Verdon Gorge
It’s one of those places you see in the magazines and say, “I wanna climb there one day.” Perfect limestone walls drop down to the river below in what is known as the Grand Canyon of France. There are routes of all types, from trad, sport, and aid climbs. The river offers canoeing, kayaking, and canyoning. Sainte-Croix-du-Verdon has beaches for swimming and sunbathing. The best part was the proximity, this world-class destination is only an 1.5 hours from Cannes, an easy day trip.
A View from the Lake
I recommend starting early as the sun is an energy-suck in the summer. Bring lots of water, a helmet, two-ropes, and some long runners for slinging trees. Even on the bolted climbs it’s nice to have a few cams and some stoppers, because while the cracks here are generally bolted, the bolts can be a bit far apart if you’re used to sport crags.
The gorge itself is 700 meters deep, so the exposure is amazing, even on the short routes along the rim. A lot of the routes under the parking lots seemed to be around 150 meters or so.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=294c52f3-e366-4ac5-bc86-0354c2e09bfa)
2 Comments
September 23, 2009 at 11:54 pm
Hey
I am going to Cannes in Oct and wonder how do I get to this crag? Any special day trip climbing package? Thanks.
September 27, 2009 at 1:40 am
From Cannes it’s 1.5 hours, really easy drive. There are ton of other crags around Cannes. Lots of great climbing in La Turbie above Monaco with easy access. Stop by the climbing store in Nice for all the beta, they speak english and are really friendly.