Roc de la Bissone

  Saint Guilhem le Désert, a much old and pittoresk village on the French countryside, far away from what you can call suburbs! In summer a very busy place full of tourist but in late fall and winter more or less the opposite, so a good time to go. And specially for the climbing and other adventures to be found there

I packed my Ford for a roundtrip in south of France / northern parts of Spain for a Road Trip combo parachuting/rock climbing seek and find.
On this very useful Internet I made some pre-searching for good places to visit but left most of it "for the road"

After a week of great parachuting in Empuria Brava it was time to start saving some money and head for the climbing part. Empuria doesn't have much of that part, but a most scenic ocean and beautiful town like a small Venedig.

My first destination on my detour via France towards Haute Savoie was Mont Pellier and then Puéchabon. A super nice part of France with a lot of small farmings and vineyards, many of the most famous wines are produced here.

But also a lot of good limestone, very steep limestone faces!
In Saint Guilheim there is a trail that takes you right out of the village entering a narrow valley surrounded by these limestone walls. One of the classic ones was to be Roc de la Bissone and the route Carmina Burana. A 180meter route, always overhanging and maximum 6b. If you stay on the right route that is...

With a few pictures in my phone I was able to navigate up to the base of the cliff, some 20min walking on a good track and then jungle terrain for 5minutes.
The start was quite obvious, and after rigging the gear up I could take on with the first pitch, a 5c warm up. The rock always looked a bit loose but despite from some smaller moving things it was much better then on first sight. Arriving at the first belay I find it best though to bring out the rope and continue rope soloing for the next ones.
The climbing is all the time really steep and super cool, mostly good holds but hard to see exactly where to go cause of the steep terrain.
But all the time good bolts and good belays.

Somewhere high up on Roc de la Bissone 

As always after a number of pitches a start to loose the counting of them. They are mostly quite short like 30 maximum 40 meters. And arriving on the upper parts the written topo gives me a bit hard time cause it says I should go right but the bolts heads left...I decide to stay with the bolts.
The climbing, very airy and and as it says in the topo "muscle et gazeux" well they can't be more right about that at least.
But the steep rock makes it almost harder to rappel back down to clean each pitch when going back up again. At least a fall will end up in the air!

Perfect hauling terrain!

Finally after a bunch of good climbing I arrive at a big cave, just some 20 meters below the top and the exit. A short leftward travers and then a small runout straight up, I can leave the north facing part and get some summit sun at top. But unfortunately the wind has picked up so there is jut one alternative to get back this time, by rappelling.
A few moments in the afternoon breeze and I head of to find the track down to the rappel anchors.

Summit!!

Area
Saint Guilhem le Désert - departement Hérault
Closest bigger town
Montpellier

Saint Guilhem le Désert

Equipment for Roc de la Bissone
2x40m rope minimum if you use the 2 rappels to get down
8-10 QD´s

Descent
Head up to the top of the pillar and then find a faint trail heading westwards, scramble down for some 100 meters and the you arrive to a fixe rope. Follow this to a bolt station.
And take care not to slide away rocks on the way...

Topo for la Carmina

After here the trips continue towards Milleu...

Plan Your Climb & Go Light

Going light on a climb vastly increases the enjoyment factor and usually results in faster and more successful climbs

There is a pack somewhere behind all this...crap!!

  Very often I see parties heading off into the mountains with their huge back packs, carrying way too much gear. A good rule of thumb is if you think you need something, you much likely don’t. If you know you need something, you much likely will. 

If you bring all that just in case equipment and in your head gear up for a night out. Well, it's already then almost already set up for that. 

Because you will be to heavy to start with.

The first and best way is just to keep the back pack small in liters. 

Your light 18l pack will probably be way to small. But the thing is, it's a big chance it's the same situation with your 30l. 

It is easy to get the "good to have" mood and we humans tend to like stuff and widgets.

Since " I have the space for this" 

And maybe it's not a big deal, a pair of extra gloves and a few more bars with that rescue blanket and some spare...well soon your in the trap and then a duvet goes in there as well. We like to collect things! 

Just leading with or without a pack makes difference. Every small gram just weights and every small gram adds to a bigger heavier kilo in the end. Therefore, the small pack is a good start. 

And to get there a good practice is to always think minimalistic. On every trip and every day out, skiing, hiking or climbing. Keep it small. think of it as a separate sport to always get along with the lightest pack and fewest pieces of equipment. Without taking steps that start making it dangerous!

Basic equipment

A single 8.9 or 9mm 50 or 60 meter rope makes a good base. I also keep a 6mm static tag line if the route is reversed via rappel or if I would need to haul my bag. I have found 60 meter ropes are rarely worth the extra weight. If the climb is easy I just use one single twin rope, with the option to use it as a double if needed...

the perfect minimalistic alpine back pack, Dragonfly 18

  A small pack, meaning; the smallest pack I can get that I wear while leading. I have found the Blue Ice Mono bag or the Dragon fly 18 as a super sound bag and aperfect partner for this purpose.

Depending on season and type of climb I of course bring different thinks. But the base is mostly the same, a warm jacket as a Crux Turbo Top or/and a windbreaker. 

  Together with 0.5-1.5l water bottle or a thermos.  For food fruit or nuts. I hardly ever bring modern Bars since they often are low on energy, demand a lot of water to be efficient and tend to freeze up during winer ascents. As well as expensive! And I'm just tired of finding the waste paper that people tend to "loose" once it's eaten!

I also make sure that I hydrate before the climb. Which means that for shorter climbs I can just leave the hydration pack behind.

Not so much fun really, but sometimes you just need to lead of in that bigger pack!

Minimalistic thinking, helmet and food

No real food since I rarely eat while climbing. If you are the sting kind, better then to make sure to get a really substantial breakfast. More sense carry most food and water in your stomach rather than on your back.

Shoes, boots and clothes

If I need to take my approach shoes on the climb I wear my Five Ten Tennies or even Five Fingers. In the former I can even climb up to a quite high grade. On a more moderate route. I then don’t even need any other shoes.

I prefer a lightweight weather resistant pullover that stuffs in it’s own pocket and easy to rack. 

And hardly ever brings a full on shell jacket on day tours. But a hood on the jacket is always nice. 

the Crux Turbo Top

Gear

Light cams like BD Ultralight Cams and light wires together makes a huge difference. But even more if you actually plan and schedule how many and what sizes that is useful. 

Keeping the amount of pro to a minimum. Specially if the rack includes bigger cams like #4 or #5´s

I use light spectra sewn alpine draws but always bringing several untied slings that I can use for replacing old slings and wrapping around chockstones etc.

  Carabiners

Here is a source to save a lot of weight. Only using modern lightweight biners as Camp Nano or DMM saves a lot of weight.

Just make sure that they still stay easy to clip into your lead rope. Specially if I climb with gloves the type of gate, opening and how wide it is, might change the whole experience. I bring only a couple of lightweight locking biner's, mostly D and 1 or 2 HMS. 

Harness

Here is an other one. Obviously I use different harnesses depending on season and goal. My alpine skiing harness demands a bit less than my sport cragging one. 

But it makes no sense to bring my super comfy harness for a relatively easy ice route. And fact is, many of the modern lightweight boudriers are just as nice to hang in as an older regular one. 

Light is right, right? Sure still might be...but better is - Just think positive!