Cime Nire

Peaks: Cime Nire (2666m/8747ft)
Area: Maritime Alps, Provence
Routes: East Ridge (uI+), NW Gully (uII)
After a week in the Esterel sunshine, we headed up to my old stomping ground of the Maritime Alps for a brief family mountain trip bolted on to the end of our holiday. After taking the children for a night at the Lac d'Allos hut two years ago (their first visit to an Alpine hut) my plans this time were a little more ambitious. First item on the agenda was the walk-in to the Refuge du Nice. The Gordolasque valley is an area I know well, so I was relieved to be able to park at midday on a busy August Saturday. The walk-in went reasonably well. There were a few complaints from the offspring, particularly during the steep zig-zags below the Mur des Italians. The view of the waterfall was scant consolation! The cloudbase gradually lowered during the walk and the atmosphere was quite foreboding as we entered the plain of La Barme, surrounded by spectacular peaks - many of which I have climbed in the past, like Ponset, Clapier, Capelet and Collomb. A short rise gained Lac de Fous and views of the hut. This was the morale boost the team needed, and they were rewarded with a hot chocolate in the hut. After a game of scrabble, it looked like the mist was lifting slightly, so I ran up to Lac Nire before dinner. From here, it is a fairly simple matter to traverse the boulder fields and plough up the slopes to an obvious scree gully, the only real way to access the Pas de Nire between the two peaks of Tete du Lac Autier and Cime Nire. The cloud began to descend again as I reached the pass, so I made a snap decision to go for the lower - but more striking - peak of Cime Nire. This was short but excellent. A fine narrow ridge gave a bit of scrambling to an obvious forepeak, after which grass slopes led down to a pronounced col. The final north ridge looks very steep from a distance, but on closer inspection only the first and last 20 metres give any real scrambling. A few short rock walls, on good but lichen covered rock (I assume this peak is very rarely ascended), led to easier slopes before a steep final wall gave more easy rock climbing to a small summit (45m from hut). The cloud base was only just above the cairn, limiting the views but increasing the atmosphere. After a cautious descent, I decided to give Tete du Lac Autier a miss, mindful of conserving some energy for tomorrow morning. As a result, I opted to take the steeper NW gully leading directly down from the col to the lake as a more direct route back to the hut after analysing the feasibility of the line from a high vantage point. This was very loose in places - indeed the one steep section that looked worrying from above was actually the most solid 10m section of the gully. But it had the virtue of directness and I soon picked up the more solid boulder field above Lac Nire before gaining the GR52 and good quick running back to the hut, where we all enjoyed a superb four course dinner with local lamb and cheese from the vacherie in the valley.