UKC

ariege in march

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 ctodd 11 Dec 2016
rock climbing in ariege area in march time.

any thoughts/tips? decent weather?

cheers
 john arran 11 Dec 2016
In reply to ctodd:

High chance of good cragging weather the majority of the time.
Temperatures in the sun are likely to be fine but may be a bit warm for some; however, there's plenty of scope for choosing sunny or shady crags.
Almost all climbing will be in and around the valleys rather than higher up on mountains, but this includes the vast majority of single-pitch crags and a fair few multi-pitch options too.
High chance of at least some bad weather if you're there for a while - residual winter weather patterns often come through quite frequently that time of year so (generalising a lot) stable weather is likely to last 3-7 days and be interrupted by wet and/or cold spells lasting 1-3 days. It is possible, but happens rarely, to see a more prolonged wet spell in March, i.e. 5 days or more of wet weather. In the last 8 years we've only seen this happen once.
There are a few places you still can climb in bad weather, at least if you're climbing 6s - much more if you're doing 7s or 8s.
Ski resorts nearby are likely still to be open.
To summarise, most likely you'll be able to climb most, if not all, of the time, but it could be pretty cold for cragging during bad weather spells and there's a very small chance of widespread seepage. Conditions later in the Spring may be more reliable, mainly because it's warmer on cloudy/wet days but after April it's usually too hot to climb in the sun.
 Tony & Sarah 11 Dec 2016
In reply to ctodd:

Was in Ariege from the 14th March to the April 5th this year, hot and sunny. Tony nearly died of heatstroke running back from Auzat to Chez Arran - 13 miles. Highly recommend it if not the running.

T & S
OP ctodd 11 Dec 2016
In reply to ctodd:

Thanks both.

When is the best time for Dent d'Orlu out of interest?
 Rog Wilko 12 Dec 2016
In reply to ctodd:

What John said.
I've been twice in March. First time walked through 3" snow to Calames but were soon climbing in a couple of thin layers, though dodging the falling icicles was a bit of an issue. The bonus was that the views were stupendous.
If you do get a really wet day or two you might find it worth hot-footing it to Narbonne for the day where the crags of La Clape offer good sport. Get the guidebook from the tourist info in Gruissan (be early - closes for lunch at 12). I did that once but I have to admit it worked out at about an hour's driving per route.
 john arran 12 Dec 2016
In reply to ctodd:

The problem with Spring climbing of the full length routes on the Dent is that the first part of the descent is a steep and slippery path down the north face, which is likely to hold icy snow until at least late April and in some years well into June.
July and August are the most popular months as they're warm (sometimes maybe too hot) and have plenty of daylight hours, although afternoon thunderstorms can be a problem. September is probably the most reliable for climbing but you get fewer daylight hours in the day. October can work too, if you don't mind a chilly start and climb quite quickly.

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