In reply to geoff.comley:
Hi Geoff,
As you said conditions are a bit thin at the moment, we had a great start to the season for ice and a below average for snow, but we have just had a long warm spell with warm night which has played havoc with the conditions. We are just returning to normal temps and hopefully have some more snow coming.
When and which part of the Écrins are you heading to? in Near Briancon then there is some dry tooling on a sector of Rocher Barron (not the three rock climbing sectors) there is a for one for tooling, there maybe a topo on line, there is also a venue in Nevache valley can't remember the name.
For high route I event been keep up on conditions, but the best guide book is the seb Constant Snow and Mixed climb (you can get it in English).
The ice climbing festival starts soon, and the guides who work it are all out looking for the best places so there maybe an update soon.
There is enough snow for the resorts to be open, and if you plan right its ok for touring.