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places to visit => abroad => Topic started by: abarro81 on September 17, 2019, 09:21:43 am
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Ella and I are thinking of going away for a week of mileage in mid November... normally I have a big list of places for each time of year, but this time is a bit weird:
1) I'm rehabbing a finger tweak, so don't want to do lots of crimping, or lots of yarding on monos
2) Ella's rehabing a knee injury so doesn't want to use lots of kneebars, heel hooks etc.
3) Neither of us will be on form for it, so ideally it would be somewhere we're not likely to go back to soon when we are on form. If possible, I'd rather not go somewhere, do most of the good 7s and then have none of them left when I go back in a year or two to try all the 8s
4) We can't have been there too much (so no Margalef, Rodellar)
5) Only going for a week, so can't be too faffy/expensive to get to
6) Lots of good onsight mileage in the 7a-8a range
Oh, and if that wasn't enough, maybe a few multipitches would be fun too....
Any ideas?
I'd wondered about Kalymnos, but it probably fails on 2 and 5.
Does Chullilla fail on 1? Or is there enough steeper, more tufa orientated stuff to keep me busy for a week (7a-8a mostly) without boning on crimps hard?
Anything else around the Valencia/Murcia way? I feel like there must be places, but most of the crags on my go-to list are focused around harder stuff (Ottinar, Rossario etc)...
What's Arco like? Sardinia? Mallorca??
All help appreciated!
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Completely out of my range of experience but Antalya seems like it might fit the bill, not sure about the kneebar situation though? Cheap flights and cheap full board hotels as I understand.
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Mainland Greece perhaps? Leonidio, Kyparissi etc. Though it might fail on 5 as it's 4-5hrs drive from Athens.
Kalymnos is pretty faffy to get to for a week, especially in November as it's hard to get direct flights to Kos. Chullila is mega but pretty crimpy, there's some steeper stuff (balcon sector etc.) but the predominant style is vert crimping.
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Presumably you've been to Sella/Costa Blanca in general? Cheap flights and easy logistics.
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The 7s in Chulilla are pretty crimpy on the whole. Some exceptions of course (chorreras sector on the right of oasis e.g.). Would still not recommend it when rehabbing a finger.
At some point we looked into climbing in Athens when we had a similar situation. I looked like there was enough for a week in the northerns suburbs.
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Buoux. Ticks every box.
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Go to Riglos and bone down on a vertical potato field.
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Chateauvert
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I think you've just described Gorge du Tarn / Jonte. I know it's considered an earlier season venue but there are sunny sectors.
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I think you've just described Gorge du Tarn / Jonte. I know it's considered an earlier season venue but there are sunny sectors.
Tarn in November is for locals I think.
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Antalya
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Nice one, cheers all.
I'll cross Chulilla off the list by the sounds of it. Greece looks more expensive to get to at the moment so is less likely unless I see better flights.Tarn - sounds a bit risky. Gav - not convinced Buoux ticks the finger friendly mileage box, I remember lots of gnarly twisting into little pockets on not-that-steep terrain from when I went years ago
Turkey and Costa Blanca currently looking promising.
TB- is Chateauvert pretty finger friendly then you reckon?
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TB- is Chateauvert pretty finger friendly then you reckon?
Back in the day on-sighting trip so didn't do anything above 7b+, but remember it being very friendly. Rock and angle quite similar to a lot of Tarn. There's not tons there and I'm not sure there's much that hard, but mid 7s are good. S Facing. Less than 2 hours from Nice. You could easily have a day or two somewhere else (the same trip we went to Cimai and Buoux). If your finger could cope with Orange Mecanique (assuming you've not done it) there are worse looking 8as around.
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. Gav - not convinced Buoux ticks the finger friendly mileage box, I remember lots of gnarly twisting into little pockets on not-that-steep terrain from when I went years ago
Not much crimping or yarding on monos as per your original question though.
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TB- is Chateauvert pretty finger friendly then you reckon?
I thought it was very polished and you bake as soon as the sun appears. I can't remember there being a massive amount there as T_B suggests. I do remember the scenery being quite nice and that they have composting loos.
Not much crimping or yarding on monos as per your original question though.
If the only thing putting you off Margalef was you've been a lot then I can't see why the pockets of Buoux would scare you any more? The grade differences between the two places is perhaps something to be afraid of instead (ego = :chair:). With Secteur Ouest and the MP stuff above Scorpion it does go a long way to ticking all of the boxes. I can only remember using my knees on Styx wall completely unnecessarily. You've also got that 'other place' down the road.
I take it you either don't have a van these days (as a pair) or don't want to drive a long way for a week? I was just thinking that one of the many great venues in the S. of France will likely be perfect and you wouldn't need to commit to specifics right now.
Likewise you could do similar in Spain based around Casa Mauri/Tremp with Collegats etc. (but fly/drive)?
The answer would seem to be the RRG.
That was my first thought although it fails WRT MP options!
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Guess I just remember buoux feeling more fingery, maybe cos it's often shorter and less steep.
Edit: quick 8a search suggests I e done quite a few of the mor popular 7s too
Rrg too expensive for a week unfortunately..
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Buoux, volx, lourmarin, chateauvert combo could be cool though - quick hit to each crag for a day!
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Desfilderado de Hermida in the Picos or Teverga in Asturias would tick your boxes. Also maybe some of the crags in Leon - you can do a day trip there from Teverga. Check out the Roca Verde guide for all.
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If the weather is okay go to the Aveyron. See my UKC article for details. St Gery also worth a look.
Added benefit that it's cheap and easy to get out there, and a lovely place.
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Albenga/Val Pennavaire?!?
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TB- is Chateauvert pretty finger friendly then you reckon?
Back in the day on-sighting trip so didn't do anything above 7b+, but remember it being very friendly. Rock and angle quite similar to a lot of Tarn. There's not tons there and I'm not sure there's much that hard, but mid 7s are good. S Facing. Less than 2 hours from Nice. You could easily have a day or two somewhere else (the same trip we went to Cimai and Buoux). If your finger could cope with Orange Mecanique (assuming you've not done it) there are worse looking 8as around.
+1 for Chateauvert, lovely scoopy rock. OM isn’t nasty for fingers, Pilier des Clodos is very nice at 7b too, but most of Cimaï is the living end for crimps.
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What about Paroi des Toits (clue in the name) and Luminy at Marseille? Steep, not too crimpy if you pick your routes iirc
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Cimai is like the sharp spikey stuff on the vert routes at LPT (but yellow).
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Terradets is what you are asking for. Ticks all boxes and is 5star climbing
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Terradets fails on me having done most stuff there below 8a+ unfortunately.. also actually quite crimpy on some stuff from what I recall.. north face would work maybe, bit maybe too tufa for Ella's knee? We're so demanding!
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Albenga/Val Pennavaire?!?
Albenga area looks like it could be a winner.. any knowledge on normal weather in Nov?
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Albenga area looks like it could be a winner.. any knowledge on normal weather in Nov?
Don't think it is any worse than the French crags in the Provence, but rather better?!? I've had decent trips there on anything from Oct-March. But living in Switz I can drive and don't go with a poor forecast (not useful to you, I know). What needs mention is that Val Pennaivaire is a quite deep valley, so some of the lower crags don't get much sun in Nov (which can be positive or negative). At some of the higher crags, you can catch decent sun even at this time of the year.
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Cuenca. Venasque is quite good esoterica - not sure there's enough there but I didn't go to all the sectors.
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Claret, seynes, russan combo. Between the 3 you should be able to pick and choose what you need!
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Terradets fails on me [...] north face would work maybe, bit maybe too tufa for Ella's knee? We're so demanding!
Fiesta del Tufa on the north face. Also, there are like 3 routes below 8a. Collegats across the river is the only place close to Tremp which would match your demands afaik.