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Winter climbing in cote d'azur

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Oldrockjock 28 Oct 2015
Having just retired, I am thinking of taking my caravan down to cote d'azur for the winter (Dec, Jan & Feb). I have the Rockfax book by Chris Craggs and the Toulon area looks good for a modest climber like me (up to 6a on a good day). Anyone have any experience of this area during the winter?
 seankenny 28 Oct 2015
In reply to Oldrockjock:

Not been there in winter but early in spring and it was very warm. Also beware the grades, they are nails. At least on the routes I did.
 Rog Wilko 28 Oct 2015
In reply to Oldrockjock:
Sounds like a great plan to me! Of course there will be wet and windy days, maybe the odd storm, but one of the great advantages of the area is that it is rare to get more than a couple of bad days on the run. Most of the bad weather comes as the tail end of cold fronts associated with the lows crossing UK and northern France passes through. Can be nasty for a day then clears up. The key is to find the south facing crags which give you shelter from northerly winds blowing out of the Alps and down the Rhone Valley.
As Sean Kenny suggests there is some "old-fashioned " grading, but on many crags you will find good holiday climbs for people like us. Here are some of the best places/routes I've done in the area:
Baudouvin on Mt Coudon is one of the best. Very sheltered from the north and sunny. One of the best crags I've come across in the whole of France for quality routes of 4 to 5. Not too polished either. There are 17 three star routes below 6a, so could be nearly a week's climbing for you there!
Citerne & Lierres on Mt Coudon - not of the same quality but loads of sub 6a routes to go at. Sheltered and sunny. Citerne is a bit polished but manageable.
Baou de Quatre Ouro - a huge sprawling crag where I think grades can be a bit harsh. There's a long multi-pitch call Les E.T. - you might want to outflank the start.
Mont Coudon Sector les Des is worth a visit, but unmemorable.
Chateauvert - lovely spot in a deep gorge. May not get a lot of sun in winter though/because south facing. Has a few good easier routes, but IMHO the grading is very variable and unreliable.
Chateaudouble - disliked this venue. Not many easier routes, poor quality, and sandbags (Just my opinion).
Pilier de Soleil - nice little crag worth seeking out if only to have a change from limestone.

You might find some of my log book comments of use.
Recommend you have a Satnav to find the Toulon crags - co-ordinates are in Rockfax.

You might find Gros Cerveau worth a visit but I'd give La Cride a miss
Post edited at 15:52
 Pete Houghton 28 Oct 2015
In reply to Oldrockjock:

Hello,

I spent a few days near St Tropez last week, and on the drive there and back the Montagne Sainte Victoire, visible from the motorway near Aix-en-Provence, looked absolutely beautiful, and appears to have a plethora of routes at or below your requested grade.

http://www.camptocamp.org/summits/107164/fr/montagne-sainte-victoire
 Andy Morley 29 Oct 2015
In reply to Oldrockjock:

Are you looking mainly for advice, as the post seems to suggest, or are you looking to hook up with people whilst out there?
Oldrockjock 30 Oct 2015
In reply to Andy Morley:

Thanks for your reply. Initially, I am looking for advice as I am undecided whether to go to Toulon area for the winter i.e. December to March. So, I was hoping to hear from people who have experience of this area in winter. If I do decide to go then I would be interested in meeting people who are out there and who I could climb with.
Oldrockjock 30 Oct 2015
In reply to seankenny:

Thanks
Oldrockjock 30 Oct 2015
In reply to Rog Wilko:

Thanks, very helpful
 odari 31 Oct 2015
In reply to Oldrockjock:

First congratulations for retiring. The whole of Meiterranean coast is fine to climb during winter (except for rainy days if you don't climb overhangs!). In winter I occasionally used to climb in Tende area, which is already in the Alps but on the sea side and temperatures were not much less than average UK mid-season. So anywher below that would be fine. I'd suggest to try out crags in Montecarlo-Menton area too (Peillon, La Turbie, Gorbio, etc.) and why not Finale Ligure, a real climbing Mecca a few km further -although grades are tough and sandbagged.
 PeteC 31 Oct 2015
In reply to Oldrockjock:

Saint Victoire is a good place for med and easy grade stuff, and it's got a mountain atmosphere into the bargain. (I'M biassed cos I'M UKC moderator for it in the crags database)
 Andy Morley 31 Oct 2015
In reply to Oldrockjock:

> I am looking for advice as I am undecided whether to go to Toulon area for the winter i.e. December to March. So, I was hoping to hear from people who have experience of this area in winter.

The only place in France where I have spent a full winter is Grenoble, which is a different kettle of fish entirely. However, I did spend a few days working in Cannes one February, staying at a hotel in Nice, both of which are not that far away from Toulon and at that time of year the temperature was really quite comfortable. Not quite T-shirt weather as I recall but not far off, certainly not cold and we were sitting outside at pavement cafe tables. That was right next to the sea though.

This coincides with the experience of a friend of mine who did a six-week ski journey Feb-March 2014 from Menton (further East towards Italy) to Chamonix. He gave me and my climbing partners a slide show of the whole affair earlier this year and the pictures of their departure in February showed them in T shirts in Menton (again next to the sea), though as they headed up the Alps it became snowy enough for them to break out the skis pretty quickly - within and hour or two of leaving Menton in fact. So I guess that the altitude of the routes you plan to climb would be a key factor.
Oldrockjock 01 Nov 2015
In reply to odari:

Thanks, very helpful.
Oldrockjock 01 Nov 2015
In reply to Andy Morley:

Thanks, that's very helpful and I am building up a picture of the area. I'm almost certainly going to go down there now.
 tjekel 22 Nov 2015
In reply to Oldrockjock:

here's some more easy stuff you might like:

aureille in the alpilles, very sheltered and south facing, climbed in t-shirt on new years day;
also good on the way down is seynes, a complete sun trap and sheltered from the mistral.
several sectors in the callanques are also fine - the local guidbook goves good indications of the wind situation.

and i second everything said about ste victoire ...
 BruceM 27 Nov 2015
In reply to tjekel:

Two questions about some of the stuff above:

1. Mont Sainte Victoire: last year had a brief walk over to some of the climbs (at the base about the middle area below the main croix peak -- no guidebook) and while sometimes grade 5's and the like were painted on the rock, the first bolts were quite high and protection looked a bit spaced. Is that the general situation in the area, or are there some reasonable well protected lower grade climbs on the hill?

2. Mt Coudon: since this is close to the coast and big towns, is this place a bit of a security risk in the same way as Calanques is -- especially when leaving a GB car in the car parks? Obviously no definitive answer, but just a feel?
 Rog Wilko 27 Nov 2015
In reply to BruceM:

It's a long time - over 20 years - since I climbed at Ste Victoire but I remember it being a bit old skool if you know what I mean. I seem to remember the grades being a bit tough, bolting less than encouraging and the easier graded routes being a bit shiny. Not really selling it, am I?

Mt Coudon is a bit edge-of-the-town but on several visits I never noticed dubious characters lurking, broken glass in car parks, etc. The crags didn't seem to be littered, which might also be a good sign. Baudouvin is a great spot for easier grades (not implying you need them, just a a passing comment!)
 tjekel 28 Nov 2015
In reply to BruceM:

it's been quite a while since i've been there (20 years to be more precise, will go again this february). at that time i felt bolting was very nice, but i mainly climbed alpine stuff then and got a lot more timid since then. grades depend a little on your love of slabs, but its quite usual you can't aid the hard bits.

also at that time we hitchhiked to mt. coudon, so no idea concerning the resk of car crime. had our car at faron and baou later, no troubles, but as you mention statistically not relevant. if you stay in place and can leave your valuables behind, leave the car empty and open and you should be ok.
 BruceM 30 Nov 2015
In reply to Oldrockjock:

Thanks very much Rog and tjekel. That's very useful and a little of what I expected. Esp of Mont Saint Victoire. I might have to have another look and just scrape together a bit of info from the net before committing to any guide book. Mt Coulon sounds good though. Cheers.
 tjekel 30 Nov 2015
In reply to BruceM:

I'm quite sure that Ste. Vic must be bolt heaven for the average british climber. The good thing is that the easier routes tend to be bolted better than the hard ones. So far I found few people who actively disliked the place - except for haters of slabs.

By the way, there's a very recent guidebook by gorgeon/legier (either 2014 or 2015) that supports their rebolting efforts. if you can't find a nice route with this, it will be difficult any place.
 BruceM 01 Dec 2015
In reply to tjekel:

Brilliant. Thank you. Yes, I'm going to look out for that new guide over there. All the best. Bruce.

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