Vingrau / Tautavel

The original plan for the weekend was to climb at Vingrau, a huge cliff known for its bulletproof slabs and classic multipitch. However, though Vingrau gets sun in the afternoon, it is also exposed to the wind that rips down the Pyrénées, and the comination of 3* temperatures and 35km wind made climbing there, at least in February, impossible. Instead, we went across the valley and climbed at Tautavel. The first day we climbed in a neat gorge, the second day on a lovely south-facing slab. We stayed at a rural "gite" that took us hours to find in the dark.

Thanks to Fabrice for all of the pictures of me.

This is a few of us on Saturday morning in Montpellier, getting ready to take off:

Here are some pictures from the gorge on the first day. We did some climbing here, but it was on easy slabs in the shade. This place must be an amazing summer crag.
And here are a few photos from the gorgeous slab on Sunday. Fabrice took a cool sequence of photos of me making an accidental attempt at 7a+. I made it to the third bolt before I called it quits.
And here's the view from the crag, looking down the valley.

It was a magnificent area, and I'd love to go back when the weather is a little more favorable at Vingrau proper.

I'll be out of town next Wednesday, so this is the last blog post for two weeks. I'll be back in March with more news and photos and part II of this week's playlist.

Speaking of which:

"The Journey Home, Part I"

1 These Old Shoes - Deer Tick
2 Love Me Through - Port O'Brien
3 This Wind - The Tallest Man On Earth
4 That Western Skyline - Dawes
5 Mona And Emmy - Frontier Ruckus
6 Ticket Taker - The Low Anthem
7 Re: Stacks - Bon Iver
8 Ancient Questions - Mount Eerie

Download here.

Every one of these recordings comes from a Daytrotter session. Daytrotter has been putting up some amazing stuff lately, notably sessions from Frontier Ruckus and Mount Eerie, both of which are featured here. Check it out.

See you in two weeks!