Mountain Project Logo

Suggested long rock routes in Europe in the summer

Original Post
Hans Bauck · · Squamish, BC · Joined Oct 2007 · Points: 2,099

I'm planning a trip to Europe for next summer in July and/or August and I'm looking for suggestions and beta for everything from routes to beta on travel, huts, camping, car rentals, and whatever else may be useful.

I prefer long adventurous rock routes like those in the Bugaboos (Sunshine, Beckey-Chouinard), Squamish, Red Rocks, Canadian Rockies, etc. I'll be climbing with my wife and we'll probably want to cap the grades at 10+/11-, though easier is fine. The Cassin route on the Piz Badile looks really good. Hoping to find some things that aren't too crowded, but that might not be realistic.

We are also into bouldering and thinking of Fontainebleu, and my wife would like to visit some touristy places as well. If we don't go to Paris I'm probably a dead man.

Planning to rent a car and camp as much as possible, or stay in huts if they aren't too expensive.

Anyone with experience able to offer some suggestions?

Thanks in advance.
Hans

kenr · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2010 · Points: 16,608

There's lots of worthwhile accessible long routes in the European Alps, so that's a good kind of goal for Europe. How to choose? I don't know. First pick a region or language area.

Western Alps (toward France) tend to be bigger and have more complications with glacier approaches to the rock, more pretty snow accents in your views - (If you're solid leading 5.10 Trad granite and have 2x50m ropes for descents, do some climbing on the Mer de Glas side from Chamonix. Hire a guide if not sure you can handle glacier approach. English-language guidebook by M Piola for "Envers", perhaps also the Mont Blanc "Supercracks" book).

Eastern Alps (toward Austria) also have some big routes, enough to keep you busy for a single trip - (consider S face of Marmolada in NE Italy Dolomites? new English-language guidebook RockFax).

Early July (or late June) likely less crowds for camping and climbing, prettier snow white accents in your mountain photos, perhaps glaciers more likely to still be bridged and stable for approaches. Recent summers have had very hot periods in August.

Europe is a peninsula surrounded on three sides by water. Need to have contingency plans for moist weather.

To experience a different climbing culture ...
could try some long "Via Ferrata" routes, with fixed steel cable for protection (or aid). You can move way faster if you don't need to place protection or worry about navigation. Often the VF routes are in spectacular positions.

One long VF that I wish I could do again is the Kaiserjödler on the S face of the Hochkönig near Salzburg Austria + Berchtesgaden Germany - (There's other long non-VF climbing routes on that same S face). I would also like to repeat VF Alleghesi on Civetta (famous Dolomites climbing peak which also has long non-VF routes) +850 meters vertical on the climbing route out of +2000m total inclu approach.

Not sure if you think +350 vertical meters of moves on interesting gneiss rock counts as "long", but if so then VF les Perrons in the NW area of the Ecrins mountain group in France - (not far from great non-VF routes on the dramatic S face of the Aiguille Dibona, and the S face of the Meije -- best rock in the Ecrins Natl Park).

There are hundreds and hundreds of shorter Via Ferrata routes all around the Alps (not just the Dolomites), some in remarkable valley settings, like a narrow gorge. Something else to do for a "light" day.

Ken

JSharpe · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2012 · Points: 0

Piz Badile is a great call!! That whole region is endless. Also really good Alpine style multipitches off Furka pass in Switzerland. Switzerland in general is a solid call, you wont be disapointed, you have every style of climbing you could want and you never have to travel far to get from one to the other, and there are guide books with some english descriptions. If you like bouldering you could also easily hit up Chironico and Magic Wood. Kenr seems to have some great ideas outside of Switzerland, I would not spend more that 2 days in Paris in my opinion, but Font is close by though and it is rad!! Rent a car, Camp and huts, you're stoked!

Enjoy,
Josh

pierref · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2015 · Points: 0

Both Ken and josh suggestions are great. some add

- Swissland: together with furka, look grimsel and Nufenen pass. St Moritz area (piz badile) is great The rain backup plan for both areas is ticino (the italian speaking part of swissland).
Guidebook: filidor.ch/default.aspx?Lang=E
Swiss campgrounds are confortable (and affordable). Day to day life (and huts) is quite expensive.

- Dolomiti. my selection is: Civetta, Tofana, Pala si San Martino, Falzarego, Sella and ......tre cime di lavaredo. The rain backup plan is arco ( arrampicata-arco.com/)

Guidebook: climb-europe.com/RockClimbi…
Italian huts are excellent and of good value. Campgrounds are overcrowed and have very narrow sites. Day to day life is cheap.

Tourism: Venezia of course, as famous as paris, 3 hours drive from dolomiti, and large possibilities of shopping for womens.

If you have 3 weeks, i suggest concatenating swissland and italia with a trip starting from milano, passing through ST Moritz and Cortina, ending in venezia and milano. Great climbing spots, very various areas, reasonable drives and some tourism.

For the french alps, as mentioned by Ken, Chamonix is the hot spot but Ecrin NP is great too. For Europ, Ecrin is a kind of wilderness area. But i'm not unbiased, Ecrin is my garden.

climb-europe.com/RockClimbi…
climb-europe.com/RockClimbi…
I think there is no english written pure rock climbing book for Ecrin

To concatenate, start with chamonix, jump in Italia (spend a few day in val d'orco) and end by east Ecrin.
Lyon is the airport. Skip Paris and take the risk to be killed by your wife

Pierre

Optimistic · · New Paltz · Joined Aug 2007 · Points: 450

As far as Fontainebleau goes I have heard (this is not my own experience, I've never climbed there) that the polish on the easier routes is pretty unbelievable. You might want to research that further before you go.

Hans Bauck · · Squamish, BC · Joined Oct 2007 · Points: 2,099

Wow, lots of great info so quickly. Thanks a bunch.

JCM · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2008 · Points: 115

If you weren't already considering the dolomites, you may want to after reading this eveningsends.com/climbing/a…

JCM · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2008 · Points: 115
pierref wrote:3 hours drive from dolomiti, and large possibilities of shopping for womens.
This phrase could be read several ways...
duncan... · · London, UK · Joined Dec 2014 · Points: 55

There is a long-running thread on ukbouldering Fairly Long, Moderately Hard and Mostly Free which has an excellent range of suggestions that fit the selection criteria.

This summer I've visited Naranjo de Bulnes in the Picos de Europa and Wendenstock in Switzerland. Both are exceptional destinations, scenery comparable with The Dolomites, but with greatly superior quality of rock. Most of pierref's suggestions are excellent, however I found everything about Switzerland expensive, including the camping.

kenr · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2010 · Points: 16,608
pierref wrote:Skip Paris and take the risk to be killed by your wife
No need to skip Paris. Compared with western USA + Canada, Europe is small. You can drive from Chamonix to Paris in an evening (after climbing).
Like four years ago in July, a friend Yan-Eric did a full days work on Friday in Paris. Rode the train out to the mountains where I met him Friday evening. Drove to trailhead in the NW Ecrins, slept by the car. On Saturday, climbed a 5.10 route on the Aig Orientale de Soreiller (near Aiguille Dibona but higher). Descended to our car, drove to another trailhead, hiked up to hut and slept there. Sunday climbed Pilier Cheze route on Tete Sud de Replat. Ran the trail down to the car, drove to the Grenoble train station, and Yan-Eric was back in Paris by 9pm Sunday eve. At work on Monday morning.

Similarly there's no need to find climbing objectives to do "along the way". Europe is small: just drive all the way to the climbing you really want. Like in the last month I drove from the French Alps to the (western) Dolomites in one shot. A week-and-half later drove all the way back in one shot. Of course making a stop "along the way" for tourism is different.

pierref wrote:I think there is no english written pure rock climbing book for Ecrins
I own an older English-language guidebook published by the British Mountaineering Council
Not sure it makes sense to have a "pure" rock climbing guide for an alpine area like the Ecrins, but this book surely includes all the classic rock routes (and not just the easier ones). And it seems pretty accurate and helpful for the few climbs I've done (though of course glacier approach conditions are changing).

The Ecrins are not "wilderness-like" by western USA standards - (consider the huts, and the well-maintained asphalt road in to La Berarde). And I think there's a higher percentage of bad rock there than Chamonix Mont Blanc. Also the Ecrins granite has fewer fun cracks than Mont Blanc granite. So you have to know where the good rock is: In addition to the places I mentioned previously, there is the S face of Rateau in NW Ecrins / Oisans.

In the E Ecrins / Pelvoux area there is Aiguille de Sialouze (classic "easy" alpine rock sequence is to traverse the Aig Sia to the Rfg Pelvoux then climb Arete Sud of Petit Pelvoux (second as good rock, but a good trad adventure climb). There's other harder modern rock climbs on Sialouze.

Nearby is lots of mid-altitude slabby granite around Ailefroide. Lots of Euro + UK climbers love it. I think the big attraction is pleasant summer camping, with (non-long) multi-pitch climbs just a short walk from the tent.

The whole Durance river valley around there (by the city of Briancon) has a wide variety of interesting rock types (but longest is about ten pitches, in the Cerces) -- and often gets more sunshine than Chamonix.

Ken
kenr · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2010 · Points: 16,608
JCM wrote:If you weren't already considering the dolomites, you may want to after reading this eveningsends.com/climbing/a…
Sounds like the guys who wrote that article haven't climbed in Europe much outside the Dolomites.
What they claim is special about the Dolomites is true for lots of climbing regions in Europe.

One thing the Dolomites have is: Lots of bad rock. The rock is called "dolomite", but it's pretty much like limestone: soft and breakable.
Have to be choosy. And even if you choose a route more sound, holds can still break (as an American visitor a couple of years ago sadly discovered). Especially in early season after months of freeze-thaw.

Corollary is that many of the less-difficult routes with sound rock have lots of polish.

? Possible response plan ?
Climb harder. Learn to read German or Italian. Find new routes on the web or in modern non-English guidebooks.
Avoid climbing under other parties. Avoid late July + August crowded.

. (and don't count on being able to descend with a single rope like in that article).

Ken

P.S. I note that just a couple of hours north from the Dolomites, the Zillertal area in Austria is getting known for climbing on granite. Europe is overflowing with thirty lifetimes of interesting climbing on limestone/dolomite. That's why sport climbing was invented in Europe: bolts are what work for protection on soft rock.
Many of the longer routes being mentioned in this thread (but not the S face of Marmolada) are granite.
pierref · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2015 · Points: 0
JCM wrote: This phrase could be read several ways...
not sure it was a mistake of mine.I'm french, like the former IMF president
Hans Bauck · · Squamish, BC · Joined Oct 2007 · Points: 2,099

Ok, so if I have this right, shopping for Swiss women is expensive?
And though loose in Italy, the prices are reasonable?

;-)

Did I go too far? Sometimes my friends say I go too far.

FrankPS · · Atascadero, CA · Joined Nov 2009 · Points: 276
Hans wrote:Ok, so if I have this right, shopping for Swiss women is expensive? And though loose in Italy, the prices are reasonable? ;-) Did I go too far? Sometimes my friends say I go too far.
No, you didn't go too far. You went right to the edge of propriety.
Sergey · · San Francisco, CA · Joined Dec 2011 · Points: 1

Verdon is supposed to be good.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

International
Post a Reply to "Suggested long rock routes in Europe in the summer"

Log In to Reply

Join the Community

Create your FREE account today!
Already have an account? Login to close this notice.

Get Started.