Le Saussois is a historical cliff in France.
From the 50's to the 70's a lot of the Parisian climbers came here to practice in Spring before going in the Alps in Summer.
Among others : Robert Paragot and Lucien Berardini (the 2 French that were in the team that first climbed the South of Aconcagua in February 1954).

Today much less climbers go there, despite the beautiful area and the variety of routes.
A great destination for intense sport climbing !

Getting There and Staying...

From Paris drive Motorway A6 down to exit 19.
There you take road N6 for 4 kms, then onto the circular road west of Auxerre.

Next go on the N151 for 23 kms until Courson-Les-Carrières. Turn left on road D950 for another 13 kms.
In Mailly-Le-Château turn right on D39. A few kms further you will reach Le Saussois.

The cliff is along river Yonne.
Right across the river facing the cliff you will find a very convenient camp site :

Camping Municipal Escale
Route Compostelle
89660 MERRY SUR YONNE
Tel : 03 86 81 01 60
(Closed in Winter months)

Site Description

The cliff is all limestone, very compact but quite run out in the class 4 and 5 routes. However they all remain classic climbs to try.
Note that a few routes (above 35m usually) have 2 pitches.
Here is a description of the main climbing areas :

- CATHLYN :
13 routes from 6c to 8c / 15 to 30m

- TONTON LULU :
10 routes from 6b+ to 8a / 10 to 30m

- FISSURES INTERDITES :
7 routes from 5c to 7b / 5 to 15m

- GRAND GENDARME :
13 routes from 3b to 7a+ / 10 to 30m

- AIGUILLETTE :
14 routes from 4b to 8a / 5 to 20m

- GRENOUILLE :
14 routes from 4b to 7c+ / 10 to 35m

- MAISON DES GOSSES :
17 routes from 4b to 7b+ / 10 to 25m

- NID D'AIGLE :
8 routes from 4c to 8a / 7 to 25m

- EAU FRAICHE :
9 routes from 5b to 7c+ / 15 to 50m

- TRICOU :
11 routes from 5c to 7b / 10 to 25m

- CHIMPANZODROME :
11 routes from 6a+ to 8b / 3 to 15m

- REVANCHE :
14 routes from 5b to 8b+ / 6 to 30m

- MAESTRIA :
10 routes from 6a+ to 7c / 10 to 45m

- JARDINS :
4 routes from 5c to 6b+ / 40 to 70m

- ECHELLE :
5 routes from 5c to 7b / 5 to 70m

- SUPER-ECHELLE :
20 routes from 5c to 7c+ / 7 to 50m

- MARTINE :
6 routes from 5b to 6b+ / 15 to 50m

- GEDEON :
12 routes from 4c to 7a+ / 15 to 55m

- TOUFOU :
7 routes from 6b+ to 7a / 20 to 25m

- LUPI :
5 routes from 6b to 7a / 25 to 30m

- FRANCINOU :
17 routes from 3c to 8b / 10 to 30m

Books, Maps & Weather

The best guidebook :
Le Saussois

The best map :
IGN 2127O Vermenton 1:50.000

For Weather forecast :
Meteo France > Mailly-Le-Château

Images



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