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... and 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 SUGITON :
From Cassis, take road D559 west towards Marseille.
After the village of Vaufrèges and before Le Redon, there is a round-about.
Turn left towards Col de Sugiton (3kms). Then drive down to the Calanque de Sugiton.
About 20 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 Sugiton :

_______Climbing Area_______	____Routes____	____Pitches____	____Level____
Pointe du Belvédère	6	1	6b to 6c+
Le Virage	31	1	5c+ to 8a
La Grotte de l'Ours	33	1	6a+ to 8c+
Paroi des Grandes Toits	118	1 to 2	3b to 8b
Aiguille de Sugiton	36	1	2b to 7b
Bonne Mère	6	1	6b to 7a
L'Oasis	22	1	5b to 8a
Le Promontoire des Américains	5	1 to 3	5a to 7b
La Cathédrale	18	1 to 4	4b to 8a / A3
Les Pierres Tombées	38	1 to 9	4c to 8a / A3
Le Socle de la Candelle	82	1 to 10	2b to 7c+ / A2
La Grande Candelle	35	1 to 11	2b to 7b+ / A3
Cap Gros	2	2 to 3	4c to 6a

Books, Maps & Weather

The best guidebook is :
Escalade dans les Calanques

The best map is :
IGN 3145ET Marseille / Les Calanques

And for weather forecast :
Meteo France > Cassis

Images



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