February has been quite sunny in the French Riviera, offering good conditions to climb outside.
Chouchou Place (© P. Gatta)
I have been lucky to climb in Mesa Verde, Chouchou Place and Alcatraz near La Turbie, sending 9 routes on-sight up to 7c and a couple of 8a’s.
Here is a personal opinion of the « new » routes that I climbed in Mesa Verde:
- Beer Fest, 7b+, ***, very nice despite some loose rocks at the beginning.
- Pas de bras, pas de ski avec les nicois, 7c, ***, very nice endurance route.
- Carnage Forest, 8a/+, **, nice with a bouldery end.
- Tonio saucisse, 8a version, **, nice traverse, technical and frustrating end.
Mesa Verde (© A. Gatta)
In Alcatraz:
- Faut pas les avoir trop mou, 7b, **, nice powerful start and technical end, soft for the grade.
- Trop facile pour les écureuils, 7a+, ***, nice.
- C’n’est pas classique, 7b+, ***, fun and very unusual.
- Voleur de voies, 7c, ***, very nice, not so easy on-sight.
- Mont Fantasme, 7c+, **.
- Face Man, 7a+, *, technical.
- Men in Black, 7b, *, to try when you have done everything else…
- Le circuit pro, 7b+, **.
- Gramonet assis sur un tapis volant, 7b, ***
- Sandric au mastic!, 7a, *, hard to read.
- Richoux, where are you?, 7b, ***, hard for the grade.
- Le 7a Berhault, 7b+, ugly route.
- Yoda, 7a, *, very bouldery.
- La compète des poulettes, 7a, *
- Lopette brownie, 7a+, **.
- Philosophe antiartiste, 7a+, *.
- Mort de points Total, 7b+, **.
- Fréquence Mamouth, 7a+, **.
- Le mur c’est dur, 7a, **.
- Velcro humain total, 7c, **.
- Les points de Grenouille, 7b+, **.
- Les Bidochons au petit palais, 7b+, ***.
- Le 8a pour les nuls Total, 7c, **.
- De l’acide dans les idées, 7b+, ***.
- La technique de l’homme ivre, 7a+, **.
Alcatraz (© A. Gatta)
