A brief dip into Provence followed by a deja vu dash
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 […]
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 […]
A bit of a look back through the blog suggests I have climbed on each of the last 14 days – not necessarily caning it, but put boot to rock. […]
This one isn’t featured in the Rockfax, but gets rave reviews in the local guide: “Site majeur de l’escalade dans la valee de Chamonix”. Unfortunately, my hastily snapped shots of […]
This extensive granite crag is at the top of the Chamonix Valley, just over the Col des Montets – it’s actually in Switzerland (by a couple of hundred metres), though […]
We’d been working towards a rest day, to coincide with the forecast monsoon which was supposed to hit today. This was downgraded to an overnight downpour, and even that failed […]
After the lengthy approach to Les Cheserys yesterday, we opted for roadside today, so checked out La Joux. Accessed from the station of the same name, it’s a very pleasant […]
No, NOT The Aiguille d’Argentiere, but this diminutive and shapely near namesake gives a fun micro summit in absolutely fabulous surroundings. The Aiguillette can be found about an hour’s pleasant […]
With the weather perking up around Chamonix, and bizarrely looking better than the usual fleshpots of Provence, we decided to take advantage and spend a few days enjoying an out-of-season […]
Based around Samoens for a couple of days, we decided to explore the wealth of climbing in the hinterlands around Mt Blanc. There are three guidebooks-worth of cragging accessible within […]
The happy coincidence of a forecasted weather window in Cham overlapping with Dave being resident in Samoens opened up the possibility of an unexpected hit of high altitude cragging – […]