[Bonjoy]

Am thinking of going there in late May. Has anyone been before, know any useful info? Where best/cheapest to fly to? Where to stay? Recomended routes? etc
Cheers

[saltbeef]

tis good, went about 3 years ago. i've got a guide somewhere. there's a few campsites all along the valley, we went for the cheapest. it should be quiet ata that time of year. we drove, you really need a car to go and get reasonably priced food from millau. there was an ote a while back whcih steve mcrimp wrote anarticle about the place, that'll have flight details. i'll see if i can find it in the squalor in my room. cowboy hat flew out to marseille and i picked him up from there, its about an hour or two away. therre was a lot of hot french girls on the beach in marseille...

[Bonjoy]

Cheer beouf de sel

[saltbeef]

oh yeah routes... anything at l'oasif is good juggy fun. tresor du zebra is a fantaqstic 7a rising traverse thing mega. pumpy with a tricky final section! there was some 7b effort going through the roof at the same sector which was fun. take a long rope! 70m or something.
then at tenesee therre's a massive 7b crack of about 35m, overhanging a bit like a yorkshire hvs at kilnsey should have, with 6a move in the middle. onsight it cos you won't be arsed to do it again! went to l'amphi and did a mega long 7b and 7a can't remeberr the names but they went up an arete, they're the plum lines of the sector and you won't miss them. try and find a local and ask them about sector cancer and cafe de creme, both really good but on private land. teh areas at arc en ciel and calmez vous were a bit more vertical with the latter has a route of its namesake at 7a+ well good and well technical. enjoy it. as for ahrder stuff i didn't try anything harder than 7c, but its very amenable for onsighting, just gett fit and crank!

[chris]

try rob smith, him and roy went  a couple of years back, he will have some info.

[andyh]

cant remember what its called, but theres a really cool sector down by the river (its in the guide), only maybe 10 or so routes and generally 6's and low 7's but its an ace spot if u combine it with kayaking for a day.

[andyh]

ooh ooh, and not forgetting the highlight of the week. at the top of the valley theres a small village with a big bridge (little place does great pizza there by the way). buy yourself a 2 man dingy, pizza and drink the night away, then set off under the bridge and dingy ure way right back to ure campsite. took us an hr to go about 4 k back to ours and its ace fun.

though the noises and eyes peering out of the dark were a bit scary till we realised they were big water rat things and not maneating crocodiles. no rapids of note past the bridge - its all plain sailing.

[Bonjoy]

All good stuff, tah. Will probably be staying in a gite for max luxury so will miss out on that one unfortunately.

[Ru]

I went last summer. Thought it was ok, but wasn't there very long and maybe didn't do the best routes. The routes are very good, continuous more than cruxy and very long. You need lots of endurance and little else. If I were to go back I'd be psyched to check out that crag developed for the Petzl Millau rock trip, which to be honest looks better than most of the climbing in the Tarn.

[ali k]

Does anyone have any up to date knowledge on Tarn / Jonte / Boffi area? Particularly decent camping options?

There seems to be campsites dotted along the gorge but I have it in my head they’ll be crammed in next to the road and will be noisy and grim (am I wrong about this?) Don’t mind a bit of a drive in/out of the gorge if it opens up some better options.

Going with GF so could do with it being half decent but not luxury with pool type jobs.

Also any recommendations for non climbing days, which there’ll prob be quite a few given it’ll be June and presumably baking hot.

[Ged]

The campsites in les vignettes are both nice enough Ali. Standard French campsite affair really. Definitely not next to a noisy road.

Obvious non climbing stuff is canoeing down the river. There's some amazing walking to be done to. Along the river from les vignettes on the opposite side to the road, all the way to the next town is lovely. Also lots up on top of the gorge. Just buy the 1:25000 map and follow your nose.

[ali k]

Brilliant cheers Ged. I’ve also just noticed a municipal campsite called Portes du Sauvettere on top of the gorge so might check that out too.

[Ged]

Sorry Les Vignes, not Vignettes.

La Malene, upstream, is also a lovely town.

Are you taking bikes? Both road and VTT are brilliant round there.

[ali k]

Are you taking bikes? Both road and VTT are brilliant round there.

No, but the walking sounds enough - good recommendation. Will get that map.

Hopefully between climbing, canoeing/swimming and walking that should keep us entertained.

[MischaHY]

I was there in October and we just parked in the gorge between the main sectors where there's a composting toilet and easy access to the river. Obviously off season for tourism (even the local spar was closed) but mega quiet and mostly mint conditions except for evening/early morning when the humidity was still high. Seems like in season you're not allowed to park overnight but off season nobody is bothered.

If you're planning on not driving much and will rely on solar then be careful because we only got about 1.5/2 peak sun hours per day and even with 400w managed to run out of juice after 5 days or so. Logical really but when you've just climbed in the hot sun for hours it seems bizarre that the panels barely got any of it.

I wouldn't prioritise the short sectors because they're pretty much just Frankenjura - the big stuff is what you go there for IMO because where else can you climb a single pitch 90m 7b?! (seriously). Take two 80-100m ropes for best effect and prepare to get stupid pump.