[Dave Flanagan]

Hi
I have booked a flight to Nice for late January (98euro!) and being sad I looking for information already.
I know about
http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/4755/climbing/annot/
http://www.galactron.org/annot/

Does anyone have a copy of Grimper 61 (?) to hand as I think there is some topos etc. in that? Any other useful advice?

DF

[mark]

I've been looking at Annot as well, thinking about a family trip at Easter.

I know that the Bens Moon and Pritchard went at the beginning of this year. They weren't hugely impressed but then they want different things from a bouldering area than I do. For them a good area needs to have a few classic Font 8a and harder problems whereas I want to do loads of problems from 6a to 7b.

Some pictures at http://www.belclimb.net/articles.php?mode=show&artID=127&cat=rock&getLang=nl. The article isn't that helpful but perhaps your Belgian is better than mine!

By the way, I am incapable of reading your name without the word 'boulevard' echoing in my head afterwards. Hiphop trainspotter points to anyone who can say why!

[Dave Flanagan]

By the way, I am incapable of reading your name without the word 'boulevard' echoing in my head afterwards....

...because that where its at! BB

Thanks for the link.

[mark]

<Flava Flav mode> You know what time it is, boyee! </Flava Flav mode>

[Dave Flanagan]

Right I am going on Sunday to Annot, I hear there is some access issues at the moment, does anyone have any information or links about it?

Since we are planing to travel a bit, does any one have any recommendations for anywhere else (bouldeirng of course) in the broad area eg. Creasanio, Magic wood .....



D

[Bubba]

What was it like then?? Did you get there?

[Dave Flanagan]

What was it like then?? Did you get there?

Great. The rock is similar to Font but unpolished even a bit sandy in places. Quantity-wise obviously it doesn't compare to Font.  
We spent 6 days climbing and there was a lot left to do though there is not a huge amount of hard (8s) or easy (<5s) problems.

Plenty of potential for new problems.

Conditions were absolutley perfect with snow still on the ground in shaded areas. We only met 4 other climbers while we where there.

[Bubba]

Sounds excellent, nice to find somewhere so quiet - are you going to put  any pics up on your site?

Found this pic - the rock looks superb:



Shame that tree is there mind...

[Dave Flanagan]

Sounds excellent, nice to find somewhere so quiet - are you going to put  any pics up on your site?

My friend has digital photos but I won't have them for at least a month, modern technology eh?

Found this pic - the rock looks superb:

Shame that tree is there mind...

The rock is great but it was hard not to have a feeling that it would/will get fucked if the place ever gets busy.
The landings are sometimes made awakward by the odd tree but nothing major.

[dave]

It sez on Jon Read's site about a lot of the routes being heavily chipped, is there any of this on the boulders (like in Font) or is it all natural?

[Bubba]

Sounds a bit like Meschia - I knew it was a delicate environment (both the rock and the ground around the boulders) and that it was inevitable that this would cause problems....and now it's banned  :cry:

[Dave Flanagan]

It sez on Jon Read's site about a lot of the routes being heavily chipped, is there any of this on the boulders (like in Font) or is it all natural?

A swedish guy showed us a few chipped holds on one problem but that was it as far as I saw.

Sounds a bit like Meschia - I knew it was a delicate environment (both the rock and the ground around the boulders) and that it was inevitable that this would cause problems....and now it's banned  :cry:

Annot looks very simialr to photos I have seen of Meschia and Meschia was very much on my mind when I was there. If I was a guidebook writer or a mag editor I would be reluctant to publicise these places after what happened in Meschia. But I suppose bouldering can't be 'cool' for ever...

[Bubba]

Yeah, the same old quandry - publish or leave to obscurity. Shame about Meschia and because of the situation there, Mauro Calibani has said that he won't publicise the other areas he's found down there, which is a great shame imho.

A lot of people I talk to think that the current bouldering boom is only temporary, and I think they may be right. I for one will be happy when the majority move on to something else and reduce the pressure on our venues. Maybe sport-climbing is set for a renaissance - the UK is certainly lagging far behind the rest of Europe now, with the obvious exceptions of Steve McClure, and a few others.

[mark]

Where did you stay when you were at Annot? It sounds perfect for a family-friendly bouldering holiday but I need to find a comfortable gite to rent in the area and I haven't been able to unearth anything suitable so far. Any ideas?

[Dave Flanagan]

Where did you stay when you were at Annot? It sounds perfect for a family-friendly bouldering holiday but I need to find a comfortable gite to rent in the area and I haven't been able to unearth anything suitable so far. Any ideas?

We stayed in a Hotel in Annot, it was only 13euro each a night but there was no hot water.
There is a gite auberge, what I would call a hostel in the next town up the valley but its dorms.
There is also a self catering place (its mentioned on Readza site) but it might be a bit scruffy for the family. Thats all I can think of.

There is a tourist office in the village and they do reply to emails otsi.annot@wanadoo.fr

[n_man]

Is Annot still banned or does anyone know if the sitaution changed?

[Serpico]

There's only a few sectors banned for hunting.
More recent thread, with links, here:
http://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,2704.msg124346.html#msg124346