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Climbing at Cantobre in France

Federico Tosi introduces the great crag Cantobre in France, with circa 80 routes from 5c to 9a a great alternative to nearby Gorges du Tarn.

Federico Tosi

June 2014

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Climbing at Cantobre in France

archivio Federico Tosi

If you want to give your forearms a rest and you're tired of massive outings in Les Gorges du Tarn, Cantobre is the place for you! Not far from Millau in fact and along the Gorge du Durbie lies a fantastic band of grayish-orange limestone that overlooks the village of Cantobre. This perfect sunny terrace is ideal for those who want to check out something new and climb somewhere other that the famous Gorge du Tarn.

Park the the car in the village of Cantobre perched precariously on the rocky outcrops high above the river Durbie and, rucksacks strapped firmly to your backs, walk along the path that leads to the base of the cliff, lined by large beech trees on one side and a large meadow on the other. The setting is marvelous and in just a few minutes the path leads to the base of "Turbulence": the main cliff with about fifty routes from 7a to 8c. This however is not the only sector and if you continue walking for a couple of minutes you'll reach 3 smaller sectors, equally interesting but with slightly easier routes.

After the initial impact we immediately realized that we'd reached a completely different planet compared to the Tarn; during our visit there we'd set off fairly relaxed, with harnesses full of quickdraws, ready for some fluid stamina climbing, but at Cantobre the name of the game is locking off low! With just a handful of quickdraws and warm biceps what you've got to do is leap from one pocket to the next, performing one magnificent dyno after the other and making sure you don't take flight!

TOPO: Cantobre, France