Climbing in the Jonte gorge
A major site for pure-pleasure climbing in the heart of the Cévennes National Park.
With Aude.
The Jonte and Tarn gorges are an invitation to climb. Their cliffs shape beautiful moves for aesthetic climbing.
Limestone sculpture and balancing acts: these titanic vases defy belief with their millennial instability, which stirs the temptation to climb.
But the eye leans in and picks out the detail, the ultimate weakness in the rock that lets itself be grasped to allow one more step towards the top of the route. Here we are in the incredulous heart of a nature teeming from the vultures' skies to the gourmet savouring a flower's nectar.
A mix of styles: the rock can also be rough, with the brutality of a historic squeeze chimney on a Sans Nom (nameless) route.
The splendour of the Cévennes: climbing and nature brought together on a trip that knew how to set its own pace.
Photo gallery...