October 11, 2019 | TRIPS
VERDON GORGE CLIMBING TRIP
A short tale about a climbing trip to the iconic Verdon Gorge.
A short tale about a climbing trip to the iconic Verdon Gorge.
It was my second time visiting this little paradise in the south of France, and still it felt a bit intimidating and exposed. There is nothing easy about the Verdon Gorge. It was hard to get lodging at a decent prize in town, so we ended up booking a mobile home in Castellane, about 25/30 min drive to the Parking of La Carelle. And we made it. We only had three climbing days ahead of us, so we had to use them wisely.
For th first day we decided it was best to choose some ¨easy¨, routes. The guys I am travelling with have little experience on multipitch route, and let alone handling all the exposure at Verdon. So We went for some routes at the Belvedere de la Carelle. We splitted in two teams and got ready to rap down.
Climbing in Verdon implies full commitment. You choose a route, you rap down and pull the rope, and then you have ti be able to climb up. If you do your homework, you have look around for alternative exits. and also have the topos for an easier route, in cas you can´t make it up the route you have choosen.
First day went down and it was great. We climbed fun routes and enjoyed a nice day in the sun.
Next day we went for a slighty harder route. Hellfest, 7a, 260mts. It was a blast. ONe of the better routes i´ve climbed here so far. Sustained climbing on amazing rock and very well protected. It was much fun.
Third day we went for a route i´ve been wanting to climb for some time. L´Encastete. 7a+, 280mts. we climbed the first two pitches and got shut down by some rain. So we ended up bailing. The first two where something amazing. I will come back to climb this route to the top.
What will happen when we get to go out and climb again? We´ll do the same mistakes?
LEARN MORETim visited from NYC and we went climbing in the best climbing areas in Catalunya.face
LEARN MOREYou can contact us via email at info@southclimb.com or by phone to (+34) 645 432 307, or by filling up the contact form in the following link.
We had the absolute best time climbing with you in Spain. We will cherish these memories for a lifetime and hope to return to climb with you in the future.
What we loved about climbing with you:
- your flexibility with our travel plans and jet lag
- your excellent communication skills in English
- your knowledge of local culture, places to eat and history of the location (we loved going to the climbers bar, meeting your friends, climbing in Reus and visiting Siurana town)
- your incredible experience with both ski and climb guiding
- your climbing ability!! #mindblown
- your friendly nature and willingness to understand what we (as your clients and friends) need.
- LUNA!!!!
Thanks so much for an incredible time. We can't wait for the next one :)
Hugs
Mahima
hi Santi,
i'm sorry it took so long to post your review, but i wanted to have time to sit down and write a thoughtful one. thank you so much for a great experience. i truly can't think of anything you could do better than you're already doing. just keep up the good work!
thanks again!
Courtney (and Andrew)
Lo hemos pasado muy bien en el curso de iniciación, aprendiendo a escalar en boulder, de top... mediante juegos y explicaciones, sencillas y practicas :) Gracias a Santi x el buen rollo y ahora nos toca seguir practicando, un abrazo!
El curso de vía larga ha sido insuperable. He tenido una muy buena experiencia, he recibido un trato excepcional y he salido preparada en muchos sentidos. Además de transmitirnos la teoría de una manera muy didáctica, Santi añade un itinerario práctico muy completo para que no quede ninguna duda en la roca. Te enseña a planificar, a guiarte en las aproximaciones y te prepara para la resolución de problemas básicos que pueden darse durante una vía larga, de modo que puedes salir a escalar vías de manera autónoma una vez finalizado el curso. Te da recomendaciones de vías que puedes completar para ir ganando experiencia y soltura en las maniobras y se pone a tu disposición para cualquier duda que te surja después de hacer el curso.
Mil gracias por enseñarme tanto y tan bien; me llevo una experiencia alucinante. ¡Nos vemos en el curso de autoprotección!
Desde principio de año que me he apuntado al boulderlleida y me tomo más enserio la escalada; de entre las actividades se organizó una salida a Margalef, para coger contacto en roca y salir del roco. Allí tuvimos el placer de estar con un técnico de southclimb. Era mi primera vez en roca y tenia el temor de hacerme daño y no aprovechar el día, pero me dieron la confianza de hacerlo y de superar mi nivel, fue un día fantástico y solo pienso en repetir a poder ser con boulderlleida y southclimb, son unos cracks y unos profesionales!!
Con Santi hemos escalado multilargo en Riglos y fue de lo mejor. Inclusive uno de mis amigos nunca había escalado más de un largo y se llevó una gran experiencia. Un gran guía sin dudas !!
Starting from scratch, my daughter and I have learned a lot of climbing techniques while having fun thanks to Santi, an experienced professional climber and a great teacher. I am glad we chose Southclimb and we are looking forward to the next lesson in the mountains!
Great experience, in which we have enjoyed both children and adults! We hope to repeat! Santi has made It all very easy for us. Thank you!
Una excursión genial !
Muy buen monitor
