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 […]
Category Archives: Provence and South East
Three Sides of Rocher Baron
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 […]
Le Pouit – Incy Wincy spider climbs up the rock again!
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 and Les Ayes
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 […]
Briancon revisited – Hot Rock and Pudding
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 […]
Rocher du Bez
This is a super handy granite crag, a few km north of Briancon. It has very much been developed as an amenity, alongside a via ferata and a picnic spot […]
Le Ponteil, sector Hot Roc
This is a really fab spot, and only 5km from our favourite campsite in the Durance (Le Verger just north of Roche de Rame), and I can’t really work out […]
Into the Durance and a couple of days at Les Traverses
With a weather system sweeping down from the north we escaped the forecasted snow in the Oisans and made the 2 hour hop over to the Durance valley south of […]
Rock around Embrun
A chilly, showery day following heavy rain overnight – time to put the “you can always find somewhere to climb in the Durance” theory to the test! The crags around […]
Homeward bound and a bunch of YECTOYDs
The weather finally crapped out in a big way, so we started to plod gently northwards. Despite the rain showers we managed to squeeze in the odd route along the […]
Haute Durance
Another showery day and nature’s way of suggesting a rest day and a change of scene. We headed a couple of hours north east to La Roche De Rame in […]
Orpierre
A damp day in the Verdon suggested time to be moving on. A great visit, which has certainly whetted the appetite for more adventures here. With Jim and Jane heading […]
La Demand
This was the route that started everything off in Verdon climbing, the first route to climb from river to rim about 60 years ago. In its own way, almost as […]
Big sunshine – back to Verdon
The last couple of days at Chateauvert were sweltering and it was time to head for the hills again. Jim and Jane had also abandoned camp for a respite and […]
Chateauvert
After managing to eke 3 days climbing from a very unpromising weather outlook, the rain finally arrived with a vengeance, prompting a retreat to lower altitude and further from the […]
Sector Hulk and an adventure in the depths
There isn’t too much climbing in the Gorge that stays dry in the rain, but Sector Hulk on the north facing, South side of the Gorge is sheltered under huge […]
A Taste of Exposure!
Tuesday turned out to be much finer than forecast, and we made good use of the day with a multi-crag pick and mix. Helen and I started with L’Arabe Dement, […]
Verdon
Despite a dodgy forecast we headed to La Palud, the heart of Verdon climbing. The deciding factor was the opportunity of some good company with Jim and Jane Burton, not […]
Heading towards Verdon
Two words have featured disproportionately in these blogs over the last month: zigzags and charming. Well, we zigzagged over from the Vesubie valley to Saint Auban ( a few extra […]
Col de Fenestre
A gorgeous day, and having exhausted all of the nearby quality crags – or rather been exhausted by them, we decided to explore the mountains. The 5 mile, 2000ft walk […]
