2000 mile climbing road trip

After a days work Vicki and I drove through the night, sharing the driving and the snoozing time equally, to make the 4am ferry crossing to from Dover to Dunkerque. By lunch time we were sat in Fontainebleau forest, enjoying the sunshine, eating French bread and cheese followed by coffee and pain au chocolate. We bouldered first at Canche Aux Merciers followed by Roche Aux Sabots the following day before making the 7 hour drive to the Haute Alps. We arrived in Ailefroide in just enough time to set up base camp (the world’s largest tent loaned from our friend Emma - thanks!).

To ease ourselves in, and recover a bit, we opted to spend our first day experiencing via ferratta for the first time. We did a TD route at the Gorge De La Durance which was really excellent. I was very sceptical as to whether or not I would enjoy via ferrtta because I’d erroneously written it off as nothing more than ladder climbing. However, much to my surprise I really enjoyed it; gorgeous weather, a lovely setting, some quite steep ground and crossing from one side or the gorge to the other on four different bridges made for a great day out. That said, I couldn’t wait to get onto the ‘proper’ climbing the next day.

Over the next days we climbed routes on the Contreforts De La Draye, Face Sud De La Draye and Pounche Hermine. The Serfouette Epress route was amazing; varied and interesting climbing in a beautiful and exposed setting. We were both getting used to the style of climbing required and Vicki was climbing really well, especially considering these routes were four times as long as any she’d climbed in the past. Sometimes she’d climb the crux pitch of the day seemingly without noticing until it was over. A tricky descent from the top of Face Sud De La Draye meant we were back ‘home’ just before dark and wishing Flo Pizza was still open. After that the first rain of the trip actually came as a welcome respite for aching limbs.

I thought it’d be a great idea to spend our rest day eating – no surprise there – so we drove to Italy to first have coffee in a proper Italian bar and then an amazing pizza in a restaurant where the resident Saint Bernard took a liking to Vicki and a worrying interest in our meal.

Another day of rain (this time unwelcome) followed the next day by the classic Ecrins Total route on the Poire d’Ailefroide sector up the valley rounded off the week. Despite climbing all day and finishing the last abseil at 18:30, swayed by the weather forecast, we walked back down the valley, ate, packed up the monster tent and hit the road back to Fontainebleaa in order to make the most of our remaining time. By lunch time the next day we were bouldering at Buthiers and then on our final day at both Isatis and Cuvier before heading northward and homeward back to Wales.

Good times.