UKC

Hi,

could anybody from personal experience tell me, what kind of weather, and temperatures (day and night) I can expect in the Orpierre at the Easter time ? possible camping???

and

how children friendly (5 years old) are different sectors?

thanks

matus

Noticed no-one has replied, so to try and help:

Not actually been at Easter but suspect there are better places. Quite high so will certainly be cold night and morning; might be OK during the day if day sunny.

Have been there in summer and surprised by how cool it was at night.

Also: camped at Camping de Cayolles - about 4km from Orpierre-. Lovely campsite, good for families (they even had a small climbing wall).

Nearest section of single pitch climbs to road - left hand crags, can't remember its name - was child friendly enough I think; although I had no children with me.

Have you considered climbing in the Ardeche? Would be good with children, and should be warmer at Easter with many campsite options.

I have been there at Easter and it has snowed. While the sun shone gloriously back home.

I've been there many times - usually over Easter. The guidelines I have are that if it's an early Easter, it will be a bit cold - if it's a late Easter - it will be a bit warm - overall - I think Easter is an excellent time of year to go there. (Usual caveat here about extremes of weather).

The campsite in the village itself (Princes d'Orange) is excellent - albeit a little on the pricey side. They have a swimming pool in the campsite as well as the municipal one in the village - neither will be open at Easter. 

You should also be able to find a gite in the village or slightly further afield up or down the valley.

An attraction for me at the Princes d'Orange camping is that you walk from the campsite to the climbing. It also gives you easy access to the village bar & restaurant(s).

The village has a quite adequate supermarket for most needs (fresh fruit, veg & bread). Bigger soopies are further afield & require driving to.

The climbing at most sectors is semi-child friendly - easy enough to reach, but with some potential for trips & stumbles on short scrambles. I don't think you would let a toddler run loose at the base of most sectors. Some sectors also carry a risk of stone-fall - especially the multi-pitch areas - with some stone-fall triggered by people descending from the longer routes. There are usually plenty of kids at the crags - some rising superstars climbing completely independently & some who are dragged along by their parents.

You can normally choose to climb either in the sun or out of it - if you're willing to adjust your schedule a little - ie different sectors have different aspects - for most of the climbing I'm interested in there - the routes are going into the shade after midday.

I hope this helps,

Keefe

A long time since I've been but it was at Easter time when I went.  I remember very cold nights (well below zero) and lovely warm days (t-short and shorts). The temperature changed quite quickly with the rise and setting of the sun, so make sure you take enough clothes / bedding to cater for both extremes.  Try not to get caught out on one of the long multi-pitch routes at the end of the day with no extra clothes!

Great place.

I've been at Easter and found it perfect. Camped at the Orange campsite i think its called just in the village. Nice to just walk to the crag.

The sectors are reasonable with young Children. a bit slopey to get to some of them with a bit of a scramble. 

We had a bit of sno driving over the tops but it was t-shirt weather mid  pm. Cool at night but not horrnendous. Perhaps consider Buoux too? camp at Bonnieux