Sommet des Anges

From Briançon, take the Col d’Izoard road to Cervières, then turn left onto the Route des Fonts (signposted; pass in front of the church). Park in the second car park on the right-hand side of the road after Les Aîttes, near the old La Chau farms.

(S/E) From the car park, walk up the road for a few metres, then turn right onto the lane towards La Chau.
Head for the second farm with a larch roof on the left.

(1) Leave the lane, turn left and walk alongside this picturesque building.
Head west up this new lane, which soon turns into a footpath.
This path then climbs north-west through juniper thickets. It joins a crossroads marked in the traditional style with larch signposts.

(2) Ignore the path leading off to the left towards Cervières; continue in the direction of the geological trail.
A little further on, via a path with a few steps, climb a small hill to reach a wide, flat area where Lac des Sarailles lies.

(3) Walk along its left-hand side, then follow the path northwards up towards the Cabane des douaniers. This is visible from the lake.

(4) At the hut sign (IGN2305), take the path towards the Col du Gondran and Montgenèvre.
After a short climb up the path, you’ll reach the pass near the small Lac de Sagne Enfonza, which is in a peatland.

(5) At the sign marked IGN2315, turn left towards the Sommet des Anges.
Continue along the track for some time until you cross the military track leading to the forts.

(6) Turn left towards the forts of Gondran. You will reach another crossroads of tracks.

(7) Follow the track south-west for about twenty metres.
Leave it and climb the embankment on the left towards the green metal telegraph pole, then follow the path up towards the fence of the old fort used for telecommunications, equipped with antennas.

(8) Go past the fence and go round it to the left.
Return to the track and rejoin the previous crossroads.

(7) Continue left along the track.
Follow this track past the Old Fort of Les Gondrans, turn right and climb up, passing under the chairlift.
After passing the top station of the Gondrans chairlift, head south-east until you reach the path on the left that runs along the ridge towards the east.

(9) Follow this ridge path to a flagpole and then, at the end of the ridge, an artillery bell.
Descend the ridge until you reach the path taken on the way up.

(6) Follow the same route back to the starting point. (S/E)

Having already written the guide for the Ancien Fort du Gondran or Sommet des Anges via Cervières (a fairly difficult technical route), I wanted to add the guide for the standard route, which is accessible to everyone.

Here, it’s a walk along a path.
The slopes aren’t too steep and the ascent is very gradual.
It’s also an excellent route for getting fit without straining yourself at the start of the season.

Please note that I have spotted a few inaccuracies on the IGN map.
On the ridge, the IGN and IGN Satellite maps show a path that descends directly towards the approach route. We could not find any trace of this path on the ground. It has probably ceased to exist. Conversely, the ridge path we took, which is very well marked, does not appear on the IGN map.
You should therefore take my route into account. I recorded the GPS track for this section, which isn’t on the map, before connecting it to the rest of the route.

As part of the route is the same as that in the guidebook for this summit via Cervières, I’m sharing the video linked below, which shows the landscape of the Écrins and the names of the peaks.