Sunday 9 October 2016

Refuge du Glacier Blanc, 2542

The Refuge du Glacier Blanc has it's own website, so this brief page is just my own observations and photos.

As the website will tell you, there is no Wifi and no mobile coverage, not even enough to get texts. Indeed that might have been true in Ailefroide too, I forget. There are no showers, which I found particularly annoying, since the French-style "squat toilets" could so easily be converted to double up as showers.

Most used, I'd guess, as a way station to the Refuge des Ecrins. Also suitable for Les Agneaux. For views and notes on the way up, see "my arrival". Here's the hut as you see it from the little plateau below.

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And here it is in the early morning before the sun has got onto it.

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Like the other refuges in the Ecrins, it is primarily for climbers and the facilities are spartan, though the evening food was decent. You can book online. The contrast with Austrian huts with their near-hotel levels of service and "gemutlich" charm is striking. The only clear advantage over Austrian huts is the "plastic crate" system, where you just select on of the empty crates and stick your "common room stuff" in it. This is more like a provincial French cafe used to serving only locals; though I should adds that the Guardian(ne) were friendly. Well, take a look inside.

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I assume the benches were up on the tables because the end of the season was approaching.

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