UKC

Anyone been climbing in the South of France during the summer?

Can you recommended some good crags (excluding Ceuse) that are good for climbing during the summer?

Cheers
Eugene

In reply to eugeneth:

the verdon maybe.

In reply to eugeneth:

Climbing near us in Ariège can be fine and is very popular throughout the summer. There are higher crags with either long fully bolted routes (e.g. Dent d'Orlu) or trad/partly bolted (e.g. Bassiès). Then there are lower lying shady single-pitch crags or either granite (Auzat) or limestone (Alliat, Niaux, Sabart), all of which can be fine during midsummer temperatures.
Plenty of topos on http://cafma.free.fr/plan.htm and feel free to ask here or via our website if you want more specific info or recommendations.

John

In reply to john arran: Ah brilliant, I will have a look into these spots. Cheers

In reply to DEvans: Good idea, I had forgotten about Verdon for some unknown reason

In reply to eugeneth:
Hi, we've been to Orpierre last year, and it was brilliand. There are faces to every direction (some northerly, some direct south faces) and it was not too hot as it is on about 600-800m altitude.
The sector is regarded as family friendly with difficulties from 3a to 7b basically. So if you're looking for really hard stuff this might not be yours, but the region is great and huge. Route lengths are from single rope pitches up to 5 pitches.
There is a very nice campsite in walking distance (30-45min) to the crags.
http://www.planetmountain.com/english/rock/crags/falesia.html?idfalesia=038

In reply to eugeneth: Briancon region, single pitch routes in the valley, with cliffs of all orientations and routes of all grades. In the Cerces (20minutes away) there are multipitch routes on limestone and at Ailefroide single and multipitch routes on granite. Rock types in the valley limestone quartzite and conglomerate. You also have the Briancon microclimate which is the opposite of the glen nevis microclimate. Orpierre is 1.5hrs to the south, though it is hotter down there. Have a good holiday