Chamonix - As well as the traditional mountaineering routes around
Mont Blanc, there are many pure rock climbing routes particularly
lower down in the valley, on fantastic Granite rock.
Corsica - Corsica offers an abundance of beautiful bolted rock to
climb, from coarse weathered granite rock, to sandstone or
limestone rock. There is climbing all over the island, from
single pitch routes to multi-pitch routes up to 300m long,
plus many bouldering areas.
Dijon
and Beaune - The area of Bourgogne (known as Burgundy
to the English) is well known for its fine wine. Here you will
also find a series of good quality limestone crags that offer
mainly single pitch sports routes. There are over 50 separate
crags in this area, including 19 major ones offering many 1000's
of sports routes across all grades.
Fontainebleau
- The forests of Fontainebleau offer the best bouldering
area in Europe, on superb sandstone rock! The unique circuits
that have been developed here are colour coded that lead
you from boulder problem to boulder problem. This area is
huge with many classic sites such as Trois Pignons, Bas Cuvier
and L' Elephant to name but a few.
Durance Valley, Hautes
Alps - Situated in the southern Alps, near Gap,
this area enjoys better weather than Chamonix and is definitely a lot
less commercialised. The Hautes Alps offers
an amazing choice of rock climbing with everything from classic
alpine ascents of all grades to modern bolted routes with
both single & multi pitch crags, plus an extensive bouldering
area as well.
The
French Pyrenees offers an enormous range of rock
climbing and mountaineering. Some of the sports climbing crags
include Superpene, Pene Haute and Sinsat, while there is some
excellent granite bouldering at Targasonne.
Verdon
- The stunning Verdon Valley with its steep limestone crags
offers a fantastic range of rock climbing and sports climbing.
Some of the routes are very committing as you have to abseil
into them and set up hanging belays, and are often multi-pitch.
Other routes are accessed from the bottom of the valley, which
are generally single pitch sports routes.
The
Gorges du Tarn is a beautiful limestone gorge situated
in the south of France, north west of Montpellier. This is
a large rock climbing area with over 400 routes, however the
crag is often overhanging and therefore the majority of the
routes are F7a and above. These are generally good quality
single pitch sports routes, which are well bolted.
Les Calanques is situated
in the far south of France on the Mediterranean coast. This
limestone mountain range spans from Marseille to the pretty
little town of Cassis, 20km to the east. The climbing is enormously
varied with technical slabs, steep overhangs in caves, multi-pitch
routes up to 250m long in the mountains, and steep single
pitches right on the sea's edge. The range is divided into
8 main rock climbing areas and each has it's own distinct
atmosphere. In total there are around 2,500 bolted sports
routes and around 1,000 trad routes.
Kerlouan is situated
on the north western tip of France, just north of Brest. Here
there are 14 miles of pristine coastline, sandy beaches and
lots of granite boulders. This place is idea for mixing a
family holiday and doing lots of bouldering. There is a wide
range of grades from Font 4a's to 8a's, with many of the landings
on flat sandy beaches.
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