 

Having just recently returned from the Ecrins region in the French Alps and despite having mixed weather like most out there, my partners in crime and I attempted to fulfil a long held ambition and climb the classic "Face Sud Classique" aka "Voie Berthet/Boell/Stofer" (with the odd harder variation) on the mighty Aiguille Dibona 3131m.

First climbed by Angelo Dibona in 1913 and although of modest height, the Dibona has inspired generations of climbers and is surely one of the most beautiful and spectacular mountains (along with the Matterhorn) in Europe. Gaston Rebuffat himself wrote about Dibona : "This needle is a monument of stone given to mankind by the earth and the time, an extraordinary sculpture in the sky, the light and the silence of Oisans. The same achievements of the climbers on another mountain would not be so marvellous. This needle was a question, climbing on her a response".

Anyway the entertainment was duly recorded so did we make it to the summit? Well for any Summit-Posteers interested in viewing a short HD film of this superb route and beautiful mountain then please use the embedded link:

 

 

If you wish to sample the full High Def experience and your computer has enough va va voom, you should be able to change the "Quality" icon to at least 720p HD in the bottom right hand corner on the You Tube screen. Anyway all constructive feedback or comments welcome and hopefully it will inspire a few folks to visit this spectacular area of the French Alps, stay in the superb Soreiller Hut and climb the Dibona!

Cheers and happy climbing :-)

Dave