Kecsecsa | The Magik Rock

13th June 2013

Calames
Sector Le Col and Presse Puree

Kecsecsa – 6a – Lead (partly dogged)
Le Goujon de Plus – 5 – Second
Lichen – 6a+ – Second

OK. Lets get this straight. When you go on a climbing trip where you’re burning calories by the trillion you should loose weight not gain it. However, if your continental diet consists mainly of Bread and rich French cheeses then this may not be the case.

Tarascon with Roche Ronde and Calames in the background

Our diet included masses of the said French cheese and lunches were to be savoured with fresh fruit and bread accompanied by Brie, Camenbert, Emmental and a hard cheese that I cant remember but which was lovely.

So having returned to England following the trip it was no suprise to learn that both Chris and Tom had managed to put weight on!!! It must have been a close call though given the amount of sweat and effort we put in over the duration. On this day we returned to Calames as storms were predicted for the afternoon and we wanted somewhere easy to get into. Strange then that we headed for the highest and furthest point away from the car park.

I had returned to try the 6a bolt on flake route called Kecsecsa. This proved to be my favorite route of the whole trip. Despite twisting my rope around a draw I found this one challenging but OK. A great overhang followed by amazing slab climbing in real exposure. Terrific.

Chris picked a hard 6a+ to cut his teeth on and despite early setbacks did brilliantly to get through and reach the top. He gave me a bit of catching practice but got through what was a bold section near the start (I never like that as you always think you might deck)

Toms lead at Le Colon Le Goujon de Plus was a strange one bending around a cave entrance and needing clever footwork. This one is a lot harder than it looks and when Tom found a Krab (he’s been hunting for free be’s) he thought his luck was in. Unfortunately it had been left there because the in situ malion was in bad repair. Better luck next time Tom.

The Griffon Vulture had disappeared later in the day to be replaced by ominous thunder clouds which duly did their thing scaring us to death. It’s no fun carying a sack of mettle gear in a lightning storm.

Joe, here's a roofing job for you! — Joe, here’s a roofing job for you!

The day was finished with Pizza in Tarascon at a Restaurant by the river where we watch the strange small dipper type birds dive into the fast flowing water. How they dont drown I dont know. Our cheese fest finally hit an all time high on this day as Chris and I had cheese Pizza and realised we’d OD’d. Maybe it was time to back off, but I doubt it.

OOhh Your tight german shorts izz so manly Ya

8th June 2013

Roche Ronde and Calames

Interdit Aux Veoce – 5+ Lead
Zebulon – 5+ – Second (Chris Lead)
Kecsecsa – 6a – Lead (dnf rain)

Our first day of very iffy weather. We awoke to low cloud and very damp conditions. The condensation in the valley is horendous when the humidity is high as it was on this day. With our never ending optimism in full flow we headed for Roche Ronde.

From a distance Roche Ronde looks fairly insignificant nestled below the larger venue of Calames. As you draw near though the scale of this face become more apparent. Its a fairly long and tough walk up through the forest on slippery rounded stones. When you find the base of the crag orientation is not obvious. On this visit we went up the central gap which actually is a nasty approach and I rekon you should avoid this route. There is a more hidden approach which is a lot steeper but is a lot safer and not so polished. Keep your eyes open for a tell tale arrow point leftwards into the trees as you traverse below the lower face.

Unfortunately our luck ran out this time and steady drizzle KO’d any chance of climbing so we trudged out…. only for the sun to come out and transform the day. If we’d waited an hour we would have been OK.

Packing up in the car park below Roche Ronde

Instead we made our way to Calames and the Presse Puree sector. I kicked off on a tough 5+ called Interdit aux velos. Tucked away in the corner it is innocuous enough, but has a difficult transition from the slab to a rib. A good route to get started on.

Tom on the tricky part of Interdit aux velos, Calames

Chris’s route Zebulon was in the mould of a trad route, with some tough bridging to start with and a bold move around the bulging overlap. I’d had in mind the idea to try a 6a called Kekcecsa. This is unique in that it has a bolted on flake! The route though looked excellent and I was making good progress when a boom of thunder announced the arrival of a thunderstorm. The circling Griffon Vultures had long gone heading for shelter and we were forced to do the same fleeing off the crag with our rucksacks full of iron mongery.

The thought of being caught out on the crag in a lightning storm is frightening. Even the locals get off quickly when a storm approaches.

A hot meal always cheers you up when it rains. Chef Chris at work.

With a changeable weather settling in and an unsettled day behind u,s we had to make a decision on whether we stayed or went for Spain. I think there was only one choice really.