UKC

Hi,

Me and a friend of mine are aiming to travel to the South of France this summer to try our first outdoor 7C/8A. We were aiming to do a single pitch, pre-bolted climb (preferably a first ascent, but we understand, as its not the most difficult of climbs, that may not be possible). Is there any way to narrow our search down to single pitch climbs? Most of the routes we were finding through the 'Crag Map' in the South of France (we were aiming to climb near Marseille) seem to be multiple pitch climbs and as we've only climbed indoors, this probably isn't appropriate for us.

If anyone knows any way to distinguish between single pitch and multi pitch climbs using the 'Crag Map'/has any recommendations of where to look, we would be very grateful. Any and all advice is appreciated

Thanks. 

Just wondering, do you live under a bridge?

Nah, I'm a student. Very new to the sport, all a bit confusing, just trying to get some help from more experienced climbers. Sorry to sound like such a noob. Found a guide on RockFax that seems to be pretty detailed on the 'Cote D'Azur' , as a student, I want to buy the cheapest guide possible. Do you know if these are recommended or if there is an easier way to find detailed descriptions on routes? Again, sorry if these sound like stupid questions.

Your looking to do the first ascent of a pre-bolted 7c/8a (a capital letter in the grade indicates bouldering btw) - you might need to think this through again!

Chris

Hi Chris, 

Like i said, I know that as the difficulty isn't very high, we're aware that finding a pre-bolted 7c/8a that hasn't been climbed isn't very likely, we're not too fussed about that, but of course it would be nice if by chance we found one 

Apologies, for the mistake with the capital letter, wasn't aware of that. Thanks for the help. 

Just wondering if anyone could point us in the direction of how we can search for single pitch climbs in that area. We've both climbed 7c/8a projects indoors, so were just looking to do a cool project around that difficulty outdoors during the summer whilst were free. Should I just buy the RockFax guide and have a search in there or is there another alternative that someone could recommend? 

Cheers for your help

Where to start?

The people that put to bolts in the routes generally like to do the first ascent themselves. It would be bad form to steal someones "closed project" even if you could find one. The chances of finding an "open project" at that grade in France are vanishingly small*.

A guide book for the area you are going to like the Rockfax one you mensioned is pretty well essential.

Climbing outdoors is a little diffrent to indoor, you may need to drop your grade while you transition.

I'm not sure whether to be impressed or bemused that you've got to the level of 7c/8a fitness without having been outdoors before...  

*Maybe John Arran has one going spare which he might tell you about if you book a week in his accomdation.

As a summer venue have a look at...

Céüse

It's likely to be too hot around the southern coast.

I bet there are loads who can climb 7c/8a indoors who don’t climb outside

I'm sure you are correct. It still astonishes me.

Thanks so much for your help. Yeah that makes sense, we'll stay clear of stealing someone's glory. 

Perfect, I'll purchase one of those then. 

I'll keep the difficulty in mind. I'm sure, if we're unable to complete a climb at that level, there will be plenty of other routes in the guide book that we can try.

Yes, we are very late to the outdoor scene. Long overdue now. Training hard to send something fun in summer.

I'll give the area a look. Thanks again for your help, much appreciated.

If you aren't an old fart like me, you might prefer the Rockfax phone App to an actual book. There are pros and cons to each.

Be aware that the south of France in summer can be very very hot.

I'll give it a look, thanks.

In reply to ebdon:

I'll keep that in mind, i'll have a look what the guide book advises. Thank you