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La Meije is a mountain in the Massif des Écrins
range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...
, located at the border of the Hautes-Alpes and
Isère Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.départements A department (, ) is an administrative or political division in several countries. Departments are the first-level divisions of 11 countries, nine in the Americas and two in Africa. An additional 10 countries use departments as second-level div ...
''. It overlooks the nearby village of
La Grave La Grave (; oc, La Grava) is a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in southeastern France. It is a small ski resort in the French Alps, dominated by La Meije (3982 m). It was the birthplace of Nicolas de Nicolay; adventurer and Geog ...
, a mountaineering centre and ski resort, well known for its
off-piste Backcountry skiing ( US), also called off-piste (Europe), alpine touring, or out-of-area, is skiing in the backcountry on unmarked or unpatrolled areas either inside or outside a ski resort's boundaries. This contrasts with alpine skiing, which i ...
and extreme skiing possibilities, and also dominates the view west of the
Col du Lautaret Col du Lautaret () is a high mountain pass in the department of Hautes-Alpes in France. It marks the boundary between the valleys of the Romanche and the Guisane, a tributary of the Durance which has its source at the col. The valleys are linked ...
. It is the second highest mountain of the Écrins after the
Barre des Écrins The Barre des Écrins () is a mountain in the French Alps with a peak elevation of . It is the highest peak of the Massif des Écrins and the Dauphiné Alps and the most southerly alpine peak in Europe that is higher than 4,000 metres. It is t ...
.


Summits

* Main ridge from west to east ** ''Le Grand Doigt'', 3.764 m ** ''Pic du Glacier Carré'', 3.862 m ** ''Grand Pic de la Meije'' or ''Pic Occidentale'', 3.983 m ** ''Pic Central'' or ''Doigt de Dieu'', 3.970 m ** ''Pic Oriental'', 3.891 m Neighboring peaks are
Le Râteau Le Râteau is a mountain in the French Alps. Located in the Massif des Écrins, the mountain is tall. The mountain overlooks the valley of the Romanche river and the village of La Grave to the north. The summit is very close to Meije, which i ...
(3,809 m) to the west, past the ''Brèche de la Meije'' (3,357 m) and :fr:Le Pavé (3,823 m) and Pic Gaspard (3,881 m) to the southeast, past the Brèche Maximin Gaspard (3,723 m)


Historic ascents

The central and second highest summit has five teeth, the highest of which is known as ''Doigt de Dieu'' (English: ''Finger of God''). This summit was reached from the northeast on June 28, 1870, by Christian and Ulrich Almer and Christian Gertsch, guiding
Meta Brevoort Marguerite "Meta" Claudia Brevoort (November 8, 1825 – December 19, 1876) was an American mountain climber. Brevoort was born on November 8, 1825, and spent her early years in a Paris convent school. She made a number of important ascents in t ...
and W.A.B. Coolidge. The ridge from the central to the main, Western peak, which is 13 meters higher, was considered an insurmountable obstacle for the next 15 years. The Western true summit of La Meije, the ''Grand Pic'', is notorious for having no "easy" route to its summit. The last major peak in the Alps to be climbed, its first ascent was eventually made from the southwest on 16 August 1877 by father and son
Pierre Gaspard Pierre Gaspard (born 6 December 1959) is a Belgian physicist and professor at the ''Interdisciplinary Center for Nonlinear Phenomena and Complex Systems'' and the ''Service de Physique Non-Linéaire and Mécanique Statistique'' of the Universi ...
and their client
Emmanuel Boileau de Castelnau Henri Emmanuel Boileau, baron de Castelnau (1857-1923) was a French alpinist and sportsman who took part in the first ascent of the Meije. After his career as an alpinist he competed as an amateur cyclist. Biography Boileau de Castelnau was ...
. Their approach, over the south buttress ''Arête du Promontoire'' and further over the ''Glacier Carré'' and the southwest face of the Grand Pic, is now the normal route. On July 26, 1885, Ludwig Purtscheller and the brothers Otto and Emil Zsigmondy made the first traverse from the central to the main summit, via the "insurmountable" gap that is now known as the ''Brèche Zsigmondy'', in what is still considered a classic route, albeit thoroughly modified by a May 1964 rockfall. The traverse in the opposite direction was accomplished six years later by Ulrich Almer, Fritz Boss and J. H. Gibson. The south face is widely considered to be the most difficult of La Meije. Within two weeks after their successful traverse, the Zsigmondy brothers, together with Karl Schulz, tried to reach the Brèche Zsigmondy over the south face, but Emil died in the attempt. The first successful attempt was not until twenty-seven years later, in 1912 by
Angelo Dibona Angelo Dibona (7 April 1879 – 21 April 1956, nickname: Pilato) was an Austro-Hungarian and Italian mountaineer. He is remembered as one of the great pioneers of climbing in the Dolomites and is responsible for many first ascents throughout the ...
, Luigi Rizzi, and the brothers Guido and Max Mayer, while a direct route over the south face to the Grand Pic was only climbed in 1935 and that to the Central Pic in 1951.La Meije
at Encyclopédie Larousse.


Approaches

For mountaineering, La Meije can be approached from two mountain refuges: * The '' refuge du Promontoire'' at 3,082 metres, is situated at the bottom of the steep south buttress of the peak, and allows access to routes on the south face of the mountain. * The ''
refuge de l'Aigle Refuge de l'Aigle is a refuge in the Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven ...
'' at 3,450 metres, is situated at the top of the Tabuchet glacier, and allows access to the north face.


See also

* List of mountains of the Alps above 3000 m


References

* Some of the content of this article comes from the equivalent French-language Wikipedia article. {{Authority control Mountains of Isère Mountains of Hautes-Alpes Mountains of the Alps Alpine three-thousanders