UKC

Off to chamonix tomorrow, and am planning on spending Saturday doing a spot of cragging at vallorcine-Barberine. Does anyone have an update on current conditions?

Can anyone point me to somewhere to pick up a local topo in cham, I asked a similar question last November and some of the replies suggested there were some new bolted crags with "Pylon" coming highly recommended for ease of access.

Cheers in advance.

In reply to SFrancis:

Don't know about conditions - some of it stays wet after rain

It's in the Chamonix Crag Climbs topo
Jon de M of this parish also did a topo in the past
it might also be in one of the Aiguilles Rouges topos

In reply to Carless:

Ah, thanks for the plug! No, it's not in my topo - I only equipped it in the last few years. It's not in either Aigs Rouges topos either. The only one it appears in is the latest Chamonix Cragging book by François Burnier. You can find this everywhere in Chamonix - Maison de la Presse or Snells etc.

@SFrancis: If you're set on Pylone due to lack of time and aren't considering anywhere else and don't want to fork out for the topo, I can email you my original sketch topo of it. Or in fact the list of routes is here in the database, halfway down the middle column. They go L > R so you don't really need a topo. Barberine Gietroz It's good and sunny and dries quite fast.

In reply to jon:

You forgot to mention the ants! Or have they followed you south?

In reply to Ian Parsons:

Hibernating maybe.

Thanks for the rapid replies.

We were looking at la zone or afrique preferably, but pylone seems to have some decent starred routes, so didnt want to rule it out, we are planning on catching the train from Chamonix, so access will be consideration.

We are only able to climb for the day so was hoping to pick up a specific topo instead of the full guide, but not against purchasing the full guide if there isnt another one available. Appreciate that these guides tend to put back into the local community.

@Jon: Thanks for the replies and equipping the proposed routes.

In reply to jon:


These days they're more likely climbing indoors.

In reply to SFrancis:

The Zone is superb, the best crag in the area. Afrique is a bit of a flog from below, better to go in from Giétroz. Pylone is convenience... The Zone and Afrique are in my specific Barberine Giétroz topo which you'll find in Maison de la Presse and Snells in Chamonix. I think it's €16. http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/book.php?id=541