Not all French crags are “rock ‘ard”! There are easy, well-bolted sports routes at Orgon, Orpierre and a host of other venues. These well-known spots do however tend to be over-popular and crowded. For the timid, or someone wanting somewhere peaceful and quiet to make their first venture onto bolted European limestone, there are other smaller, more discreet locations. St Ferreol-Trente-Pas is one of them.

St Ferreol is, undoubtedly, a Third Division crag by European standards. There’s no argument about this. It’s small (between 10 and 18 metres in height), the rock is mainly solid but often angular and occasionally awkward, and flowers sprout from it at regular opportunities. (In case that sounds a bit negative towards the crag, check out the impressive arête at the right-hand end as well as the short but steep technical grey stuff to the left. There’s even a patch of tufa).

But what St Ferreol lacks in inspiration is more than made up for in outlook. St Ferreol fully justifies its existence by being extremely high in the tranquility stakes. Hidden in an unsuspected wooded valley, wrinkled in the low pre-Alps of southern Drome, the view from the crag is totally sublime. The land falls away to a beautiful valley far from the main tourist track, the land beyond rises to 1000 metre peaks; the wind never seems to enter this niche. Calm and warmth rule.

The crag itself is well-bolted, with a good selection of routes starting at F3. The easier routes often run to belays at half-height (8-10m) and are set at a gentle-angled well-suited to beginners or small children. Above the mid-height belays, the routes increase in difficulty to give a combined grade in the low to mid F6s. It most be said though that some of the latter are quite technical so reflecting the gentle angle and the short length. It’s a great place though for making progress as a climber.
The crag base itself is odd, perched a short distance above the floor of the small valley. It’s sort-of “manufactured” from ledges and shelves using jammed logs and other crag clean-up material. It’s not the perfect place for unattended and unsupervised small children who would almost certainly roll off and tumble down through bushes and small rock steps… so take care! There is however a strategic large pine-sheltered platform which makes the perfect base camp. Here you can tie up the children who haven’t already run away to play on the (low-level) roped ‘adventure course' in the trees below.

After a day or two, you might have the confidence to move on to more mainstream climbing centre such as Buis-les-Baronnies. There’s more scope, true… but it will be a lot busier so you might just be returning to St Ferreol for a bit of peace and quiet.

St Ferreol-Trente-Pas can be found 10 km NE of Nyons in the Drome. From the delightfully rustic auberge in the centre of the hamlet, follow signs to the Fish Farm where you can park. Head for the wooded valley beyond and soon you’ll pick up signs for the crag (10 min walk).

The topo can be purchased at the local auberge (there’s mountain bike topos too) as well as from on-line shops such as SOeScalade

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