UKC

Hi, 

I'm heading to val d'isere for a couple weeks. Does anyone know much about climbing or via ferrata near by? (within an hour drive ish) I can see a few small crags on UKC but no photos or recommended guide books. Has anyone climbed in this region? or know which guide book might cover it? Any advice ?

I've found this crag -   Notre Dame du Pre / Rocher du Glaisy which is about an hours drive and looks pretty established. 

Any advice would be good. I think I might take a 60 meter rope and some draws and see what I can find  

Cicerone publish a French alps VF guide. It has 9 routes in the Tarentaise.

There's a good vf in la daille  or whatever the budget tower block just below Val is called. You know, at the bottom of the lost valley.

There's also one on the cliff oposite.

Yes, that one is in the guide I mentioned above.

Ah Righto.

If anyone does know of any decent sport climbs in the area then I'd be keen to know too.

The two VFs in la daille are good especially the harder one on the W side which is one of the hardest in France (but not technically difficult for a climber).

There used to be at least one single pitch bolted crag within walking distance of Val d'Isere. I remember walking past it in 2001 somewhere on the W side of the valley, and seeing all the bolts

The one at La Daille is good although a few years ago it was damaged by rockfall. Should be OK now? Certain bits very very exposed!

As ever take care with the VF kit hire places if you use one. One in Val tried to give us cycling helmets to go with the VF harnesses! We checked all the stuff very carefully.....  

I have 2003 edition of local guide book "falaise et via ferrata de tarentaise"  by Philippe Deslandes and James Merel.  I think there is a later edition as well but doesn't look easy to find on line.  Maybe you can find one when you get out there.  There is an "Au Vieux Campeur" at Albertville, just off the motorway, maybe worth trying that as well. 

This shows 2 VF at La Daille, one on either side of valley.  The Toviére one looks more interesting. 
 

For sports climbing there is a cliff at Le Manchet, 5 mins drive south of Val d'Isere centre and Rocher du Chevril, above the hamlet of le Chevril, just by the dam. 
A bit further drive, 15-30 mins from Val, include Le Monal, lovely walk up.  Above St Foy there is Falaise du Pre and, a bit further walk(45 mins ),  de la Sassiere. 

Enjoy

Thanks guys that's really helpful. Currently thumbing my new copy of Via Ferrata in the french alps. Some of the photos look wild! Looks like there's some really classy routes. 

Thanks, that's useful to know. Yeah it looks like there is a later 2008 version of the book, but it does seem tricky to find. Hopefully when I'm out there I can find some more info. Thanks for the directions to the crags, I'll definitely give them a go! Do you know are the routes well bolted and do the climbs get much traffic? 

Haven't climbed there for a while but my memory is the ones I've mentioned were well bolted. Manchet, Chevril, Monal and Sassiere  had fair amount of traffic but ween't busy, can't remember about Pré.

The climbing sites are often marked on the French IGN Maps.  You can see them on-line in purple if you select the "Cartes IGN Classique" map.  eg here is link showing Le Monal 

https://tinyurl.com/y6wqhsbr