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Where to go climbing in Europe in Winter
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Hey guys, I'm heading to Europe sometime between December-Februrary and was wondering what the best either sport climbing or bouldering locations are in Europe at this time. The area would also have to be easily accessible by public transport or hitchhiking as I won't have a car and preferably cheap to stay in (camping is fine). Also if it is sport climbingit has to be easy to find partners
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Southern France. Ceuse, Verdon. |
Scottmx426 wrote: bad advice...don't listen to this guy. Ceuse is at almost 2000m; it's true that some locals visit in the winter but most traveling climbers go there in the summer and fall. It's true also that it is nice in Verdon in the winter sun, for sightseeing...if there is no wind; unfortunately Verdon is often very very windy. Vast majority of the routes are long committing multipitches, and nobody visits in the depth of the winter. in the winter I've climbed at places like: Buoux, crags surrounding Nice (St. Jeannet for example), Marseilles (les Calanques), Seynes (near Montpellier), St. Leger, and most places in Spain at lower elevation. The most popular destinations include: Siurana, Margalef, Chulilla, Costa Blanca, El Chorro (Andalusia), Albarracin (bouldering). Other very popular destinations: Greece (Kalymnos, Leonidio), Geyikbayiri (Turkey), Finale Ligure (Italy), Sardinia...the list is endless actually. If you don't have reliable transport, the 5 top recommendations from me would be: Chulilla, Siurana, El Chorro, Kalymnos, Geyikbayiri, in no particular order. All have many routes across all grades. And by the way it is super easy to find partners at all those places, and you can always camp or stay in climbers' hostels. Have fun! |
FY wrote:
Plenty of very affordable hostile type losging to stay but doesnt have great public transport and hitching would be rough... busses do go the La Palud however. |
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It depends on your tolerance for the weather. In winter, Siurana and other northeast Spain areas (including Majorca for bouldering) and Greece, Turkey and France can be fine but are often cold and/or rainy. If you don't mind cold, they are excellent, as are several other areas. Generally, stay south which means southern Spain (Chorro and Chulilla etc are the warmest in Europe but last winter was the coldest and rainiest winter in 10 years!), southern France (not easy to get to the crags by public transport) and Greece (Kalymnos will require a motorbike for many crags and for shopping) or Turkey. All can be cold and rainy. You can check online for historical temps and rain. Chorro has camping right next to the crags. Finale has free camping for free at the base of one crag and is often sheltered from bad weather nearby but will be colder than places further south. IMO they are the easiest places to find partners of the locations suggested by the other guys. For partners, Chorro is probably best. Kalymnos can be hard to find partners, in my experience. Finale is easy when busy, hard if not. I have never been able to find a partner at Siurana but it is a beautiful area. |
Scottmx426 wrote: Doable is everything, you can winter climb almost everywhere! It's matter of equipment and personal attitude. We do north faces in the Alps in winter e.g. If you do recommend Ceuse or Verdon in Dec or Jan to someone asking for winter sport climbing spots in Europe then you talk crap. Reasons are mentioned above... |
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Spain! |
Scottmx426 wrote: clearly i'm the person who needs to calm down... |
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I see people nentioning it is possible to visit Chullila sans rental car. Details on this? |
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Go to Catalunya(Spain):Siurana, Margalef (http://www.climb-europe.com/RockClimbingSpain/Sierra-de-Prades.html), both have campsites. There is much more north of Lleida(Oliana, Santa Linya, etc..), but this is hard to reach without a car. South France could be also good. I stayed several Winters at a smaller crag named Chateavert and also St Leger(https://www.rockfax.com/databases/results_crag.html?id=539). Verdon and Ceüse are abandoned at the time you mentioned. South Italy is also good but has sometimes more rain, checkout Finale Ligure (http://www.climb-europe.com/RockClimbingItaly/Finale-Ligure.html )from the city you can easily reach some crags); Val Pennavaire in Oltre Finale is a must visit (my favorite)! Sure, if you are very resistant to cold temps and rain, you can also climb every day in Frankenjura(Germany) (enough overhanging crags that stay dry), has good logistics; I did this the last years. |
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El Chorro Spain meets all your criteria. Google the Olive Branch climbing hostel. |
JCM wrote: You can take a bus or two from Valencia to chulilla. Stay at the hostel, and all crags are within walking distance. Supermarket, restaurants and bakeries in village. Super friendly climbing community. You can probably also arrange for an airport pickup/dropoff with the owners of the climbers bar and shop for a reasonable fee. |
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I did El Chorro last winter, solo and no car, and as mentioned was coldest, wettest winter in 10 years. Partners no problem. Woke up to huge snowflakes in first snow there for 10 years! but people were out climbing that PM. Olive Branch or Finca La Campana both have bunks or camping. Bring food to start, stores are small and limited. |
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It might get a bit wet in the winter here, but I am living in Ticino, Switzerland (visiting the States in January but back in February) and there is some nice bouldering in Cresciano/Magic Wood, also have rope for sport climbing (but not many draws) |
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Hello, I have a very good experience in winter in Sicily (Italy), a wonderfull place for sport climbing in front of the beach called San Vito lo Capo!!! Cheap camping where you can do night climb, in front of the beach, cheap Ryanair flights from france spain or other countries. Otherwhile Les Calanques in france, or spain, italy or greece! Have fun |
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San Vito lo capo is awesome. All of Sicily is awesome. A ton of limestone sport climbing, and some multipitch trad can be had, too. |
