routes for soloing in France
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I've gotten into doing long-ish rock routes solo, and some of them are rather good, so I'm looking for more, especially in the Alps and Provence. |
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I guess since I'm asking for "more" ideas, I ought to say what I've tried so far ...
Vanoise National Park:
Grenoble area
. . . (Also other via ferrata routes, but those did not allow many moves with hands + feet touching rock) . . . (Dolomites have much higher proportion of VF routes which allow lots of contact with rock) the Sea (Calanques)
the Sea (Cap Canaille)
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not exactly in the Alps or in Provence, but in the Grenoble area you can do some routes in the Belledonne range, such as the North Ridge of the Grand Pic de Belledone (9,767 ft) . It has two or three spots of 5.5 and 5.6 and a bunch of loose rock but is manageable and fun without ropes or gear, just approach shoes. There is still plenty of snow on the approach to Col de Balmette. |
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Rui Ferreira wrote:... Belledonne range, such as the North Ridge of the Grand Pic de Belledone (9,767 ft) . It has two or three spots of 5.5 and 5.6 and a bunch of loose rock but is manageable and fun without ropes or gear, just approach shoes. There is still plenty of snow on the approach to Col de Balmette. The Grand Pic is the highest summit in the range and if you are inclined you can do the summit link with Pic Central and the Croix de Belledonne as a solo, however you will need a rope to rappel off some of the points in the traverse.Thanks for that suggestion. I have the guidebook for the Belledonne, but I was overwhelmed by all the possibilities. The approaches to the Grand Pic are kind of long, so I was hesitant to go in there and explore without a good idea of what would be fun. Maybe I'll get my chance in September (with less snow). Thanks for the point about need to rappel if do the ridge traverse. It's often an interesting question whether a specific rappel is actually required. There are at least two CampToCamp route descriptions which used to say that a rappel was required, until I explored it and then edited C2C to explain how the rappel could be avoided. One deterrent for me trying ridge traverses in the Aiguilles d'Argentiere also in the Belledonne -- but with (I was hoping) an easier approach than the Grand Pic, and with some S-facing options to avoid the big snow this year -- is the need(?) for rappels. Ken |
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Rui Ferreira wrote:... Mont Aiguille, (6,843ft) ... The Voie Normale goes at 5.4 and you will need a rope to rappel off. Other routes offer better rock but higher difficulties, such as the Tour des Gemeaux (5.9), even though it appears that some of the cruxes can be avoided via easier variations.Thanks for suggesting that, since I've been wondering how good the V.N. (= normal route) would be. I've done the Tour des Gemeaux with French partners [ photos ] -- seemed clearly beyond my soloing range. And we used double ropes for at least one of the rappels. So for the Voie Normale, my plan would be to do it on a weekday off-season uncrowded, and down-climb the route. Which reminds me that I heard the Normal Route on Mont Aiguille used to be equipped as a via ferrata, but it got so crowded (and presumably conflicts between ascenders and descenders avoiding the long rappels), that they removed the VF equipment (perhaps some remnants can still be found?) The Via Ferrata routes by Grenoble and Crolles are typical "French style" -- unlike many routes in the Dolomites, they make it difficult to have much contact with the rock (as opposed to the steel fixtures). But still I find them kind of fun. I think the VF Grand Diedre route at Crolles would be rated at least 5b if it were in a climbing gym. I've done the VF Vire des Lavandieres (with the waterfall) twice, first with a local Crolles resident, again with Sharon (she likes that you don't have to walk down afterward). VF Les Perrons (at Venosc in the northwest Ecrins / Oisans) is special among via ferratas in France because it allows more contact of hands and feet with the rock. I feel that it goes "free" (not using the VF fixtures for aid) at about 6b. But of course with using a normal VF kit, falling in one of the 5c / 6a / 6b sections of Les Perrons would be pretty bad: You'd likely hit one of the protruding steel VF fixtures. So when I tried it last Sunday I used a special Skylotec VF kit. I bet I'll do that route again using that equipment again. Ken |
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More ideas from UKClimbing forum: |
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There are two approaches to get to the Grand Pic, from la Gorge (906m) and from La Souille (1358m) above Col de Pre Long. Definetely go from the higher parking lot as you will save about an hour of hiking. I remember that it took me about 2.5 hrs to do the hike in June from the higher parking lot. |
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Thanks so much for all these critical details -- just what I need to get started climbing in the wild Belledonne massif -- hopefully late Aug / early Sept. (Looks like I'm going to be making lots fewer trips to the Dolomites). Rui Ferreira wrote:My idea of fun might not be the same for everyone, but this is the highest summit in the range and the route has good exposure, but always within safe climbing difficulty, so if anything looks hard then you are off-route. The actual crux is a bit of slab climbing on the right side of a v-shaped gully. I was able to downclimb this as well without issues, even on wet rock. Other spots actually have a bit of metal cable, because this route is done very frequently as a solo traverse of the full range starting from Croix de Chamrousse.Sounds a lot like my idea of fun. > "metal cable" Typical European idea of making outdoor things fun for more people, instead of "pure" for a small elite. Like on the wonderful traverse of the Aiguille de la Vanoise, there's one move which is much harder than everything else, so they've set up fixed Aid for that - (it's not even mentioned in any of the route descriptions). And doing the longer traverse sounds like something I'd like to work up to -- thanks much for that idea. This winter I checked out the start from Croix de Chamrousse toward Grande Lauziere on skis (trickier than it looks from the topo map, I ran into a French party who were coming from Refuge de la Pra and had lost track, hoped I could tell them a better way). Generally I've been intimidated from exploring the southern Belledonne because I'm usually thinking of it in winter on skis, when the roads are not plowed as high. So it's great to know that it might be as little as 2.5 hours hiking in the summer. (Maybe afterward I'll get inspired to go on there on skis in winter-spring, sleep at Refuge de la Pra). > "this is the highest summit in the range" The highest summit in the northern Belledonne is Pic du Frene 2807m. I've had that as a goal for several years with approach on skis to Col de la Vallette. I've done the skiing part with a non-climber, afterward regretted not having gone to the summit. Problem is the ski approach is SE-facing and just the right steepness for avalanches. And the approach road is more sheltered so you're not sure when it's free from snow (esp in a big snow year like 2014). Tricy to choose the right day. I've been thinking I might want to drive to the trailhead the night before. I've already skied the Rocher Blanc 2928m (from Le Fond de France) which I guess is the highest peak in the mid-Belledonne - (nice view of it with its two high siblings E across from top of the Sept Laux ski lifts). The guidebook says there's some worthwhile climbing nearby on Le Toit and La Pyramide (but how long and how much vert on approach to get to it?) Ken |
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Ken |
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I'd stay away from loose Dolomite rock |
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rickziegler wrote:I'd stay away from loose Dolomite rockwell France has plenty of loose rock too. Even the California Sierra Eastside has some. I once fell soloing when a rock broke off (around Berchtesgaden, Germany). After surviving that with only a minor injury, the lesson I drew was that I'm not reliably capable of at the same time both testing holds and climbing anywhere close to my difficulty limit. Which I think fits with Rui Ferreira's point that there's loose rock on some of the Belledonne routes, but it's managable because the climbing is not difficult. Other things I keep in mind when planning for soloing ... -> Please correct and add more ideas <-
Ken P.S. California: I met another guy soloing on the (wonderful!) N ridge of the Matthes Crest, on delightful high Sierra granite. I said, "Gotta be careful that one of those nice nubs doesn't break off." He said, "I've been climbing granite here in California for lots of years and I've never seen one break." Ten minutes later, a nub I stepped on broke. I was thinking that perhaps his years of experience were mostly on well-traveled routes where somebody else had found the loosely-connected nubs first. . . (I think the North ridge of the Matthes doesn't get climbed much, because most parties start from the easier South end and run out of time and energy before the North half. Also until the most recent Chris McNamara guidebook 2nd edition, there were no published detailed instructions for the North half) . . |