"Le Barring," a new crag to explore in Bavella

During the spring of 2015, Raphael Fourau, Adrien Boulon, Camille Doumas, and Preng Ing traveled to Bavella (Corsica, France) on yet another spectacular climbing trip; the perfect chance to test their mettle at "Le Barring," a new crag Adrien recently developed. (Re)discover this climbing area through Raphael Fourau's lens and trip report.

The Bavella range is located in Central Corsica, towards the southern part of the island. It extends from west to east, roughly from the village of Zonza to the village of Solenzara. The area between the two contains dense underbrush, wild pigs, and of course spectacular granite spires that rise for hundreds of meters to create an unbelievable playground for climbers. While Bavella is known worldwide for its stout multi-pitch routes, so much untouched rock still exists, and the first crag in the area was developed just a short time ago.

This marked the second time that I was traveling to Bavella to take photos. It is an amazing place, with an incredible atmosphere. The first time was just as unbelievable as the second.
In the fall of 2013, friends of mine from the BartAs climbing club and I decided to pay a visit to Delicatessen (180 meters, 8b max), the legendary hard route in Bavella put up by Arnaud Petit over twenty years ago. Three months later, we returned back to the mainland, completely absorbed and won over by the area, with Thibault and Jeff having sent the route, and a camera full of photos for me.

"Le Barring," a new crag in Bavella

One and a half years later, Adrien Boulon called me to let me know that he and a few friends had just bolted a crag in an area called, "Le Barring," putting up routes 40 meters high ranging from 5c to 8c!

Say no more! I took the time to inform Petzl, to grab my camera, and to put together a solid team of climbers hungry for new adventures, before hopping on a ferry to cross the Mediterranean for the umpteenth time.

Once in Corsica, we jumped into our cars for the two short hours of driving to our base camp: the U Ponte Grossu campground, ideally located just ten minutes from Solenzara and just a five-minute drive from the parking lot for the crag. This is also the last sign of civilization before hitting the area's legendary thick underbrush. The owner of the campground, Toussaint Lucchini, is well worth meeting, and is characteristic of the atmosphere in Bavella, authentic and endearing! 

After parking the car it takes thirty minutes on foot (if you do not get lost in the underbrush…) to reach Le Barring.
West-facing, the crag is an ideal place to climb mid season, allowing you to climb in the shade until 13:00, and then again at the end of the afternoon. Between each half-day session, a short five minute walk leads down to the river's emerald-blue waters. 

If we had to pick just one route…

After a few warm-up climbs, one route quickly captured our attention, U toccardu, a very technical, demanding, and "pumpy" thirty-meter high 8a on perfectly sculpted granite. A disconcerting yet amazing route once you get used to it. This is clearly THE major line at the crag.
After picking our own personal projects, we trashed ourselves on each, wearing our skin down to the bone as well as taking a series of amazing photos. After all, that's why we were in Le Barring in the first place!

A multi-pitch interlude

It just would not be right to travel all the way to Bavella without climbing at least a few of the area's multi-pitch routes. After two days of working our projects in Le Barring, everyone's biceps were in a completely dilapidated state, so we decided to turn our attention towards the mind-blowing "Dos de l'Eléphant" ("Elephant's Back," 280 meters, 6b+). This extraordinary route is located on the Punta di U corbu.

We then went over to Castelluciu d'Ornucciu to climb "Le Nouveau Monde" ("The New World," 200 meters, 6b), another incredible moderate route!

Both of these routes are slab climbs, with "Le Nouveau Monde" being more instructional and fun, and the atypical second half of "Dos de l'Eléphant" requiring the utmost confidence in your feet.
We were all surprised by the demanding and committing nature of the climbing; best have a large margin between your ability and the grade of the route to comfortably climb between each bolt.

While the bolts are in good shape the route is runout, and the anchors are most often two unconnected bolts. Given the configuration of each route, it is difficult to add any protection (slab), so make sure you are up to the challenge, as the routes are stout for the grade. 

Regarding Gear

For the sport climbs at Le Barring, we climbed with two ropes, one 80-meter VOLTA, and one 70-meter CONTACT, belaying of course with the indomitable GRIGRI2. Both ropes feed very smoothly for long routes. Fourteen SPIRIT quickdraws suffice for every route at the crag.

For the multi-pitch routes, we traded in our HIRUNDOS harnesses for the more comfortable SAMA, and grabbed a set of double ropes and a REVERSO type belay device (ideal when swinging leads). On multi-pitch routes we always bring three locking carabiners per person, the ATTACHE works really well, and 120cm FIN'ANNEAU dyneema sewed slings for the anchors.
As with any multi-pitch route, a helmet is highly recommended, a rule that everyone followed in spite of the bulletproof nature of the rock. For the routes we climbed, 50-meter double ropes and twelve quickdraws worked fine, and we would recommend bringing enough accessory cord to reinforce the anchors on the descent; you know, just in case…

Text and photos by Raphael Fourau.