French Alps
The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such a ...
, one of the tallest in the
Massif des Écrins
Massif des Écrins (; Écrins Massif) are a massif in the French Alps. They form the core of Écrins National Park in Hautes-Alpes and Isère.Pierre Gaspard, conqueror of La Meije on 16 August 1877 in the company of Emmanuel Boileau de Castelnau.
Pic Gaspard was climbed for the first time in 1878 by
Henry Duhamel
Henry or Henri Duhamel (born 9 December 1853 in Paris, died 7 February 1917 in Gières (Isère)) was a French mountaineer, author and skiing pioneer. He introduced the practice of skiing to his circle of friends at Grenoble, leading to the crea ...
, along with Pierre Gaspard and his eldest son, and Christophe Roderon, by a route that has become the normal one. Subsequently, several routes were opened including the south-southeast
arête
An arête ( ; ) is a narrow ridge of rock that separates two valleys. It is typically formed when two glaciers erode parallel U-shaped valleys. Arêtes can also form when two glacial cirques erode headwards towards one another, although frequ ...
conquered by Lucien Devies and Giusto Gervasutti in 1935, and that of the north face defeated by Albert Tobey and Louis Berger in 1948.
Pic Gaspard has the record for being subject of the longest photographed line of sight anywhere in the world. On 16 July 2016, photographer Marc Bret captured its image from the summit of Pic de Finestrelles, 443 km away.