La Meije is a mountain

Mountain

Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...

 in the Massif des Écrins

Massif des Écrins

The mountains of the Massif des Écrins form the core of the Écrins National Park in France.-Mountains:*Barre des Écrins 4102 m*La Meije 3983 m*Ailefroide 3954 m*Mont Pelvoux 3946 m*Pic Sans Nom 3913 m*Pic Gaspard 3883 m*Le Râteau 3809 m...

 range

Mountain range

A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...

, located at the border of the Hautes-Alpes

Hautes-Alpes

Hautes-Alpes is a department in southeastern France named after the Alps mountain range.- History :Hautes-Alpes is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...

 and Isère

Isère

Isère is a department in the Rhône-Alpes region in the east of France named after the river Isère.- History :Isère is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Dauphiné...

 départements. It overlooks the nearby village of La Grave

La Grave

La Grave 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 . It was the birthplace of Nicolas de Nicolay; adventurer and Geographer Ordinary to Henry II of France....

, a mountaineering

Mountaineering

Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...

 centre and ski resort

Ski resort

A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing and other winter sports. In Europe a ski resort is a town or village in a ski area - a mountainous area, where there are ski trails and supporting services such as hotels and other accommodation, restaurants, equipment rental and a ski lift system...

, well-known for its off-piste and extreme skiing

Extreme skiing

Extreme skiing is skiing performed on long, steep slopes in dangerous terrain. The sport is performed off-piste.The French coined the term 'Le Ski Extreme' in the 1970s...

 possibilities.

La Meije is composed of three principal summits. The highest point is the Grand Pic de la Meije at 3,984 metres. The Grand Pic is notorious in that there is no "easy" path to the top. For this reason, La Meije was the last major peak in the Alps to be summited. The first ascent was made on August 16, 1877 by Pierre Gaspard and his son and their client Emmanuel Boileau de Castelnau. In 1891, J. H. Gibson, U. Almer and F. Boss made the first traverse of the ridge, from west to east.

The Doigt de Dieu (English: Finger of God), a large snow-clad tower at the east end of the ridge, overhanging the south slopes, is an attraction for mountaineers of various levels of ability.

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 at 3,450 metres, is situated at the top of the Tabuchet glacier, and allows access to the north face.