2. Europe

France 2007

My last picture series was of Switzerland and I admit it is hard to beat that type of experience of large peaks and huge waterfalls. I met up with a guy named Patrick in Switzerland and we were trying to find out where we should go next to get some climbing in. We figured that there was a certain place nearby with the world reputation to make it extra special so we hopped on a train to head towards Ceuse, France. We didnt really have any idea how we were going to get to Ceuse however since it is near a little town called Gap and the train ticket was going to be much to expensive especially for a return. We didn't have much time and so we decided to try and get a rental car once we got to Bern, Switzerland. The train arrived and we had a few hours before the car companies closed and we were stuck without a car so we worked fast walking right to the companies. The car was going to be much more expensive then we hoped! Almost $300 Swiss Franks for 3 days was much more then I was willing to spend especially since it didn't even include gas. We spent the next few hours running around town calling different companies and even trying the internet all without luck. We headed back to Europcar and stood out in front of the door talking it over for a while when Patrick finally dangled a treat out in front of the deal. He told me "I will put up buy you a ticket up to $100 to anywhere you want to go when we drive back. I am willing to put up $250 for this. I really want to go." Well I just couldn't pass up the deal and we got our little volkswagon golf and headed toward France. It was almost 7pm and we didn't have time to waste so I drove most of the night. Patrick was under 25 so I would be doing all the driving to save money. We got from Bern, Switzerland to Gap, France in about 6 hours and slept in the car. We woke up to a beautiful site of cliffs overlooking the city of Gap. Throughout the night our plans had changed a bit though and we had decided to go to Verdon Gorge instead where Multi-Pitch climbs were abundant.
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franceVerdon GorgeRock Climbing

  • The Verdon Gorge is amazing and the climbing would be impossible to do it all in lifetime. There are so many routes including walls I bet have never been done. Supposably it is the largest Gorge in Europe.
  • You can see the little route map on the left of this photo. We ended up doing a combination of routes C and D.
  • We came to a big ledge where we could take a break from the sun for a few minutes and let our feet rest a bit. We hadn't used them in the shoes for such an extended amount of time in a while. The sun was relentless. (Picture taken by Patrick)
  • Patrick enjoying the climbing with a huge smile on his face.
  • We finished the route 6 hours after starting and were pretty exhausted by the heat from the day. We had brought a nalgene each and it wasn't enough. I had not had a proper day of sleep in atleast 2 days and had definatly felt it throughout the climb. My eyes had been read for 2 days now and I was hoping that I would be able to get a good nights sleep in the car before the climb the next day. It didn't happen however as I slept an uncomfortable night and woke up with my eyes as red as ever. We went for the climb anyway not wanting to waste our last day at Verdon. We climbed a route with several pitches of 5.10 and a final 5.11 pitch for the finish Starting after several rappels near a large cave.
  • The view from the area is incredible. The walls all around look larger then the one you are on at any one moment.
  • We stopped in a really nice town along the way called Sisteron, besides La Palud I think this was my favorite town of the trip. They had some really neat town features as well as geological features.
  • This quiet street was a bit of a ruse since just around the corner lots of restraunts were bussing with people.
  • This is one of the more interesting geological features of the area. Large towers with huge gaps inbetween which we didn't see anywhere else along the entire trip.
  • The city of Gap,France overlooked by limestone cliffs. The area of Ceuse.
  • We found our way into Verdon Gorge the next morning and found our way to a great village called La Palud where a great lady from the local climbing shop helped us found some routes we could do. We didn't waste any time and drove right to the climbing areas by about noon we were standing on the cliffs. The approach was incredible! Sometimes there would be people actually belaying off of the viewpoint poles. Thats how close they were to the car! We walked to the climbs we had been told about and I found a few people climbing already. This man and wife were just finished a route. The climbs in this area are around 250meters from bottom to top, all vertical.
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  • This man was about 40 feet below the viewpoint on the last pitch of the climb.
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  • Most of the routes in the Gorge are reached by doing rappels to the base of the climbs. Some start halfway up the wall and some start in lower areas. Patrick and I started the long rappells to the bottom on two ropes one was 60 meters and the other was a rope I had been cutting for anchors so we estimated it around 40 meters. The book said the first rappel was 45 meters so it already looked as though it would be an interesting day of climbing. I got strapped in on the first rappel and leaned back onto the belay device. I asked "Look good?" We both checked and agreed it looked solid. I started to lower myself when I heard a clank noise. I looked down and was shocked to see that I hadn't hooked my belay device to the carabiner. I grabbed the rope and drug myself back up to the rock to fix it and finally lowered down correctly.The second rappel was much more uneventful.<br /> We would not be so lucky however on the third rappel. It was my turn and I was lowering to the next belay when I looked down and saw that the rope was about 10 feet to short. That meant that if I tried to make it I would go off the end of the rope plunging into the valley below (atleast it would if we hadn't tied a knot in the end of the rope like the smart climbers we hope to be). I grabbed a ledge in the rock and spent the next 5 minutes pulling rope through my belay device the other way to feed more rope out to the short one. It was not easy work but it held alright as I was able to finish the rappel.
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  • Starting from the bottom the climbing was excellent. The amount of money I had spent the last few days flew out the window as my mind became at ease with the surroundings. The gorge winded away forever and the river fed my desires for water. We climbed into the heat up the wonderfully featured rock. Patrick wished my shadow would just a bit further.
  • Finally after a few hours of climbing the sun had gone beyond the cliff and we welcomed the shade. It was wonderful to climb without the sun on our backs. Patrick takes a nap as I finish a pitch of 5.10-
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  • Patrick makes a big reach in the final moves of this pitch. It was a fun section with several difficult moves.
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