Haute Provence

Despite the very cold overnight temperatures, it was t-shirt weather in the sun during the day and we made the most of three great days climbing in Orpierre and Sisteron. Well ... it was only briefly t-shirt weather! Cold mornings meant a slow start over tea and croissants, and once the sun hit the horizon at the end of each day, it was hot shower, warm clothes and dinner time.




Orpierre from above!

We can see why Orpierre is such a popular climbing destination; the medieval village at the bottom of the valley and the cliffs rising directly above – and Sisteron too, with the climbing overlooking the river and up to the castle on the hill. Very pretty! The rock is limestone and is solidly bolted, and the grades range from too-easy-even-for-us to too-hard-to-contemplate. Sure it attracts a crowd, but thankfully being there mid-week we managed to avoid it.

Jen at Sisteron

It was also for us a pretty social three days. We caught up with Hans and Richard, from Amsterdam, and also made some new Belgium friends, Tom and Evi, in the heated dining room of the camping site. Good fun.

Welcome to sunny and cold Orpierre!

You won't believe it, but this first proper stop on our trip in the south of France gave us the opportunity to check if the heating in the van still works.

Thankfully, it does – it was well below -5 on our first night. Chilly!

Note the socks!

And as Hans and Richard had already set up camp - complete with slackline - it was a warm welcome.

Pimping our ride!

Fred is now sporting an enhanced arse, and we no longer have multiple pairs of boots getting in our way. We have bought a Fiamma Ultra-Box!
Well actually, this is Mk II.

Despite following all instructions on how to mount the damn thing onto the bike rack, our first attempt to get this box onto Fred was not successful – we had only drilled and bolted on the top bolts when a massive crack appeared in the bottom. We don't know why it cracked, but cracked it did and cracked it was and so back to the shop for a new one … Thankfully the shop assistant was as surprised as we were, and the exchange was no problem.
Having this space does make life in a van full of climbing gear much more manageable. We now know that a T4 is not that big, when you have a hobby like climbing in four seasons.

Leaving the Dam

The party was epic.

The packing is hell.

But tomorrow, we're on our way. Well - hopefully.

A United Kingdom Reconaissance

To celebrate the recent unemployment of Mark, we decided a brief sojourn to England and Wales (with the trad rack, of course!) was necessary.

Sadly, we didn't have much time - so it was merely a day or so, here and there, chasing the sunny weather so we could get out climbing as much as possible. Two days at Tremadog, then another two at Gogarth, before popping up and across to the Lakes and finally heading down to Stanage. All washed down with pints of bitter and fish and chips for tea!

A History Lesson

What the Lakes didn't offer in terms of great weather and dry rock. it made up for in abundance with history.

Seeing a plaque by the side of the narrow, winding road we were on, we pulled up to discover a Roman fort ...


Apparently this place used to be home for up to 500 soldiers, and had a granary, offices and a fancy home for the bigwigs. It was surrounded by a stone wall (with four gateways, and a tower on each corner), and just outside it - there was a bathhouse! Complete with sauna, too.

And then later in the day (after our soaking, as discussed in Optimism), we came across a variety of stone circles. Why did they need several of them, all so close to each other?!

Although she's posing here, Jen did let the team down, as she could not be convinced to dance around them naked.

Optimism

Def: Carrying two ropes and a full trad rack, with the aim of climbing at a crag 6km away with 600m in elevation to gain, when you're in the Lakes, the weather is "changeable" and it's already after lunch ...

Shortly after this photo was taken, the heavens opened and the wind became a gale. We were soon soaked.

The wind and rain didn't last long, but by the time it stopped, our desire to keep hiking uphill to find these climbs had somewhat diminished.