Gorges du Verdon 2008
PICTURE-GALLERY
Dates:
4.10. - 11.10. 2008
Itinerary:
Day 1: |
Arrival in Montagnac. |
Day 2: |
Climbing in Aiguines. |
Day 3 and 4: |
Climbing in main canyon at Northern rim. |
Day 5: |
Rest day. |
Day 6: |
Climbing in Sainte Victoire. |
Day 7: |
Climbing in main canyon at Northern rim. |
Day 8: |
Departure back home. |
By clicking on pictures below, new, larger foto will pop up.
Canyon du Verdon, is a spectacular canyon that forms a border between the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and the Var.
Up to 700 m deep, the 21-km-long canyon varies in width between 6 and 100 m at the bottom and 200 to 1500 m at its
rim. Although it's much smaller than Arizona's Grand Canyon, the Gorges du Verdon is deep, compact, wild and beautiful.
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| Gorges du Verdon. | |
Gorges du Verdon. |
| foto by © Petr | |
foto by © Petr |
Accessing the canyon from the west, Moustiers-Ste-Marie or Lac de Ste Croix, gives you the option of driving along the
North Rim (D952) or the South Rim (D71, via Aiguines). From the east, the D952 goes from Castellane all the way along
the North Rim of the canyon, or you can turn left across the Pont de Soleils and follow the roads past Trigance to get
to the South Rim.
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| Radek in La terreur en estafilade (6c+). | |
En tonne y soit (5b+). |
| foto by © Radek | |
foto by © Radek |
This is a loop road, starting 1 km north of La Palud-sur-Verdon and returning to the village. The full loop of 23 km
follows the very edge of the northern rim, with some of the most spectacular views of the canyon. The road is narrow, but
much less frequented than the main roads. NOTE: The northern part of the loop-road is one-way, in a clockwise direction;
you cannot make the full loop if start directly east from the village of La Palud. A full loop around the canyon is just
over 100 km, including the Route des Cretes, and takes a very full day.
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| Boys in first part of Sucepe (6b+) | |
Radek |
| foto by © Radek | |
foto by © Honza |
You have to rappel down in many routes. The stances are usually situated on the edge of the cliff. I would really
recommend buying climbing guide book in local climbing shop situated in La Palud, because there are thousands of
different routes. Average grade is probably 5a and can go up to 8a+, according to french grading system (see the Alpine
grades in left menu for descriptions), however you can also find 4a/4c. By my opinion, in order to use full potential
of canyon, you should be leading 6b/7a without any big problems, which right now, is not my case.
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| Sainte Victoire. | |
Petr in Basket Blues (6a+) |
| foto by © Jan Virt | |
foto by © Honza |
Recommended gear: it really depends on route you want to climb. Most of the routes are well equiped with bolts
with distance 4 to 6 metres and bolted stances, so basic equipment for sport routes is enough. Cams and nuts can be
used, if you are not comfortable with the distance between the bolts. In guide book, it also says, what kind of equipment
you need for specific route. From my experience, I would take longer rope (80m +) or double 60m. I saw one party
which rappelled down the canyon on 200m static rope and was climbing route next to it with 60m single rope.
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| Klára | |
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| foto by © Jarda | |
foto by © Jarda |
PICTURE-GALLERY
Links:
Some info in english about the Canyon Here
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