Climbing in the Verdon Gorge

The Verdon is Europe's great limestone canyon and one of the defining venues of multi-pitch climbing, with a signature that unsettles even strong climbers: on the classic lines you rappel in from the road on the rim, and the only way back to your car is to climb out.

La Demande, first of the great routes, drops you to the river and sends you up 300-plus metres of grey and orange limestone above the turquoise Verdon.

The rock is superb — technical, exposed, endlessly featured — and the position, hanging over a gorge with the river a thread below, is unlike anywhere else.

There are bolted lines and old-school adventures both, but even the well-protected routes demand a cool head, because retreat is rarely simple once you've committed downward. For an experienced climber it is a rite of passage: intimidating, magnificent, and completely absorbing.

Long multi-pitch limestone routes, most reached by abseiling in from the rim — which means committing to climbing out, with retreat awkward or impossible once you're down. The rock is grey and orange limestone, technical and exposed, above the turquoise river far below; the position is airy and constant.

Lines like La Demande run 300 metres and more. Some routes are well bolted, others keep an adventurous, trad-flavoured character, but all reward a cool head and efficient movement. This is advanced-to-expert terrain — not a venue to learn multi-pitch — and the exposure alone tests people.

Bring stamina for a full day on the wall.

Climb in the shoulder seasons, spring or autumn — April to June, September to October — since high summer bakes the sun-facing walls, though shaded aspects give options.

Come with solid multi-pitch experience, a full rack augmented for the route, a 60–70 m rope (often two for the abseils), and the ability to retreat and self-rescue — this is committing ground.

Base in La Palud-sur-Verdon, the climbers' village on the rim, where guidebooks and a mountain guide can be arranged if you want to learn the ropes on your first route. Study the descent and abseil approach before you commit, and start early to climb out before the day heats up.