Member Attendees: 17
Will Smith, Ben Coope, Harry Stuart- Smith, Yadu Bhageria, Mathew Lees, Milan Thakore, Will Macleod, Sam Cockman, Chris Brahms, Nathasha Saw, Catherine Spilsbury, Simeon Tsang, Anthony Fleming, James Weale, Jo Robbings, Amar Nanda, Kristjana Xhuxhi
Non-Member Attendees: 3
Georgia Drew, Laura Braun, Ed Poore
Aims and Objectives
The aim of the trip was to explore the Verdon area and give all those attending the opportunity to try the long, exposed and committing multipitch routes it had to offer. The trip achieved this aim; everybody was sad to leave! (Probably because of the two days in the minibus it would take to get home).
Financial Breakdown
| Income | Value |
|---|---|
| Member Income | £4085.10 |
| ICU Funding | £304.60 |
| Total | £4389.7 |
| Expenditure | Value |
|---|---|
| Minibus | £1430 |
| Fuel | £802.02 |
| Tolls | £178.88 |
| Accomodation | £948.09 |
| Food | £985.56 |
| Guide books | £45.25 |
| Total | £4389.7 |
Note that the above financial breakdown only applies to member attendees.
Day 1
Everybody arrived on time in Beit Quad at 6 am ready to finish packing the busses and set off. Harry turned out to be a little worse for wear and had forgotten his passport. After a quick call to his dad it was agreed that the two busses and the car would rendezvous at the ferry terminal ready for the morning crossing.
One bus arrived earlier, crossed on its own, both busses and the car all got lost independently and took different routes around Paris. We eventually ended up at Pres Camping south of Fountainbleu.
Day 2
We got up early and had eggy bread, then headed over to boulder for the day. It was very hot and sunny, a slack line was set off and a few of us played boules while we enjoyed lunch.
The first of many games of danger boules.
Day 3
Harry.
This day involved hundreds and hundreds of miles of driving. Luckily there were loads of drivers and we had lots of food. At one point Jo stopped wearing trousers and decided that the heated seats in the car were all a bit much. Late in the evening the red bus was hit by an oncoming van which destroyed the wing mirror, and the passenger side window. Thankfully nobody was hurt, though there was a lot of glass everywhere. A nearby irrigation system ensured that everybody in the windowless van stayed refreshed, which was great.
We arrived in Palud Sur Verdon at around 11:30 pm and found the road leading up to the valley a bit exciting; the enormous drop to the right of the driver and sharp bends made sure that everybody was still awake. We arrived at the wrong campsite and put up the tents.
Day 4
After waking up and realising that the campsite was wrong and rubbish, we de-camped and headed into town to try and find where we were meant to go. We immediately found Jean- Paul camping and headed over to pop the tents up. We then went to one of the shorter and supposedly more accessible crags in the area. After an hour of swearing and bashing through shrubs we arrived and got a decent afternoons climbing in, introducing the novices in the group to the techniques they’d need over the coming week.
Jo and James doing some of the very pleasant routes at the single pitch crag a little way down the valley.
Day 5
We headed over to a multi-pitch crag that didn’t involve any abseiling to give people some experience of the rope work before we committed to bigger routes. In the afternoon we headed down to the river for a swim!
Day 6
We knew that if we wanted to get anything big done while we were there we’d have to get used to the exposure presented by the enormous cliffs. To do this we spent the next day at one of the many abseil points at the edge of the road. Lots of tourists were taking our photos!
Day 7, 8 & 9
Having taught people what they needed to know we split into three’s and took a series of groups to different multipitch crags over the next three days. The routes ranged from enormous crack and chimney climbs to interesting arête’s. Notably Ben and Amar tackled La Demande, one of the more famous routes in the area. Groups that didn’t do multipitch routes headed to abseil points along the roadside or along the valley to the extremely impressive Hulk area; a large scoop/ cave with some really interesting and challenging single pitch climbs. Handily it also stayed dry when the rest of the area was wet!
Temperature inversion in the valley
Georgia climbing above the river on a 9 pitch route.
Milan and Sam on their first multipitch route, l’arete belvedere
Day 10
After a tiring few days we headed down to the river to wind down for a bit.
Day 11
The group went over to the Hulk area because of poor weather. The crag is in the middle of a series of ladders and narrow paths which allows for pretty big exposure in relative safety. On the opposite side of the valley a few people experienced the total darkness of the 1.5km long tunnel which runs along the river. Milan and Anthony got a bit stuck on their route so Ben and Amar shot up an adjacent route to help them out after their abseil line got stuck after they completed their route. Everybody got down in time for a late dinner though Milan and Anthony owed a lot of people a lot of drinks.
Milan climbing in Hulk
Day 12
In the final day in Verdon the weather turned for the worse, those who hadn’t yet done it had a go at the via–ferrata which was about the only thing that was safe to do in the weather. The rest of the group had a relaxing day at the campsite and sorted the mountains of equipment out! The trip was rounded off with a meal at the local restaurant in Palud Sur Verdon.
Day 13
We left Verdon and headed north making the campsite just south of Paris by 10 pm. Chilli was cooked hastily while a fire was built. Lunch and snack stops were spent at some of the many roadside picnicking areas that the cover much of the French road network.
Day 14
After a quick stop at the wine shop we caught the ferry home and remarked on how great cat-eyes were in the UK.