The Gorges du Tarn routes

An exceptional setting, of course, but also an equally exceptional team of volunteers, openers and “équipeurs”, many of them from the CAF Causses & Cévennes club, who have delivered over six hundred routes here! Spread over countless sectors: Roc Aiguille, la Muse, le Cirque des Baumes, baumes chaudes, Tennessee… so many names on their way to becoming legendary on the climbing planet.

Steep, often overhanging rock, improbable colors ranging from ochre to black, resulting from complex oxidation phenomena or colonization by strange bacteria, and a slightly sandstone feel characterize climbing in the Gorges du Tarn.

Some easy routes remain affordable, with some very nice ones in 6. But overall, the length and steepness of the routes require solid experience and good continuity to play in the 7 and 8 degrees that abound here.

The other particularity of the site are these famous routes known as “Abus”: endless flights of 50, 60 or 90 m in one go … When we tell you that you need continuity!
Most of the routes require an 80 m rope and a minimum of fifteen quickdraws. Beware! ABUS routes require two ropes and 20 or 25 quickdraws! Study the topo and each route carefully before embarking on it.