UKC

Hey folks,

My girlfriend and I are heading to the Briancon area for a couple of weeks in August and looking for recommendations of places to stay near the best crags for mid grade sport (single and multipitch). Also if anyone has stayed at the Ailefroide campsite, can you advise what the facilities are like? The website has scanty info. Cheers!

In reply to metrorat:

haven't stayed there for a few years but it was always really convenient for crags, mountain routes etc. showers, a few,small shops gear shop and wide choice of camping spots. Gets busy in late July August but thee is lots of space. Plenty of single pitch and well equipped multi pitch routes within walking distance of the campsite, guidebooks available at guides office. Pizza van bread van and poulet rotis from a van most days. Plenty of other really nice campsites down the valley.

In reply to metrorat:

The Ailfroide campsite is lovely. Very large fields with lots of space for everyone. There are decent wash blocks dotted about the place so you can decide how close you want to be to one of those for convenience sake. There's a little place selling pizza on site, but a few restaurants within walking distance, or a short drive.

In reply to metrorat: The campsite is good and very well located. Ailefroide is quite small, so anywhere in the village is close to the best crags which are between 5 minutes and 30 minutes walk.
There is other accomodation on
http://www.ailefroide.com/english/
but it gets booked quite quickly.

In reply to metrorat:

The first two weeks of August will be really busy.

Third week begins to empty out, 4th week is awesomely quiet. First week of September - you'll have the place to yourself

In reply to metrorat:

I'd say Ailefroide is probably the nicest place I've ever camped, although padding up granite slabs gets a bit monotonous after the first few hundred metres.

In reply to metrorat:

Just came back from Ailefroide last week. Stayed two weeks with friends at the campsite: lovely place, plenty of space (and yet a bunch of Nottingham students thought it would be a good idea to pitch their tents right by us even though the campsite was virtually empty), super cheap (7€ per night!) and ideally located. The facilities are OK, but apparently there's up to 1,500 people during peak times so I feel they might be overly busy.

Across the higher part of the campsite (over the river, G and F sectors) there's a beginner's climbing area with short routes between 3 and 6 as well as a multipitch (Fissure d'Ailefroide I think it's called). From these sectors you can only see the multi-pitch routes on the other side. There's a couple more areas with easy climbs (especially at the foothill of Tête de la Draye, which is also a lovely 2-hour hike). Boulders are littered around Ailefroide. There's a fantastic hike from Pré de Mme Carle at the end of road, that takes you to the former Tuckett refuge with a high chance of seeing marmots and a great over view over Glacier Blanc.

In my opinion the best crags are further down the valley, in Tournoux, Rocher Baron or Les Vigneaux (pity about the road though), superb limestone or quartzite. The bouldering in Ailefroide is a bit disappointing (at least when you live in Fontainebleau) since it's all about power, commitment and crimps/jugs. Not subtle at all. Stil a nice alternative when you don't feel like driving for 30-60mn to get to a crag.

Anyway I suggest you buy the Briançon Climbs guidebook, which you'll find in all outdoors shops (there's one in Ailefroide next to the Sherpa store and the Engilgerbe hotel), as well as the Topo des blocs d'Ailefroide. They have a good selection of climbing and hiking gear as well.

Enjoy your trip.

In reply to metrorat:

Thanks all for the wise words; especially Adrien that was mightily comprehensive! We will be there 19th Aug to 2nd Sept so will hopefully miss the worst of the crowds, and free-wheeling round the general area so tips on the best crags/routes are much appreciated. Read somewhere the Fissure multi-pitch is a bit of a sandbag!

In reply to Adrien:

I rate les vigneaux a lot (many different areas doted about). I agree with someone else that the multi-pitch gets monotonous (often not really lines). The bouldering is great. It is busy in summer. You'll have a good time whatever.

In reply to metrorat:

Hi, i live 20 mins from Ailefroide, just away in slovenia at the moment back Sat, drop me a email if you like and we can chat about best venues for what you are after, the area has over 3300 sports routes and more in the big wall guide, so lots to go at.

cheers Rob
rob@dream-trails.com

In reply to metrorat:

Sorry about the various mistakes in my previous post, I should've proofread what I'd written. Also I didn't mean "...you only see" but "you also see".

In terms of crags and routes, that depends, what grade do you climb? I was there with friends who had little to no experience climbing so we didn't do any classic, but even some easier routes are amazing. I think the crag I liked most was Les Vigneaux, one of the upper areas with 3s to 6s (don't have the topo with me but it may be "Les nains"), stunning limestone with multiple layers, a must-see. Just below it there's a fantastic-looking "tower", which I believe is called Trango tower, there's a 6 on it that I wish I'd done.

If you want to combine a nice, easy hike and climbing, Tournoux (I think that's the name) is the place. You have to get to Saint-Vincent 1400, then take the direction of Col de Pousterle. It takes you up a rather rough, rocky road. It's OK if you don't have a 4WD (like us) and you drive slowly. From the carpark at the pass you can hike to Les Têtes, see some "lakes" (ponds really) on the way to the Têtes, from where you'll have a stunning panoramic view as you walk on weirdly eroded limestone (reminiscent of the Burren in Ireland). then come back to the carpark and go to one of the many Tournoux areas; it has everything from 4 to 8.

I suggested Rocher Baron in my previous post but getting there is such a hassle that I may actually not recommend it But there's plenty of other crags. The Tête de la Draye alone is just a 10mn walk from the campsite and will provide you with lots of routes. Some of the areas are shaded, which is much appreciated when the sun is shining.

If you plan on going bouldering, I suggest you skip the children's circuits as they're polished and way too greasy. Philémon is a nice, shaded area with super cool boulders, like the one by the picnic area. Like I said it's overgraded though, I've onsighted 6Bs even though it's always taken me at the very least 4 tries in Font to do a 6B... There's a great prow in Philémon as you walk down the path, it's simply called "proue - 6b". Nice finishing dyno. The Champignon has some interesting problems too and you pass by it on the way to the Tête de la Draye.

(All of this is very random, I know!)

In reply to metrorat:
Random advice is good! We'll mostly be doing sport single and multipitch, I can generally onsight up to 6b+ and will be dogging up to 7a potentially. My girlfriend will be onsighting 6aish and working on the 6bs and above. For swinging leads we'd be looking at multipitches up to 6a with perhaps the odd 6b pitch depending on the style. Not too fussed about the bouldering unless we can borrow/hire a mat or two will probably just faff about on easy stuff on rest days; will be saving the skin for routes mainly.

I got the Briancon Climbs book which has a lot of lines but doesn't provide rockfax-quality info, so good to hear what sectors and routes people recommend. I'm considering bringing half ropes and a rack for some of the bigger multipitches as well as an 80m sport rope. Would this be overkill?

In reply to metrorat:


That is a really great time to be there

We've noticed it get much cooler during that time - I'd pack a duvet for sure

We camp down at Les Vigneaux - really good pool for the kids and better for access to all the other great areas.

If you are into MTB - take them, some great riding to be had. The many via ferrata in the area are fun as well.