Calanque de Sormiou : Climbing, Hiking & Mountaineering : SummitPost

Overview

When people talk about "Les Calanques" it actually covers an area that is almost 20 kms long with several climbing sites :

Calanque d'En-Vau
La Guardiole
Calanque de Sugiton / Luminy
Calanque de Morgiou
CALANQUE DE SORMIOU
Melette
Les Goudes
Marseilleveyre

The great thing is that you can climb almost all year long, apart from summer where it can be hot and closed for fire risks.
The landscape is stunning, as you climb right above the blue Mediterranean Sea !

The Calanques are also famous for two of its most passionated climbers :
Gaston Rebuffat and Georges Livanos (known as "Le Grec").

Staying... Getting There

- WHERE TO STAY :
The main place to stay is located in the small town of Cassis (20 kms East of Marseille). There you can find shops and petrol easily.
The camp site is :

Camping Les Cigales
Avenue de la Marne
13260 CASSIS
Tel 04 42 01 07 34

It would be a mistake to stay in Marseille as there can be traffic jams (second biggest city in France after Paris... 1 million people),
and there is no camp site. However the good thing about is that it is only 3 hours away from Paris by train.

- HOW TO REACH CALANQUE DE SORMIOU :
From Cassis, take road D559 west towards Marseille.
After crossing a beautiful plateau, you will drive down to the East side of Marseille.
When reaching the "Mazargue" round-about, turn left and follow signs saying "Sormiou" for a few kilometers.
You will end up on a on a winding road up to the Calanque that goes up to a small pass, then down to the Calanque.
About 30 minutes from the camp site by car.

Site Description & Essential Gear

In Les Calanques, the entire rock is limestone.
It's not always perfect as there can be bushes and rotten rock, but usually the rock quality is very good.
Routes can be up to 150m high. A few are long horizontal traverse.
To descend, sometimes you have to abseil, sometimes you can walk down on the other side.

As there can several pitches the usual climbing gear is need :
2x 50m ropes
Quickdraws and sling
Abseiling equipment
Helmet (highly recommended !!)
Sun cream and lots of water in summer (undoubtedly)

Here is a description of the climbing areas in Calanque de Sormiou :

___Climbing Area___	____Routes____	____Pitches____	____Level____
L'Arenas	11	1 to 3	4c to 6c
Colline de Lun	65	1	4a to 7c+
Col de Sormiou	18	1	4a to 5b+
La Pinède	23	1	2b to 6c+
Le Pouce	25	1	2b to 6b+
Dalle Tarzan	4	2	4a to 3c
Aiguille de Sormiou	10	1 to 2	3b to 6b / A1
Le Baou Rond	36	1	4a to 8a+
L'Arche Perdue	21	1	3b to 6c
Pyromaniaque	17	1 to 5	3b to 6b
Lou Spigaou	29	1 to 2	3c to 6c
Petit Saussois / Oasis	17	1 to 3	2c to 6a
Rumpe Cuou	13	1 to 5	3b to 6b+
Dièdre Guem	8	1 to 7	3c to 6b+
L'ouro	5	1	3a to 4b
Le Conglue	6	1 to 2	5a to 5c
Lui d'Aï	14	1 to 2	4c to 7a+
Archipel	7	1 to 4	4c to 6b
L'Apanaù	12	1	3c to 6a
Ali Baba	5	1	3b to 4c
Falaise de la Tiragne	53	1 to 2	5a to 7b+
Le Bec de Sormiou	27	1 to 10	2b to 7b
Cap Redon	8	1	4c to 6a