I remember those ladders when I hiked the Tour du Mont Blanc. It was a very, very hot day and when I arrived there were dozens of people waiting their turn to go up. By the time I was ready I was already exhausted, I started off early that morning and I'd hiked all day.
Then an English middle aged couple started to climb, the lady was away first. A few rungs later, she FROZE, wouldn't go up, couldn't come down! Her husband tried to persuade her, even had his hand on her derriere trying to push her upwards. I'll never forget that hand and him flitting from pleading with her to getting angry with her. She eventually did move, downwards and she was in tears. They wandered off to a quite place and I never saw them again. A few minutes later and it was my turn, I dragged myself up rung by rung and when at the top I just craved shade and water! I found a rock, had a drink and then had a sleep!
Really enjoyed you photos. You went to the Fenetre d'Arpette up and over the boulder chaos, I went down it. Memories of good days!