Bon Escalades en Ariege-Pyrenees

Just back from a great trip to the Ariege-Pyrenees, South of France just North of Andorra. The gang was Kirsty, Jen, Rob, Tenk and myself. Our aim was to go sport climbing. We flew Ryanair from Stanstead to Carcassonne and Stopped at Gite de Pechine a recently renovated gite belonging to good friends of mine, Richard and Sandra Prime. It is situated between the villages of Le Fossat and Artigat, 30 min North of Fiox and one hour from Carcassonne, and has fantastic views of the Pyrenees from the bottom the garden.
	Above Rob and Jen having a camera off!!
	Day one: Due to an early morning flight we had a stupid o'clock start, in fact we just missed a nights sleep! So our plans for climbing later that day were hampered by fatigue. All we could face was a visit to our Climb-Ariege friends, Graham and Christine, to collect some guide books of the area. I had ordered them over the Internet but there had been no time to post them! After that we headed to Roquefixard Castle for a spot of sightseeing and a climbing rekky. Day two: We headed to Auzat, a group of large granite butraces in a forest. It was about 30min South of Fiox and 1 hour from Gite de Pechine. There are 116 routes from 7m to 70m in length and graded between F2 and F7c+, specifically with a good amount of F4 to F5 grades for us to start on.
Above Tenk and Kirsty at Auzat
Day three: Kirsty and Tenk headed into the Pyrenees for a mountain day, leaving Jen, Rob and myself to do more craggin at Le Quie de Sinsat. 130 limestone routes from 3c to 8a to go at! My favourite being Deodanthorpe F4c which was economically bolted, having a good 6m to the first one, he he he! This was not typical for the crag or the area though.
	Kirsty leading Le Monge, at Auzat
	Day four: We awoke to pouring rain and the loss of the 32 deg heat! Darn! On report of the rain Tenk refused to get up! The rest of us left him to his books and headed to Puivert forest for a walk. We arrived by about 11.30am to find the weather had cleared and the sun was out, Yo-ho!! We all enjoyed a sunny but muddy walk the high light been a walk through a natural limestone Labyrinth. Just time for a quick dip and a cafe stop on the way home. So what did Tenk miss? Day five: Back to Carcassonne to drop Kirsty off at the Airport. The rest of us had a look round the old city of Carcassonne, very beautiful and worth a look if you are passing. We then headed off to meet up with Jen's uncle for coffee, another ex-pat! We had hoped to climb in the evening but by 4pm the rain came back and that was that! Nothing to do but treat ourselves to several bottle of the best red wine we could buy for 2 Euros a pop!
Me Leading Deodanthorpe, at Sinsat
Day six: We returned to Sinsat to attack some more of the 130 routes. Day seven: Rain stopped play! So we had a look at some local caves, the first being the longest navigable under ground water way in Europe. The second been so big it had a road through it! Wow....caves ;-) Day eight: We headed to a crag called Arabaux for what turned out to be our best days craggin. Arabaux was perched high on the hillside giving excellent views of the local valleys. there were 88 routes graded between F2a and F7b, so plenty to go at!
	Me again leading Le Diedre du Crane 1st pitch, at Sinsat

Day nine: We decided on a return trip to Auzat but didn't count on the over night rain being so heavy! Seepage meant the granite was unclaimable. Plan 'B' was a look round Montsegur Castle whilst things dried out. We didn't count on getting a history lesson from Mr. Tenk, indeed, we now know all about the Cathar's, think he ate some of his books! Late afternoon we arrived at our climbing destination a small crag that had been recently been bolted by the local authorities. It was positioned in a disused railway cutting and would make an ideal first or last day venue as there is nothing harder than F5b so we all lead everything in sight. Day ten: All packed up and ready to go, our flight was not until 5.20pm or was it 6.20pm anyway no point worrying about that, we had a mornings climbing to do! Le Bosc was our choice. The crag was green and horrible Jen and Rob took one look and decided it was a photography day, Tenk and I persisted with a couple of routes but gave up soon after to join the photographers.
	Jen leading at Araboux

Jen bouldering at Arabaux	The beautiful village of Le Bosc made up for a horrible green crag
In summary: All in all a fantastic trip, great accommodation, beautifully area, fantastic food , brilliant wine, wicked company! All this and change from £350. Will I go again? Yes, you bet! Apparently Chris Crags was down here this summer, so soon there could even be a guide in English available soon! Thanks Guys for a great trip! Love, Simon xx


Richard and Sandra's place + Gite Pechine, the gite is everything upstairs and left of the conservatory.	The view from the bottom of the garden.