Via ferrata d'Arsine

In the foothills of the Meije, this north-facing climb will be a cool choice in the summer. The
route is not particularly difficult, but still has some airy and athletic sections. You can start
climbing without commitment as the route is not long and has an escape route halfway up.

Technical informations :
Time : 3h with walking approach (discovery trail: 2 hours of climbing, fitness trail: 2:30)
Difficulty : PD, D+
Start : 1600 m
Heigh gain : 200 m
Orientation : sud
Period : june > october
Guides, maps :

The first part of the route will warm up your fingers, before reaching a fine airy section involving a steep and vertiginous pillar. You come out onto a grassy ledge when you can take the escape route on the right. The climb continues up a slab and onto a spur. The path back down to the car park (30 mins) is clearly signposted on the left.

The legend of the White Lady of the Alpe du Villar d’Arène
A young shepherd from La Grave was watching his flock in the Alpe du Villar d’Arène. The
Pic des Agneaux towered above him, one black and the other white. The summits glistening
with eternal snow were reflected in the blue waters of the lake. But the shepherd was blind to their beauty. He earned so little money to help his mother, the widow of a guide killed on the mountain, that he could not be happy. One starry night in the summer, he left his hut, brooding over his sorrows and worries. He suddenly saw before him a white lady, sliding over grass that hardly ruffled her dress. She stopped at the top of a large rock that was well known to his sheep, and at her feet flames shot up, into which she disappeared. Wide-eyed and somewhat afraid, the boy saw molten gold. He ran back home, kissed his mother, took a pickaxe and returned to the spot. He dug all day long and found a rich vein of gold…