Spring in the Verdon

Back at the start of May I made my first foray abroad bolt clipping and was thrown in at the deep end by Sean as we headed for the mighty Verdon Gorge. 

The Verdon Gorge in all its glory with the huge vultures ominously circling overhead.

We kicked off the trip by easing ourselves in at Chateauvert, a lovely roadside crag a bit South of the Verdon. The climbing was on excellent coarse pocketed limestone with the bolting being very friendly. Here we warmed up with a long and enjoyable 5c, before ticking a 6a+ and a couple of pumpy 6bs.

Sean lent a belay to some Japanese dirtbagger.

We then headed on up to La Palud where we had treated ourselves to a gite just off the main square. Unfortunately the weather had other ideas and there was a fresh dusting of wet snow on the tops! We headed for the main cafe-bar which is the hubbub of all activity in La Palud to seek beer, steak frites and some advice on where to go! The barman recommended that the classic crag of Buoux would be good the following day, so we headed on down there.

Sean bridging his way up the spicy first pitch of La Marabounta 6a.

The variety of the climbing here surprised us with everything from pocket pulling test pieces, balancy slabs to more traditional chimneys and even offwidths (god forbid!). We got some superb routes done and enjoyed the chilled out atmosphere at the crag which was busy with families, locals and foreign climbers alike. There was however a bitingly cold wind which curtailed our afternoon and sent us driving back on up to La Palud.

Thankfully the weather picked up big time and we got five days of unbroken sunshine and warmth in the gorge for the rest of the trip. We kicked off the proceedings with an abseil down the Barre de l'Escales with the target of Les Dalles Grises in mind. We set off early which turned out to be a good idea as it is a very popular area of the gorge.

Sean on the first of many an exciting abseil on the trip.

We set on up the first two pitches of Les Dalles Grises but it fairly soon became apparent that we were off route. This was not to worry as the climbing was all around the same standard with exception of the roof finish of a new route which Sean inadvertently found himself under. The first fall of the trip ensued before a successful battle over the 6b roof brought us out up the top. We retired from the heat of the afternoon sun for espresso, croissants and panache before returning in the early evening for some 'single pitches' off the lip of the gorge. This proved to be a good plan each day, getting a bigger route done in the morning then single pitching in the evening sun. Sean decided we should get our full dosage of the crazy exposure straight away, so I found myself hanging at the belay for 'Wide is Love'. A position that can only be described as wild.

Sean at the hanging belay of 'Wide is Love' with the exposure dragging at his heels.

The next day we headed for the Arete du Belvedere which felt pretty different from the exposed face climbing around the Dalles Grises area. The arete was a lot more traditional and followed an excellent line up the crest through its entire length. I enjoyed the route and could relax into the climbing thanks to the exposure returning to a more normal level. Accessing the route is a bit of an adventure in itself and follows a pretty exposed track of red dots which weaves its way down a broken section of the gorge leading to the base of the route. The crux is low down on the second pitch and tackles an offwidth crack which Sean duly dispatched, popping us out onto the crest of the ridge. The rest of the route is a well bolted VS romp but interesting all the way taking in some fantastic positions in a slightly more secluded area of the gorge.

Sean on the crest of the Arete du Belvedere.

It is a pretty surreal place the gorge, especially so around the Dalles Grises where tourists spectate from the belvederes above, ooh and aahing at the climbers below, before applauding them on top out and asking for pictures. The climbing is sensational, as to be expected for such a venue and can be pretty varied; from slabs pocketed with the 'gouttes d'eaus', aretes, chimneys and cracks which can all feature even on the one route. It certainly deserves its title of 'adventurous sport climbing' and I think as one guidebook quipped, "You will either revel in the exposure or be paralyzed by it". Unfortunately for me it was most definitely the latter, finding myself gripped on 6a pitches, crimping the living daylights out of what positive edges could be found. There is certainly a certain climbing style required in the Verdon and for me it felt like it would take a bit of time to get my head around it. 

Some of the more relaxed exposure at Dalles Grises.

Our final two days in the gorge finished with a sociable day back at Les Dalles Grises where we climbed Afin que nul ne Meure before finishing up the top two pitches of 36.15 which made an enjoyable 6a+. La Palud had suddenly gotten very busy the night prior as we were eating our takeaway pizzas from the wee van in the pub (highly recommended). It was as if every continental had descended upon La Palud overnight - Verdon season had clearly begun! This had made for busy belays around Les Dalles Grises and sociable routes as a result.

Some punters on belay at Les Dalles Grises.

Friday marked our final day in the gorge and after an early start to beat the newly arrived crowds, we found ourselves in the cool morning air atop the Belvedere de L'Escales once more. It was another beautiful morning with crisp views to the distant peaks and the plan was to get a big route ticked to round off the trip. Sean had his sights set on Les Deux Doigts dans le Nez, a super sustained 6a+ taking in some crazy exposure. The abseil chains were quickly located, along with a warning of vulture nests on nearby routes. The ropes were flaked, thrown over the edge and down we went. Upon arriving at the third abseil station we were given a taste of what was to come....

45m free hanging abseils certainly wake you up in the morning.

A lonely 45 metre free hanging abseil half a kilometre above the gorge base certainly kicks the senses alive. No need to worry about missing out on our morning espresso today. Soon we found ourselves down at the traverse ledge which had a via-ferrata type setup to access the base of the routes. The first belay featured a seat up in a tree branch and Sean charged on up despite some tough first moves off the deck (tree). I quickly realised that my head was not in the game, feeling mentally tired from the verticality and physically from the heat. With my tail between my legs I passed over the lead to Sean (soon to become the entire route). A marathon effort from Sean consisting of four pitches of continuous 6a+ climbing found us at the final belay. A quick energy bar hit and Sean was off up the final overhanging groove pitch. 

It quickly became apparent that there was a serious sting in the tail to come with Sean having to give it big licks straight off the belay. A big effort found Sean below the top of the hooded groove and throwing wildly for the jug besides the next clip. He hit the jug stood up into it, now four metres above his last draw, clipped the bolt, disco legs going wild and elbows up at ear level, yarded on the rope to clip....and he was off. A ten metre whipper ensued and I found myself up at the first bolt. I lowered myself back down to the belay and turned to see three Frenchies who had just arrived at the belay with the fear of death in their eyes. Sean now with a tattered and bloody hand was absolutely buzzing with adrenaline. He began jugging his way back up to his high point as the Frenchies pulled out their topo. Relief followed when we realised that we were in fact on the 6b+ pitch of the neighboring route. A very awkward tensioned traverse right found us back onto the correct pitch and Sean's blood stained holds led the way to the top. 

"Crazy verticality in cathedral silence".

A chilled out evening of cote de boeuf and vin rouge in the pub rounded off the trip. The Gorges du Verdon is certainly somewhere I will return to in time although probably not straight away. A trip to Spain for some 'non-adventurous' bolt clipping may follow first!