UKC

Climbs 556
Rocktype Limestone
Altitude 448m a.s.l
Faces S

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Climbing above Monaco © Jamie Lilley

Crag features

Situated high above the in-your-face opulence of Monaco, with its packed streets and harbours that bulge with multi-million-dollar yachts, is the ancient little town of La Turbie. Just to the south of the jutting promontory of La Tete de Chien is an obvious magnet to any climber. The accessibility and sunny aspect of the various cliffs mean that they have long been popular, many of the routes have become pretty polished. Almost every bit of rock on the headland has been climbed, and currently there are in excess of 600 routes here - we offer a selection as an introduction.

Most of the popular cliffs are in as sunny a setting as you could wish for, offering magnificent views out over the Med. There are some shadier walls that make good summer venues, though these are not described here. The cliffs catch any wind that is going - a Godsend in hot weather, and they also dry very rapidly after rain.

Various topos can be found on the following sites
http://escailloux.free.fr/topo/t_turbie.htm
http://www.nice-climb.com/categories.htm

Approach notes

La Turbie is easily reached from the A8 from junction 56 or 57. From the centre of La Turbie, take the road that heads down towards the coast - signed 'Monaco' and 'Cap d'Ail'. After 250m, there is a left turn onto the 'Route de la Tete de Chien'. Continue up here for 1.4km to parking at the road end. Avoid leaving anything of value in the car. There is also some very limited parking on the first big looping-bend on the way down to Monaco, directly below the cliffs - arrive early if you want to park here!

To approach the Grande Face, drop down as for Big Ben then try to keep to the walls on the right - you do a little loop into the forest and then back to the cliff line to avoid a drop, then go down fixed ropes. Ignore the Rockfax description of being able to approach from the other side - it's a disaster and will ruin your day.
abarro81 - 05/Oct/21
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