The Annecy area is the part of France that is 'almost near Mont Blanc but not quite!' Find Chamonix on the map and travel 30 km west into the lower pre-Alps; next, look for a large lake and you've probably got Lake Annecy. There are other lakes in the area such as the even larger Lac du Bourget at Chambery/Aix-les-Bains but Lake Annecy is allegedly the purer (the purest in Europe according to the tourist blurb) and, although Lake Bourget has some pretty scenery, the peaks around Annecy are definitely more 'pointy'. Annecy town, the main valley-drag and shore-line are rather busy, and the traffic can be quite horrific; however, the surrounding massifs of Aravis to the east and the Bauges to the south are quite delightful and offer superb mountain walking and scrambling on peaks up to 2300m. The rock here is good quality limestone and forms sharp little mountains as well as a wide-range of single and multi-pitch crags. Climbing is possible in all seasons. In 2007 an excellent new guide book, Les 28 falaises autour de Annecy , written by Robert Durieux, was published covering all the crags within 10-15 km of the town. At around 1 euro per crag topo, it's a good value compilation in the modern idiom. The guidebook is available in local book shops. More details of the guidebook can be found at www.escalade-74.com. This website excels in that it reviews all the Savoie crags, proving info on rock quality, quality of the general environment, ease of access for children, best season etc. It even provides individual beta (albeit in French) for most of the local hard routes! The star rating for crag quality seems pretty accurate too.


Amongst the 28 crags are 'star quality' performers such as Biclop which stands low and south-facing at the west end of the lake (see photo above). Currently there seems to be some stabilisation work being undertaken below the crag which may affect access. The other major site to be covered is the well-known (but little visited other than by the French) crag of Ablon (see photos below) This stands in a perfect alpine meadow at some altitude in the hills to the north-east of Annecy. Although some people rate it very highly (and deservedly) for its position and the rough nature of its slabby walls, it is probably best visited for the characterful routes in the F6s which tend to follow strong features up freakishly crozzly cannelures or water grooves. The rock mascarades as a combination of rough Gritstone and Tuolome granite even though it is in fact limestone. The harder routes are increasingly crimpy and don't always seem to offer such good lines. The routes here are mainly single-pitch which is a good thing as the walk-in is almost an hour! The climber in the photo below is on Myrtille et Chantilly F6a.


The guide book also reveals a horde of other crags in the district, some of which are delightful picnic-style crags with many routes in the lower grades such as Angon as well as Le Grand Jeanne (which almost lives in the Annecy zoo). Elsewhere there are nasty overhanging north-facing, sombre pine-tree-shadowed alcoves where the going gets tough and the hard-core hang out. One such crag is Eau Vive and, as the photos below show, you can easily climb here in summer though beware the sunlight when it first emerges from behind the crag! The striking overhanging crackline shown here goes at only F7b. You will also be be able to locate routes up to F9a in the guidebook, notable on the crags to the north-west of Annecy such as Allonzier la Caille and Balme de Silingy.


One of the best smaller crags in the area is not actually in the new guidebook but you will be able to locate an on-line topo by searching within the www.escalade-74.com website for Cons Sainte-Colombe. The routes here are all named after well-known beers and, as a guide to which route is which, look for the appropriate bottle-tops stuck to the rock at the base of climbs. This little gem only has a dozen or so routes but offers some of the best rock in the area and, in similar vein to the more famous Balme de Yenne, the climbs follow steep walls with a fair quantity of tufa. Of the warm ups, Brugs offers a Leeds-Wall-like F6c (ie steep but juggy) and Corona 7b and Kwak 7c make the very best of the tufa band at the centre of the crag. In the photos below, Dave Cross demonstrates the crux sequence on Corona...


... and Gareth Scott (below) sets up for the last powerful move on Corona. There are routes up to 8a+/8b at the crag... and the picnic bench at the base of the crag (how did they get it up here?) is well-sited for watching! Cons Sainte-Colombe has the additional advantage of being at the quieter (eastern) end of the lake, just above the village of the same name.


Les 28 falaises autour de Annecy guidebook is available in local book shops and places like Au Vieux Campeur in Albertville. Famous outlets like Snells in Chamonix will post it to you, obviously for a postage fee (e-mail them for details).

Campsites are numerous in the Annecy area though those around the lake are rather "Euro-camp" in nature. The municipal at St Ferreol at the quiet eastern end of the lake is handy for Cons Sainte-Colombe and is cheap, friendly and more peaceful.

There's no point listing the non-climbing activities in the area other than to say that a full range of water sports are available in the surprisingly warm lake. Nearby ski-lifts offer quick ascents, summer VTT and parapenting possibilities. Annnecy itself, despite the traffic, is a very attractive lakeside town with a quite trendy bar-cafe scene along the outlet 'canals' from the lake. Visit the official Annecy website for more info.

For those so-called rest days, there are numerous memorable super-fell-walking/scrambling ascents and good local guidebooks can be found in all local bookshops/newsagents. The photos below show the very popular La Tournette 2351m, just north of the lake.




When the weather clags in, it is time to escape the immediate proximity of the mountains. Although there are plenty of other crags around Chambery (which has its own guidebook), it is probably worth travelling a bit farther to Balme de Yene. Although it's an hour's drive away to the west, the combination of completely overhanging rock and a location outside the main mountains might save the day. If there's been lots of rain though, expect seepage... and being north facing it can also be mossy. It's a summer crag then. Be warned that, other than a few warms ups, most of the serious climbing starts at 7a and rapidly gets tougher. At best you can expect 30-35m of steep tufa, pockets and crimps. For some reason (see photo) there always seems to be queues for the crag classic Cathedrale F7b+ (see photos below; Lee McAvoy climbing). Although on the 'official secrets' list for some time, topos can now be found on line at planetgrimpe as well as hotroc. Footnote: La Balme de Yenne can now be found in an excellent new guidebook, Escalades autour du Lac du Bourget 2008 edition