Vallon Sourn (a.k.a. Chateauvert) – Grimper en Provence Vert
A cruddy day in the Cevennes prompted a change of scenery – here’s what a rainy day in the life of RockAroundTheWorld looks like: Provence looked like the spot for […]
Author Archives: Dominic
Quinson – climbing by the Verdon, but not as we know it
We’re nicely settled in to the friendly campsite in Correns, and have enjoyed a few days at Chateauvert, on the doorstep, but were looking for a side trip for a […]
Cirque de Labeil
The Cirque de Labeil was one of the “must visit” crags recommended by Keith and Fiona, but we’d struggled to time our visit with an appropriate weather window. On the […]
Le Joncas
Blowing a hoolie on the tops, and not too sunny, so we headed to Le Joncas in the hope of finding some sheltered, sunny climbing. It’s a recently developed series […]
Cantobre (for mortals) – La Roche de Calee
Cantobre is a long-established classic hard crag, with about 50 routes on an immaculate wave of orange, pocketed limestone. South facing and in the beautiful Gorges de la Dourbie, it […]
Laumet – into Les Grands Causses
Moving on during a drizzly day, we headed over the spectacular Cirque de Navacelle, winding its way through scenery a bit like Canyonlands a la Francaise. We based ourselves at […]
Claret
Claret is one of the premier crags of L’Herault region, so it would have been remiss not to pay a visit. However, we didn’t have fond memories of our only […]
Saint Jean de Bueges
This charming little village is about 15 minutes from Thaurac, and the fact that it features a fairly major lump of rock is clearly advertised as you enter the valley. […]
Thaurac – Mur des Lamentations and Balcons
We visited Thaurac about 4 years ago and ended up leaving prematurely and marking it down as 12CB4. Thaurac There’s a huge amount of rock to go at… … so […]
Saint Bauzille de Montmel
… or Saint Bo’ for short, is another significant crag in L’Herault that we’d never heard of before, let alone visited (thanks Keith and Fiona for the tip off). It’s […]
Extended Euro-tour over 90 days in 180
I’m the first person to admit that it’s a “high class” problem to be worrying about whether the 90 days in 180 Shengen post-Brexit visa restrictions will interfere with our […]
Roche Autour du Gard
All good things come to an end, and after 3 weeks of unbroken sunshine in the Durance, the weather finally went pear-shaped. Two days of forecasted rain followed by a […]
Climbers Against Cancer Charity Calendar – Now on the Shelves
Rockaroundtheworld doesn’t do adverts – but I do make an occasional exception in a very good cause… Just to prove that I occasionally do something other than climb, here’s news […]
Freissini̬res РDalles Magiques (not) and La Grande Falaise
With another fine day in prospect, Helen and I decided to have a multi-pitch adventure. The two 100m routes on Dalles Magiques get a big write up in the guide […]
Gero and other Roche Around de Rame
We arrived in France three weeks ago, ready to set the sat nav for wherever was sunny, and immediately made a beeline for the Durance Valley to take advantage of […]
French Poudinage
Moving on from the quartzite theme of the last post, it’s time to celebrate another of the diverse rock types on offer in the Durance: Conglomerate (or Poudinage as the […]
Quartzite Climbing… But not as you know it!
Quartzite is synonymous (at least for this Gogarth devotee) with the climbing on Holy Island. Others will think of Arapiles or (more unlikely!) of Kamouraska https://rockaroundtheworld.co.uk/2019/10/11/kamouraska-carling-dont-make-crags-but/ It’s a great rock […]
Paroi des Lys – Fiesta del Cinq Soup / Siza, TD-
Paroi des Lys is like a big brother to La Ponteil, looming above it and about twice the height. It’s remarkable that such a sizeable crag (routes up to 8 […]
Les Guions
This post starts with a few pics from another mission for Helen to enjoy leading routes she was only able to second when we visited with her broken ribs a […]
Aiguillette de Laus de Cervieres and Terre Rouge
After our Queyras jaunt we tootled down the far side of the Col de L’Izoard through the Cerveyrette valley, using the time to suss out some of the crags. Rounding […]
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