Adventure Climbing in Europe - 4 Top Spots
In search of long, adventurous routes, Monse and I set out on a tour through the European Alps. What followed was six weeks of climbing, scrambling, camping, hitch-hiking and walking from the Swiss Alps to the French Riviera. Here are my favourite four stops along that tour.
Chamonix - The Granite classics
Our first stop was the famous mountains of the Mont Blanc massif. It was stories from Chamonix that sparked the initial interest in visiting the Alps.
Shortly after arriving, I met Monserrat, and we moved our tents into the Alpine meadows of the Plan du Aiguilles, getting stuck into the granite towers there and in the Vallee Blanche was a dream come true. It really is as good as they say, even with the crowds!
There is already a lifetime's worth of climbing in this range alone. Here are my favorite three routes:
Arete du Diable, Mont Blanc Tacul - 600m, 5c, D+
The Arete du Diable is a classic Chamonix traverse over the five towers that make up the South-East ridge of Mont Blanc du Tacul. Monse and I bivvied at the base and climbed it not long after a storm which meant the cracks and ledges were still snow covered. It is a really fun line and although the climbing lacks any difficult sections it stays interesting and topping out at the summit of a 4000m peak is always a bonus! Post from the climb here.
Nabot Leon and Ozes Josephine, Blatère - 400m, 6A.
Plan B isn’t always second best. We had actually planned to do the Cordier Pillar but after a slip on the approach Monse suffered a gnarly head knock so we linked two stunning routes on Blaiteres Red Pillar which provided a big route without the commitment of Charmoz. The 8th and 9th pitch was a perfect splitter crack way off the deck!
Lachenal South Face, Contamine - 200m 6a+
One of the most sought after routes in Chamonix. It really lived up to the hype with pumpy cracks and exciting granite climbing pitch after pitch.
*note: busy route. it pays to sleep somewhere or climb slightly out of season if you don’t want to be caught in the horde. We climbed in September and had the route to ourselves.
Les Georges du verdon - Maximum Exposure
An older climber once told me about the best walls and mountains he had seen around the world, places like Yosemite, the Bugaboos, Chamonix, etc. But the way he described Verdon Gorge, with its steep limestone walls climbing hundreds of meters out of the river below, really captivated me. This place had inspired me before I even knew what multi-pitch climbing was! I wrote it down in my phone's notes and didn't think about it again until I was already in France, planning this trip.
We took a bus from the Dolomites to Marseille and hitchhiked through the quaint French countryside. Our last ride was from a local climber, and he was able to give us some beta and drop us off in the right spot. The climbing was something else. It was as if someone had set the routes with perfect sequences and holds carved by thousands of years of water erosion. The exposure is immense, and it took a couple of days to adjust to the atmosphere.
La Voie des Dallas - 5c, 250m
The gorge has a pretty strong reputation but this line seemed like an amenable intro the the airy climbing. It was a great climb but even in October it was warm enough to get sweaty hands, or was that just the exposure…
Val Di Mello - Italy’s Yosemite
We ended up in Val di Mello on a whim after chatting to an Italian climber at a crag in Chamonix. I asked about her favorite climbing area, and she gave me the usual; the Dolomites, Arco Valley, but then she told me about a place with huge trad lines on immaculate granite, "Mello" was her favorite. After a quick Google search, it looked perfect to me, so Monse and I left Chamonix and caught a cheap bus to Morbengo, Italy.
We spent about two weeks cragging, climbing single pitch trad routes, and getting on some adventurous routes. As the valley is low and a lot of the routes face the sun, it is often too hot to climb in the summer. We were here in September, just as the leaves started to brown, and it was perfect temperates in the valley and up high. If you are looking for real adventure climbing, Val di Zocca has many lines that are bolt free, and because of the long approach, you will likely have the whole valley to yourself. Video from our trip here.
Mario del Oro, Punta Allievi, Val di Zocca. 650m 6a+
Mario del Oro, Punta Allievi, Val di Zocca. 650m 6a+
We were climbing at 7am as it was too cold to start earlier. Monse hurt her thumb on the third pitch of 17 so I was lucky enough to take the reins for the rest of the day! The line links together the mountains chimneys, cracks, and corners - its all pretty physical stuff! At some point the climbing started to flow and I made good progress but then I ended up off route and wasted precious time. Topping out just after the sun went down was magic. Jagged mountains glowed pink in all directions as we sung and yelled
with excitement.
Kundalini, Val di Mello. 400m 6a+
"The awaking of Kundalini." The first of our big trad climbs in Mello. Highlights included: one full pitch of bomber hand jams, a slippery wet layback (I hate laybacks), and becoming the owner of an easily removable brand new no.4 cam (which we needed for the rest of the climb!).
Luna Nascente, Val di Mello. 350m 6b
Arguably THE classic Mello climb. It is a fine route indeed and I expected good things after seeing cafes and rifugios named after it! This is one of the most enjoyable trad lines i’ve climbed. No better way to end our time here. You can actually combine Kundalini and Nascente. That would be a good day!
The Dolomites - Pumpy towers
We arrived at the Dolomites at midnight, so it wasn't until I woke up that I caught my first glimpse of the limestone walls. We settled in a quiet pine forest after hitchhiking to the parking lot of Cinque Torri, as it would put us in a good place to climb Tofana. Unfortunately, we had been suffering from stomach sickness since Mello (likely because we weren't boiling water), and it had gotten more aggressive during our visit to the Dolomites. We felt pretty weak, but we were still wanted to climb something, so we bailed on Tofana and found a less commiting line on Cinque Torri instead. Cinque Torri was the only multi-pitch we were able to climb. We spent about five days around Cortina cragging and resting. There are so many adventures to be had here. Tofana, the Sella towers, Marmodossola, and of course Cima Grande are all excellent looking walls. We only got a sample, I need to go back there!
Via Dimai, Cinque Torri, VI+
The Cinque Torri (five towers) are kind of the symbols of Cortina. The Dimai route goes up the largest tower and is 8 rope lengths of up to 6a+ climbing. I read the topo wrong and I was only expecting 5b climbing so I was feeling really weak after this! It is a fun and bumpy line which can be polished in places. In the sun I imagine it is unbearable but in October it was still t-shirt weather up there!
