Filipino climbers know how differently climbing is viewed in our country and within Southeast Asia, compared with the sport's status in France/Europe. I've come to realize, however, just how true and real this is as we spend days after more days climbing around the south of France.
Rock climbing here is not a "special" sport, nor for the elite. You don't need any distinct training, access to a climbing gym, or expensive equipment to take it up. It is an average person's activity: If you weren't introduced to climbing by your parents (who grew up doing some form of mountaineering or outdoor sport themselves), you likely took it up on your own by looking for a climbing club in your village, and started from there.
Climbing here is a "cheap" sport. You just need to buy quickdraws, rope, rock shoes and a chalk bag, and you're all set for over 1-5 years (depending on how well you take care of them). Equipment are reasonably-priced -- they are locally manufactured, after all. Gear upgrades are not fashionable (and completely impractical), unlike how one would constantly upgrade bike parts or replace mountaineering/alpinism apparel and hardware due to wear and tear.
You don't need gym memberships because rock is everywhere. You don't need to hire guides to take you to the crags because roads and trails are developed and safe. And because crags are all around you, and the sun sets later during the summer, half-day trips are possible all the time.
Such was the morning we spent in Russan. After driving less than an hour southwest of Connaux, we found ourselves atop another one of the mountain ridges, in a parking lot with other cars. The place was apparently another one of the many trail-laden mountains where locals hike, run or bike. Another interesting set of visitors, we learned, were rifle-carrying hunters, looking for peasants that roamed around the area.
Today was leisurely climbing with a few other friends: Aside from 17-year old Coralie, in the group was another single 25-year old guy, and a dad with his 12-year old son: All climbers, just looking to spend half-a-day outdoors.
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| Met up with new friends |
It was such an easy, 20-minute walk from the parking lot to the climbing site. We followed a wide, treeless, gently-sloping pebbled road, before hitting a narrower trail with bushes to our left and right. You hit a sort-of cliff which marks the end of the trail, and the start of an easy descent down small boulders. It turns out, the approach is from the top of the cliff, and so we just had to walk down one side in order to meet the vast wall of gray, brown and white streaks: Another huge limestone "cave" that ran for over a 1000 meters.
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| Fennel just grows along the path. Syempre, tinikman ko! |
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| Going down the side of the cliff |
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| Gray, brown and white streaks |
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| Halos walang katapusan... |
The group was looking forward to a cloudy day, since the crag is said to become an oven when the sun is out. However, weather is not always as you expect it to be, and the sky remained cloudless, limiting our climbing time. For me, I chose to keep my climbs at an easy pace, too, setting up a 5-ish toprope for our new friends, and trying out just one 6b and 7a. The others worked on some 8's.
We cheered each other on as we hopped on harder routes, and gave "beta" (tips or information about a climb) when solicited, and checked each other on safety.
Not long after, it was time for "lunch!"
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| The "solar oven" crag, according to Google translate |
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| Crag lunch -- baguette, ham, chorizo and some tapenade |
As the climbing session ended earlier than expected, we had extended time for the day's other agenda: Visiting a vineyard!
We thought we would only get shown around the fields and facility, but to our delight, we even caught a part of the production process as it happened: How the harvested grapes are "sucked" from the grape "depository" (sorry, not familiar with terms!) into the cellars where they will be aged. We were able to peek inside the cellars and taste samples straight from the tap. The host/owner even obliged us to taste their wines in different stages of the aging process, and at the end, an actual wine degustation.
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| Inside the cellar |
About four hours for climbing, two hours for wine-tasting (and buying, haha!), less than two hours total of driving, and there is still time left to cook dinner.
I suppose this is the normal pace of a climber in the south of France: A bottomless list of areas to visit, complete with the discovery and scrutiny of each area's pros and cons. Weather, though never 100% predictable, is manageable; if you're not too picky, for sure you will still be able to try a few routes due to the sheer quantity available. People of all ages know how to climb, and the time needed to get a dose of rock is not a lot -- making it so easy to invite a friend for an outdoor session (instead of an outdoor "trip" that will consume the whole weekend).
I'm only ecstatic to get a taste of it.
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