There were/hardly any climbers in the Verdon in February, due to the cold temperatures. But since I do not live in/near this part of France, I had to take advantage of the opportunity to climb here. We had our sights set on L’Eperon Sublime (7a), but had to bail. It was still quite the experience.

 

Another day, another calanque. On Wednesday, we headed to the next calanque over, Calanque de Morgiou, which Yves described as being a more “classic” calanque in its narrow shape, compared to the wider Calanque de Sormiou. Yet again, I was taken by the setting and views, which were very different to our previous two climbing days at Sormiou.

I will never tire of starting out at/seeing these views/villages on approaches to climbs.

Our route (La Directe) was on the Crêt St Michel formation.

Because the cliff is not right by the sea, the climbing and rock were quite different to the climbing we had done in Sormiou. The first pitch required a little bit of thought for sure.

We made short work of the route and got to the top with plenty of time to enjoy the great views of Le Grande Candelle, which we hope to climb some time on this trip too.

We could not find the rappel route down, so the walk down was a bit painful in our climbing shoes, especially with the missing big toe nail for me. But this was a tiny blip in comparison to the rest of the awesome day.

 

 

We returned the next day to a different sector of Calanque de Sormiou. This time, our routes were at Le Bec (beak) de Sormiou at the La Momie area. Despite being in the same calanque, the climbing and setting are quite different.  The approach was similar to our first day, with the addition of quite a long traverse to reach Le Bec de Sormiou. It was super cool and unlike any other approaches I have done before.

One thing I am so grateful for to climbing, and the ability to still climb is the unique perspectives of a place it offers us.

It was a pleasant surprise to be able to climb French grade 6 off the couch. This is likely because the rock is very featured so there are a lot of hold options for my hands and feet; a great help since I need to do moves/routes less conventionally than other climbers now.

This route combination was a great, though unintended choice, because of the varied nature of the climbing (overhanging, stemming, corners…), and the change in atmosphere: from sunny to cold and windy. I was swearing hard as I transitioned from the sunny part of the climbing to the veritable wind tunnel.

 

 

 

 

Who would have thought that a very depressing ski season ending injury would lead to me realizing a dream. I never ever thought I would get to climb in the south of France in my life, mainly because I did not know whom I would climb with and if that person and I would be able to take the time off at the same time. It is pretty incredible that in the space of a few days, I decided to join my friend Yves to climb in Les Calanques near Marseilles, and take the steps in order to make this trip happen. It is pretty empowering to be able to decide on an objective/goal/destination, and realise it.

It was a comfortable 3 hour train ride to Marseilles from Paris. Yves secured us a place to stay at the Chercle Militaire de Garnison de Marseilles, an Officer’s Mess. I mean, we’re staying right inside an old fort right at the Vieux Port; how cool is that??

Future blog posts will be climbing oriented, so I am posting some pictures of the Vieux Port area here. I dig Marseilles. Dry, sunny weather aside (it is the sunniest city in France), I like the slight grit of the city, although crime is certainly a consideration. There is a significant North African influence in the city, which amongst other things, makes for really good eating. It is really quite different to Paris.