Elevation 3,564 m Parent range Dauphiné Alps | First ascent August 1880 | |
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Easiest route North ridge (rock, AD, II) Mountain range Massif des Écrins, Alps, Dauphiné Alps Similar Roche de la Muzelle, Les Rouies, Ailefroide, Le Sirac, Cime du Vallon | ||
The Olan (l'Olan in French) (3564 m) is a mountain in the Massif des Écrins in the French Alps. It dominates the valleys of Valgaudemar, Valjouffrey, and Vénéon in the heart of Écrins National Park.
Contents
Map of Olan, 38520 Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans, France
The mountain has two or three summits: the Epaulé Sud (3,514 m), which can be considered a shoulder, the Sommet Centrale (3,558 m) and the Sommet Nord (3,564 m). Before the ascents it was unclear which of the main summits was the higher one.
ClimbingEdit
The first successful ascent of the mountain was made on July 8, 1875, by Gabriel ("Gaber") and Josef Spechtenhauser, from Schnals in Tyrol, guiding the British gentlemen Richard Pendlebury and Arthur Cust. Cust had to give up below the summit, but the Spechtenhausers brought Pendlebury to the central peak, since sometimes called Cime Pendlebury, where they had to turn around swiftly because of a lightning storm, which made the descent very adventurous. The following summer Christian and Ulrich Almer and W.A.B. Coolidge got stuck where Cust had turned around in 1875, but on 29 Jun 1877 the same party repeated the ascent of the central summit and proceeded in 55 minutes through the gap to the north summit (hence Cime Coolidge). Three more parties reached the south summit via the same route in 1877 and 1879, before Pierre Gaspard (father), Christophe Roderon and Arthur Cust reached the north summit via a new route, from the north over the Glacier des Sellettes, on August 8, 1880. Cust's measurements from the north summit showed it to be about 10 feet higher than the central peak.
The great classical routes of the Olan are difficult, and the poor quality of the rock makes the climbing quite dangerous. Routes on the north-west side, from the Font-Turbat refuge, include: north ridge (AD), Couzy-Desmaison (ED), Devies-Gervasutti (TD), and the Candau ridge (D). [1]. On the south-west face is the 'Pilier Nounours' (Teddy Bear pillar, TD), a modern route that was well equipped with bolts by J-M. Cambon.
GeologyEdit
The Olan is made of a granite base, with a gneiss "hat" (see photos on [2]).