Chockstone Forum

      Sponsored By
      ROCK
   HARDWARE

Chockstone Photography

Australian Landscape Prints

Chockstone Forum - Crag & Route Beta

Crag & Route Beta

Area Location Sub Location Crag Links

International (General) (General) (General)

Author

Climbing in Europe in June - Any Recommendations

SammyB

30-Mar-2011
7:15:21 PM

My girlfriend and I are planning on heading to Europe to do some climbing in early June for around 6 weeks. Can anyone recommend anywhere they've been at that time of year?

- Be looking at somewhere mostly sport (just because I don't want to take a full trad rack).
- Somewhere with some easier grades.
- Somewhere not tooo busy.
- Somewhere that mightn't be as hot as elsewhere.

Couple of ideas were Croatia, around Split. That way can do some DWS if its super hot.
Would love to go to Switzerland too, but can't seem to find anywhere with some easier routes.

Thanks for any input, I've checked out some overseas forums too but there's almost too much info out there to narrow it down.

Cheers, Sam

The Good Dr

30-Mar-2011
7:24:46 PM

Are you looking for single pitch climbing?
Easier grades means about ... ?

June to December means that you can climb in many places through Europe mid summer - winter)

SammyB

30-Mar-2011
8:10:19 PM

Opps, I meant 6 weeks, not 6 months.. I wish 6 months!

Open to both single pitch and multi, be nice to do at least 1 or 2 multi pitch.

I'd be happy to climb up to around 6b, maybe around the 18-20 grades, maybe harder, its been awhile since I've climbed sport.

But it would be nice if there was some easier stuff there too, like down around grade 13-15. So my girlfriend can lead some stuff too.

bw

31-Mar-2011
12:11:38 AM

a mate of mine who lives in Munich is always popping down to Arco in Northern Italy... he raves about it. I've never been though.

freesolo

31-Mar-2011
1:55:07 AM

i recommend paklenica. loads of routes, scenic, good campsites nearby 6-7euro/per person. crazy on weekends but during the week, quite empty. water to swim in. not much nightlife if you are looking for that.

as far as i know. arco campsites are quite pricey

Wendy

31-Mar-2011
8:28:23 AM

>Would love to go to Switzerland too, but can't seem to find anywhere with
>some easier routes.

There's loads of easy-moderate long bolted routes around the Grimsel Pass in Switzerland. Helps if you like granite slabbing. But you can do 500m routes on bolts at about grade 12-14.

I loved Finale and Gorge du Tarn. They have a range of grades, plenty of shade,beautiful areas, not too busy as there are lots of individual crags to choose from. Never as busy as Ceuse. Mostly single pitch, but with a few longer routes to choose from.

hughsut

31-Mar-2011
8:50:03 AM

Zillertal in Austria is really nice and shouldn't be too hot.

Frankenjura (Bavaria) is full of good crags that would certainly cater for your needs.

Rodellar (spain) is rad! Plenty of potential for afternoon shade.

There is somewhere near Ceuse (an hour or so WSW) but the name of it i've forgotten but it is apparently very user friendly with heaps of moderates and heaps of bolts.

Wendy

31-Mar-2011
9:23:04 AM

On 31/03/2011 hughsut wrote:
>
>
>There is somewhere near Ceuse (an hour or so WSW) but the name of it i've
>forgotten but it is apparently very user friendly with heaps of moderates
>and heaps of bolts.

Orpierre. Haven't been there, heard mixed reports, the last report was extremely positive.

Eduardo Slabofvic

31-Mar-2011
11:24:22 AM

June will be generally hot, so my suggestion would be to gain some altitude for cooler conditions. Orpierre has the most bolts of any crag in the universe, and I recon it would be polished to a mirror sheen by now.

There's plently of good easy routes in Switzerland. Try to find a guide book which will be called "Schweiz Plaisir". There are many editions of these books, and you might find some second hand somewhere. Depending which edition you get it will cover a certain area of Switzerland, so you might need to get two to cover the area you might like to go to. There is also the "Schweiz Extrem" series as well.

There is everything from bouldering to major alpine objectives, at a wide range of grades, so if you can't find anything you like then give up climbing.

If you go there, be prepared for it to chuck with rain in the afternoons.

Hendo

31-Mar-2011
12:31:49 PM

I was at Mont Serrat (just inland from Barcelona) that time last year. If you haven't climbed conglomerate its really weird...potential holds everywhere, can you pick the good ones?

The good Dr

31-Mar-2011
1:57:29 PM

Switzerland is pretty sweet for climbing mid summer in the alps. Agree with Eduardo on the 'Schweiz Plaisir' guide(s) as a source of info on some easier routes with many being really good.

Melchsee-Frutt is a cool place for a day trip. No cars, so you have to catch cable cars all the way. The cliff is not super extensive, but lots of easier routes with plaques at the bottom with the grades on them. Climbing in the valleys above Altdorf is also excellent, particularly in the Klausenpass. Actually, there is a sh1t load of awesome climbing in Switzerland. Some of the best multipitch routes I have ever done are there.

dalai

31-Mar-2011
4:37:24 PM

On 31/03/2011 Eduardo Slabofvic. wrote:
>June will be generally hot, so my suggestion would be to gain some altitude
>for cooler conditions. Orpierre has the most bolts of any crag in the
>universe, and I recon it would be polished to a mirror sheen by now.

Agreed. Was polished back in 97, hate to think how polished it would be now! Pretty village - average quality rock compared to every other crag I climbed at in France!

Only spent a day there as a rest day from the Ceuse walk in.

Doro

31-Mar-2011
8:04:25 PM

Go to Osp, Slovenia. It's in the North near the Italian border. Steep limestone, close to 600 climbs. Might be a bit hot though but culturally interesting and should still be affordable.Cheap flights!

SammyB

1-Apr-2011
2:39:28 PM

Thanks for the responses everyone. Looks like I've got a few good options there. Really keen on anywhere in Switzerland so will try and hunt down those books. Someone else recommended climbing around Basel is Switz. There is a guide particularly for the Jura mountains so maybe that'd be worth a look too. Anyone climbed around Basel?

nmonteith

1-Apr-2011
2:55:01 PM

Just remember that Switzerland is one of the most expensive places on earth. Climbing in Spain, Italy or Croatia will allow you a lot more bang for your buck. From the little experience I have had of Swiss climbing - I thought France/Spain/Italy had a lot better actual rock climbing.

The good Dr

1-Apr-2011
4:14:45 PM

Switzerland is expensive (except for the Co-op beer which is really cheap and good). Some of the rock in Switzerland is superb, though some is of course not great like anywhere really. The granite is fantastic in places as well. Long routes, such as Alhambra at Ponta Brolla (700m, 19 pitches, 6b+) and Silberfinger (6 pitches, 6b+) on the Engelhorner are amazing routes with amazing rock.

One Day Hero

1-Apr-2011
4:48:43 PM

On 31/03/2011 Echidna wrote:
>Go to Osp, Slovenia. It's in the North near the Italian border. Steep limestone,
>close to 600 climbs. Might be a bit hot though but culturally interesting
>and should still be affordable.Cheap flights!

Yeah, I went there in late September and it was way too hot.

Also, Osp is a massive, chipped cave. Routes are crazy hard, steep tufa things..........the local climbers have the biggest forearms I've ever seen! (from pinching up tufas on a 40m high 40degree overhang)

Basically, unless you can climb grade 28 cave routes, on glassy rock, in mega-spoodge conditions..........I think Echidna is giving you terrible advice.

At that time of year, go to at least 2000m........and you'll probably still be chasing shade.

Eduardo Slabofvic

2-Apr-2011
12:59:49 PM

On 1/04/2011 nmonteith wrote:
>Just remember that Switzerland is one of the most expensive places on earth.

It's the swiss version of their GST that makes it expensive. So if you do anything that involves other people doing something (like buying a pizza) then it is very expensive.

With free camping in various places, no toll gates on the auto routes, cheap beer in the super markets, less tax on fuel so fuel is cheaper than France/Spain it can be very cheap to climb there. Buy your food at the super market and cook it your self - how hard is that?

You're also a lot less likely to get robbed in Switzerland.

The God Doctor is right, Englhorner rocks, but you do need to solo up this massive slab to get to Silverfinger. It's not hard, and would probably only be a grade 1 in the Eubank system but I wouldn't want to do it in the rain.

If its a wet season in Switzerland, the Canton of Ticino is the driest place tin Switzerland, and is very Italian in its atmosphere. The rock there is gnice (not sure of the spelling of that) which is kind of like a cross between granite and gritstone.

There are 18 messages in this topic.