Topic Author's Original Post - Jun 3, 2012 - 01:09am PT
Les Calanques
"Les Calanques, situated between Marseille and Cassis, is one of the largest rock climbing areas in France. 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. In total there are around 2,500 bolted sports routes and around 1,000 trad routes."
Climbing restrictions: Climbing in the Calanques is restricted from the 1th of July until the end of the second week of September every year. In my view the best time for planned climbing there is from medio September until medio October. It's often "too" hot even in the shadows during summer.
Traverse climbing - cliffs and ocean (go to 2:50 and you get the feeling)
How to get to some of the sport climbing crags by help of public transport:
Luminy
Bus 21 Luminy from Centre Bourse to Luminy. From Luminy you can reach Cret St. Michel, Morgiou, Aiguille de Sugiton, Le Virage, Paroi des Toits, Socle de la Candelle and more. 20 min to 60 min to walk from Luminy to the areas/crags.
Les Goudes
Bus 19 Madrague from Castellane to the end-station. From there change to bus 20 Callelongue to Callelongue. From Callelongue you can walk to the different crags in the Les Goudes area. 15 min to 60 min walk.
Colline de Lun
Bus 23 Beauvallon from Rond Point du Prado to Beauvallon. 20 min to walk from Beauvallon.
Pastre
Bus 45 Marseilleveyre from Rond Point du Prado to the end station. 25 min to walk.
Roy d'Espagne
Bus 44 ("Roy d'Espagne" or "Floralia Rimet") from Rond Point du Prado to the stop closest to the cliff(s).
How to get to Centre Bourse, Castellane and Rond Point du Prado:
To take the old harbour (Vieux Port) as starting point. From Vieux Port it takes 5 min to walk to Centre Bourse and 20 min to walk to Castellane. From Vieux Port you can also reach Castellane by subway. At Castellane you can change subway line and get to Rond Point du Prado.
i went there in 2001 in the middle of august. it was hot. i couldnt find anyone who was willing to climb with me. and large areas were closed due to fire danger. i did some bouldering/soloing on really easy/small stuff but it seems i missed out. and i hear that if you know where to go, and can access shady coves from a boat, then climbing in summer can be quite enjoyable....cest la vie...for another time
I was just there a couple of weeks ago. The place is awesome. You used to be able to take the tourist boat to the clanques but the place is becoming a national park. So now have to be approached on foot.
There are around 1000 routes on the Adventure climbing list of the Calanques, the most important areas being le Devenson, l'Eissadon, l'Oule and Castelvieil. The adventure routes are mostly bolt-free (non equipee). Among the routes are some routes known for their excellent climbing and other routes deserving their cobweb. Though I am not the right person to ask since I am a sport climber mostly climbing sport routes.
For pictures from the area - see as an example the last link in the OP. Not much climbing - but a lot of pictures from the area.
Mighty Hiker
A calanque is a fiord (fjord in Norwegian). Placing pitons is called "pittonage".
Bruce
The quality of the sport climbing cliffs I know well is excellent. The quality of the rock at the adventure cliffs, Devenson as example, is said to be variable. There are routes on excellent rock and other routes on rock of variable quality.
If you climb routes from 5c (American 5.8/5.9) and up you very seldom find polished routes.
And how does the climbing rate in terms of quality? I know the nude beaches and ambiance are top notch but is the stone brilliant or merely good? As soon as you say gear or trad I always suspect that stone quality takes a hit or for some reason misses a mention as somehow placing your own gear makes up for it....? I dunno.
I might be there next year and would love to go but I'm not that interested in choss or mediocre contrived squeeze jobs.
I remember seeing at least one classic crashing waves sea cliff picture that looked fantastic. Is that true? I've never actually done a real sea cliff climb and the idea of doing so above the medateranian sea is super appealing! (as opposed to fulmar sh#t and fog that is)
Georges Livanos, alias Le Grec - King of Les Calanques
"Contrary to « professionals » and today’s young climbers, he only climbed during week-ends which during his years started only the Saturday afternoons and during his summer holidays which were a maximum of 4 weeks – in his time no 35 hours week and no RTT - le Grec used public transport: so to go and climb on the Bertagne peak, with Sonia and his friends, they were taking the tramway to Aubagne, then the bus to Gémenos and then walking to the foot of the wall. To go to Chamonix, he took the railways and was driving a Vespa to go to the Vercors, it was the vehicle he used for his work as a sales rep for printing material, with which he travelled up and down the Bouches du Rhône, the Var and Vaucluse during 10 years. He waited until his pal Robert Gabriel stopped climbing in 1956 (for wedding reasons) to find a new rope mate, Marc Vaucher who had a Citroen DS and at last enjoyed the comfort and saving time that a car is giving you. Le Grec never learned how to drive as also he never learned how to swim. For a Marseille man that is really taking the cake! Himself stated that he was « a Sunday climber » and not a true « sportsman » as the young stars of today navigating in the 8th grade! Despite this, his list of ascents is still today amazing and above all of high quality: Oh the Livanos routes! Repeating them sufficed to convince oneself that you were part of the better ones! They were a must : "The one who did without bivouaquing the Livanos pillar at Archiane could consider the big North walls…" …Bruno Fara, Climbing years 1970), that is in the Vercors as in Dolomites, then in the 1950s and 1960s, there were much less French climbers there. This is how he concluded his scoring at the end of 1978, when, aged 55, he stopped climbing after 40 years of activity"
The following is a quote from his book Au delà de la verticale:
'The eagle doesn't hunt flies' said one of Tartarin's companions. One day, I had myself written to Robert Paragot : "When you have hunted lions, rabbits look meager. And I will quote "Robert Gabriel: "If I killed myself in the Calanques or in easy ground, I would not dare go out any more".
Georges Livanos in CASSIN, once upon a time the 6th grade (1982)
"To Have or to Have not" Hemingway: a quotation from Georges's book:
"I will quote Gervasutti, as his judgement much more serene, is one of his peers, his rivals, although this competition always was marked with the highest fair-play: 'He is the man that never backs down once the goal is set. Comici and the Dimai brothers climb the Cima Grande di Laveredo North face in several instances, going up and coming down. Cassin would have stayed on the wall a week, but he would have climbed it. Other climbers are certainly more brilliant: so for example, Comici and Soldà. Comici climbs for pleasure, physical and spiritual, loosing often the result at stake. For Comici, climbing is an end. For Cassin, climbing is a mean. One should not judge Comici solely from his ascents ; many alpinists, in this case, would be superior to him. Cassin, in his case, must be judged from his record, and from this point of view, he fears no comparison." "About his lightning victories, the indestructible 'Veni, vidi, vici' has been used. It defines well the indelible iron mark of the Cassin's style. Caesar revised by Hollywood can be seen in the title of a movie full of gunfire of all calibers : 'I go, I shoot and I come back'. So then... Cassin a hero of swashbuckler novels, of western movies? D'Artagnan and Buffalo Bill? Cassin superman of comics? Why not?"
Yeah, I tried to buya place there with enough land to plant all your tents, (those of you I know not all 4000) but it was to expensive. Even La Palud (sur Verdon) was too expensive.
As for Cham, i don t think it s gonna fly either. I can buy a space for Darwin , Whisper and Jax but that s it.
Now what about Brrittany? Who is willing to tackle the granite of Armor. Lots of boulders to FA and small routes too.
Calanques, Roy d'Espagne, Secteur Dalle Grise, where Patrick Edlinger climbed the world's first or second 7c at the age of 19 in 1979. The name of the route: Nymhodalle, route H. Source: Escalade Les Calanques (Andre Bernard, Gilles Bernard, Pierre Clarac, Herve Guigliarelli and Bernard Privat)
I was allowed to use a Peugeot 109 and I would drive to Cassis (I was also seeing Muriel Blanchard, a chemical engineering student at university in Marseille, a dead ringer for Linda Evans, just shorter). My boss/friend François Ravel said not to drive into Marseille, as the car would not be there when I went to get it - Marseille is a sh#t town.
So when I went to see Muriel I would park at Bandol or Cassis and take the train in to Marseille.
When Jennie lived in Nice for three years in the mid-1970s, she was almost kidnapped by Arab gangsters in Marseille, no doubt for the Middle East sex slave trade, but she was able to get out of the car and ran to a nearby Gendarme. An attractive blonde Irish girl would have brought a lot. Marseille sucks.
Anyway, back to the Calanques, I climbed there a lot. Great limestone and dolomite to answer a poster's question on the rock quality (okay, some choss). And Cassis is a nice place, lots of German tourists though, at least BITD, not that there is anything wrong with that.
Bouldering/free soloing sans shoes and peeling off 15-50 feet into the water was great.
Some very nice wines, but expensive, are made around Bandol.
I recommend it. That is, climbing there, different and fun.
Patrick: A lot has happened in Marseille the last twenty years. Earlier the mafia had a firm grip. Today I consider Marseille to be a safe city. I usually live in the old harbour when I'm there. I like the "ambiance". I have never run into trouble - day or night. Though there are still streets to be avoided at night.
It's better to be lucky than good. Two friends of my wife narrowly escaped
being kidnapped there. They got a little off route and wound up in a banlieue.
And I don't mean the St Tropez type.
Just not as sunny as Cassis and no rock climbing. Kinsale is lovely, but like a lot of Cork/Kerry, it gets its fair share of rain.
Now I have German heritage (and English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh and Cherokee), but Cassis always had a lot of Germans, as does Kinsale.
And we know the old saying about Germans on holiday: they are always the first to get the lounge/deck/whatever chairs by the poolside etc...
And the best spots on the Cassis beach.
That said, the summer of 1985 I was on tour with San Francisco Concordia in Germany, six matches (won two, lost two, drew two, I only scored once but I set up three goals in those matches), and we were treated impeccably. A tour of Kaiserslautern stadium, Dortmunder Actien Brauerei with a luncheon held on our behalf, barbecues.
It changed my mind about Germans.
German heritage - Roth from Bavaria and Fleihmann from Düsseldorf (both on my mom's side and both to America in 1843).
I'd imagine Cassis is still a favorite of Germans. Croatia too, loads of German influence. Bouldered some in Paklenica National Park (situated near the Adriatic Sea near Starigrad-Paklenica), excellent limestone. I want to go back and do some longer routes.
Stayed in Novi Vinodolski for a week, lovely town.
Croatia is today a hot spot for European tourists. Even Norwegians who know "where to travel" spend their summer holidays in Croatia. Times are changing and Croatia has still some lovely places for climbing, walking and sailing.
Marlow, I really enjoy your contributions on European climbing and news. Thanks for this one, which I missed first time out - it's a nice resource.
Phyl
Let us know!