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 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
There’s a tonne of climbing to the north of Briancon which we hadn’t previously explored as it’s a 45mins drive from Roche de Rame and generally a bit higher altitude, […]
We’d visited the lower walls of these unusual quartzite crags last year, so this was a chance to check out the extraordinary-looking Sector Aiguilles. It’s a bit of a yomp […]
Continuing our search for non-polished rock, we headed up into the Queyras mountains to Clapeyto, encouraged by the guidebook promise of the qualite du rocher. This gorgeous pre-alpine area is […]
We’ve been visiting France to climb for over 35 years (a terrifying thought in itself!) and can still conjure up a vague recollection of effortless smearing up seemingly blank slabs […]
After a year when RockAroundTheWorld morphed into RockAroundTheUK (much of it very enjoyable, it has to be said!) we’re finally back on the road! A quick Eurotunnel dash (very quiet […]
As autumnal weather begins to make itself felt, we headed a bit further south and to lower altitude into Provence. The Alpilles, centred on Saint-Remy, are a range of modest […]
We first visited Rocher Baron almost 25 years ago, with two tiny tots in tow. The appeal at that point was the roadside / “pram-able” nature of the nearest south-east […]
After two days of continuous rain, we were pretty much climbing up the walls of the van and desperate to get onto the crag. Normally, we use any rain interruptions […]
Casse de Prelles is an east-facing series of quartzite slabs and pinnacles set above the village of the same name. Here’s a view taken from across the valley a couple […]
It’s only a short drive from the Ligurian coast to the Durance valley; around 3 hours over the Montgenevre Pass linking these two tremendously diverse and abundant climbing areas. Each […]
We do climb in some funny places… Here’s another random stop-over crag, found on the web and chosen because of proximity to our homeward route, short walk-in (zero!) and sunny […]
The somewhat utilitarian name belies an excellent little crag. Gietroz is the easterly extension of Barberine and has a bunch of sectors scattered over the hillside. Pylon is just over […]
After a week of valley cragging it was time for another adventure further up in the Big Hills, so it was great to be able to call on The Rucksack […]
On Neil’s recommendation we made a trip to Coupeau, a hidden gem of Chamonix Valley cragging – always handy to have a bit of local knowledge! It’s not a huge […]
Almost 6 weeks in to Helen’s recovery and it’s time for some tentative steps back into multi-pitch adventuring – we’d been saving the friendly granite slabs at Vallorcine for the […]
We’d exhausted most of the major Chamonix Valley cragging options, and needed a break from granite slabs, so headed back down the Arve to seek out Le Clis. This is […]
