Climbs 382
Rocktype Limestone
Altitude 291m a.s.l
Faces S
Dave Ranby on an un-named 6b on Nouveau Monde at Seynes. © Alan James
Seynes is a thoroughbred crag of the very highest quality, and although the photos you're most likely to see are of wild, continuous tufa-routes, most of the crag consists of technical climbs taking slabby or vertical grey rock. In other words there is definitely something for everyone.
Facing south throughout, Seynes is no place to be on a sunny summer's day, however, if you find yourself here on a sunny winter's day, you'll quickly go from being snug in a down jacket to smug in a T-shirt. It is worth bearing in mind that Seynes is covered in flow-stone and tufas which will get wet after prolonged or heavy rain, and will take a while to dry out, so if it's been raining, the tufa routes may be impossible.
Seynes lies above the D6 that links Alès to Bagnols-sur Cèze. All the sectors are reached by following a track that runs parallel to the D6.
The approach to Rouge Gorge from the west has now been blocked off. You can park on the main road and walk in however.
Parking notes 2019 . Print out sign from below link and display on your dashboard to avoid fine. https://www.ffme.fr/escalade/article/macaron-obligatoire-pour-grimper-a-seynes.html
These crags offer little to the climber of limited ability and ambition. For such the best sector is Rouge Gorge. This sector looks rather scruffy with quite a bit of vegetation, but this hardly detracts from the routes which are, in the 4 & 4+ grades, pleasant and enjoyable. However, there seems to be a big step-change between the 4+ routes and the 5s, at least in my limited experience.
Sector Initiation was a great disappointment to me - the very worst type of bolted climbing in my opinion. The routes do not follow lines and of the ones I looked at the typical route would be friction padding up virtually holdless low-angle slabs. These routes are only 4s and 4+s to people who normally climb 6c and above. The grading is absurd and meaningless. Rog Wilko - 14/Jun/15 |
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